Biography
Melissa, 17, finished first in her second Jr. Iditarod. She says her she has been mushing all her life and started because her dad has always had dogs around. She raises and trains her own dogs and loves it. Melissa says, “I have a kennel of about 30 dogs and have raised most of them from puppies. I am planning on runnng Iditarod next year. This will be my last Jr. Iditarod.” Her mom and dad help when they run two teams. Melissa attends the IDEA Distance Ed program with the Galena School District. She says other than mushing, she enjoys photography, gymnastics and hiking with the team. She plans to run Iditarod once before she begins college and says “positively, yes,” she will continue mushing.
2005 Standings
| Checkpoint | Time In | Dogs In | Time Out | Dogs Out | Rest Time | Previous | Layover | Status | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enroute Time | Speed (mph) | 10hr | ||||||||
| Settlers Bay - Start | 02/26/2005 10:00:00 | 10 | 02/26/2005 10:26:00 | 10 | 0h 26m | 0 | ||||
| Burma Road - Out | 02/26/2005 11:56:00 | 10 | 02/26/2005 11:56:00 | 10 | 0h 0m | 1h 30m | 11.33 | 17 | ||
| Susitna River - Out | 02/26/2005 13:52:00 | 10 | 02/26/2005 13:52:00 | 10 | 0h 0m | 1h 56m | 11.90 | 23 | ||
| Eagle Song - Out | 02/26/2005 15:17:00 | 10 | 02/26/2005 15:17:00 | 10 | 0h 0m | 1h 25m | 9.88 | 14 | ||
| Yentna Station | 02/26/2005 16:56:00 | 10 | 02/27/2005 03:12:00 | 10 | 10h 16m | 1h 39m | 9.09 | 15 | ||
| Eagle Song - In | 02/27/2005 04:52:00 | 10 | 02/27/2005 04:52:00 | 9 | 0h 0m | 1h 40m | 9.00 | 15 | ||
| Susitna River - In | 02/27/2005 06:22:00 | 9 | 02/27/2005 06:22:00 | 9 | 0h 0m | 1h 30m | 9.33 | 14 | ||
| Burma Road - In | 02/27/2005 08:40:00 | 9 | 02/27/2005 08:40:00 | 9 | 0h 0m | 2h 18m | 10.00 | 23 | ||
| Knik - In | 02/27/2005 09:55:00 | 9 | 02/27/2005 09:55:00 | 9 | 0h 0m | 1h 15m | 7.20 | 9 | ||
| Settlers Bay - Finish | 02/27/2005 10:51:27 | 9 | 0h 56m | 8.57 | 8 | |||||