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.