At no other time was sibling cooperation more necessary than Saturday's Bartlett High School ski sprint relays, which pitted teams of two against one another for top honors in fast skiing.

Chugiak High's powerhouse duo of senior Alyson McPhetres, and her kid sister, Kryston, a junior, did not disappoint. The girls racked up an easy win over South High's Jessica Yeaton and Karina Packer, in a time of 18:11, a full 15 seconds ahead of the second-place finishers.

Well, maybe it didn't come that easy, but the sisters did earn it.

With fellow top Chugiak skier Kinsey Loan – Alyson's usual partner – in Finland competing at the Nordic Junior World Championships, the McPhetres sisters experienced a first Saturday.

"The coach put us together and this is the first time that we've gotten to race together like this," Alyson said. "When I found out I was skiing with Krysti, I thought it was really awesome."

Skiing two laps each of 1.5 kilometers, Alyson started off the race, completing one of her two laps before tagging off to her sister. After Kryston skied her first lap, she tagged off and they repeated the course again.

"I wanted to go out first because Krysti is a really good finisher, so we just decided to go with that," Alyson said.

Conditions were fairly fast, Alyson, said, although the day's sunny weather made the hills a bit mushy.

Alyson maintained a lead over Packer, one of South's strongest A-team girl's skiers, but it was not by far. And when she approached the tagoff zone, she thought all was well.

Not so.

"We had not really practiced our tagoff, and I wasn't thinking of anything but skiing," Kryston said. "She came in and I started skating and her pole went in front of my ski and I just went down."

Fortunately, big sister had gained enough of a lead on Packer that Kryston had time to get up and move on before their rivals came into the tagoff zone.

"It was a good recovery," Alyson added of her sister's effort.

The girls said they were happy with their win, despite the tagoff glitch. They gained even more time on South and finished a solid 15 seconds ahead, which is light years in a sprint event.

"I just wanted to stay in front of West, South and Service, because the pack of girls we were racing against were so close, and I just wanted to stay in front of them," Kryston said.

Eagle River skiers had their own share of siblings paired up in the races, with the Klecka sisters – Jackie and Jenny – placing as the top A-team pair, at 15th, for their squad. The Goodwin sisters, Christina and Jemma, also at Eagle River, skied on the B-team relays for a 20th-place finish. Chugiak's boys B-team also paired up twin brothers James and Robert Colles, who finished eighth in their division.

As for sibling rivalry, there seemed to be none of that on Saturday.

"The relays are a little bit different because you're working together and you can actually see the result of that accomplishment," Alyson said. "And we get along pretty good anyway, so it's not hard to work together in sports or anything. We still fight, we just get it behind us fast and move on."

Kryston agreed.

"I just want to stick with her," she said of her sister. "Lately she's been beating me in lots of races and I want to keep the gaps as close as possible."

Bartlett High sprints

Saturday, Jan. 30

Boys A

1) 15:21.0, Ryan, Talbot, Ser; 2) 15:23.1, Novak, Smith, Sou; 3) 15:24.0, Treinen, Liotta, Wes; 6) 16:12.2, Fitzgerald, Lammers, CHS; 11) 17:19.1, Bradley, Brewer P., CHS; 13) 17:43.9, Blackley, Johnson, ERHS; 15) 18:22.5, Loan, Brewer K., CHS; 16) 18:23.0, Johnson, Timmons, ERHS; 21) 19:28.5, Herrick, Waterman, ERHS.

Boys B

1) 17:02.9, Munter, Brewster, Sou; 2) 17:28.2, Prince, Lane, Ser; 3) 17:51.2, Parke, Cosgrave, Ser; 4) 17:59.0, Chapman, Fritz, CHS; 8) 19:21.4, Colles J, Colles R, CHS; 10) 19:43.0, Dennis, Frost, CHS; 13) 20:25.5, Sanders, Fisher, ERHS; 15) 20:44.6, Platt, Coble, ERHS; 18) 21:39.8, Reinbold, Timmons, ERHS

Boys C

1) 17:30.9, Anderson, Spiller, ERHS; 2) 17:41.2, Zakurdaeu, Thomas, Sou; 3) 18:13.7, Reinertsen, Balcao, Sou; 9) 20:30.0, McComb, Ensign, CHS; 11) 20:44.3, Miller, McGimsey, CHS; 13) 21:13.2, Kveseth, Cluff, CHS; 14) 21:32.2, Reinbold, Waterman, ERHS; 22) 30:08.8, Patin, Vandermartin, ERHS.

Boys D

1) 16:13.4, Keller, Schimmack, CHS; 2) 16:13.4, Fenster, Burgess J, Sou; 3) 20:30.1, Kuelper, Bauer, Ser; 5) 20:57.9, Keeseker, Keith, CHS; 7) 21:21.3, Lister, Lyon, ERHS; 11) 22:42.5, Sobocinski, Pasinski, CHS;

Girls A

1) 18:11.0, McPhetres K, McPhetres A, CHS; 2) 18:26.0, Packer, Yeaton, Sou; 3) 18:32.4, Kanady, MacKenzie, Ser; 10) 20:35.0, Lessard, Hartke A, CHS; 14) 20:57.8, Scott, Jennings, CHS; 15) 21:01.3, Klecka, Klecka, ERHS; 19) 22:55.6, Wheeler, Stevens, ERHS; 21) 31:24.4, Schmidt, Patin, ERHS.

Girls B

1) 20:08.0, Mahlen, Yrtzenka, Sou; 2) 20:49.6, Hopkins, Okeson, Ser; 3) 21:06.1, Dow, Davis, Sou; 5) 21:31.4, Hartke S, Shercliffe, CHS; 7) 22:20.2, Frankl, Stewart, ERHS; 10) 23:19.4, Stangl, George, CHS; 14) 24:47.4, Lange K, Kruchoski, CHS; 20) 25:38.0, Goodwin, Goodwin, ERHS.

Girls C

1) 21:18.7, Balcao, Wonders, Sou; 2) 22:15.6, Miller, Wheatall, Ser; 3) 22:18.4, Noel, Comellas, Sou; 7) 23:54.8, Lange M, Hakala, CHS; 8) 24:47.4, Wallace, Casey, CHS; 10) 25:17.5, Sam, Hail, ERHS; 11) 25:21.1, McGimsey, Fleurant, CHS.

Girls D

1) 23:32.3, Isby, Bond, Sou; 2) 23:45.5, Smith, MacDonald, Ser; 3) 23:49.6, Minge, Wika, Sou; 6) 25:32.3, Collins, Matotte, CHS; 8) 27:08.4, Wright, Murphy, CHS; 10) 27:28.5, Foster, Weinstein, CHS.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, February 4, 2010.