All of the teenage mushers featured in Meet the Jr. Iditarod musher stories are incredible people. They range in age from 14 to 17. All of these kids are responsible hardworking individuals who are skilled in dog care, winter camping, sled driving and survival. They thrive when on the sled runners and enjoy spending time in the wilderness with their best friends and incredible canine athletes.
The four mushers you’ll meet in this final story are all seniors so to speak. They’ve reached the age of 17 so after this run they will graduate to other trails. They have been on the traditional trail to Yentna Station only twice. In 2022, the race was moved up to Cantwell due to excessive overflow conditions in the Willow area. They ran a two-day stage race on the Denali Highway. Now this year, they will culminate their Jr. Iditarod careers running out of Glennallen from Tolsona to Lake Louise and back.
There are five of the top ten mushers from 2024 returning – Champion Emily Robinson, 3rd place Isaac Redington, 8th place Keira Irish, 9th place Teitje Paveglio and 10th place Arien Sanderson. Robinson, with three consecutive Jr Iditarod wins has tied Tim Osmar who holds the same honor with wins in ’82, 83 and ’84. Should Robinson claim a 4th victory in 2025 she will stand as the winningest Jr. Iditarod musher of all time. Time to meet the seniors.
Bristol Huffman attended the Kobuk 440 as a spectator 5 years ago. It was a life changing experience and here she is today as a fourth year veteran in the Jr Iditarod. She began her mushing career by helping local mushers and training with Kotzebue musher, Dempsey Woods, Jr. Huffman, age 17, finished 12th in the 2022 Jr. Iditarod Stage Race, 8th in the 2023 Jr. Iditarod and 17th in the 2024 Jr. Iditarod. She’s also run the Kobuk 440 and the KDMA Women’s sprint race. She says she decided to take up the sport of mushing because she likes to work and she likes to work with dogs. Bristol enjoys running, fishing, hunting, trapping and swimming. She’s a senior at Kotzebue High School. Upon graduation, Bristol plans to pursue a nursing degree at the University of Alaska – Anchorage then establish her own kennel and continue mushing.
Teitje Pavaglio is back for her fourth Jr. Iditarod race. In 2022 she finished 11th place, in 2023 she improved to 7th place then in 2024 she claimed 9th place. Nearly ten years ago, family friends invited Teitje and her father for a ride on the runners. From that experience they knew they wanted to spend time with dogs. Teitje started racing in 2021 along with her father who is an Iditarod Veteran. Teitje is also a veteran of the Willow 100. The senior at Chugiak High School in Eagle River enjoys working with sled dogs, hiking, camping, sewing and hanging out with friends and family. Teitje recently finished the Jr. Willow 100 in 7th place.
Mckenna Vanderhoof , age 17, is a dual resident of Wisconsin and Alaska. During the school year she lives in Wisconsin with her mom, step-dad and four of her siblings then during the rest of the year she lives in Willow with her dad, step-mom and five of her siblings. When her Alaska family got back into dogs, she quickly became interested and has been on the runners since 2016. The 2022 Jr. Iditarod was her first distance race where she captured 9th place in the Jr, Iditarod stage race run out of Cantwell. Her first attempt at Yentna Station in 2023 ended with a scratch then in 2024 she claimed 13th place. Mckenna is a senior and attends Shell Lake High School in Wisconsin. She enjoys working out, reading and chilling with friends. After high school she’d like to stay in Alaska and continue mushing.
Emily Robinson of Nenana returns for her fourth Jr. Iditarod hoping to defend her championship runs of 2022, 2023 and 2024. Emily is the only female to win three Jr. Iditarod Championships, not to mention three consecutive wins. She is currently tied with Tim Osmar who also won three Jr. Iditarod races back in ’82, ’83 and ‘84. Emily is a second generation musher. Her father started mushing while in middle school living in Michigan. He later moved to Alaska to work at a kennel. In 2001 he finished Iditarod with all 16 dogs and he finished the 2024 Iditarod in 11th place and was honored with the Humanitarian Award. By the age of four, little Emily had her own sled and went tag behind her dad watching his every move. She now has built a race team and has participated in the Jr. Iditarod, Willow Jr. 100, the Alpine Creek Excursion, Minto Spring Carnival and the Yukon Quest 80. Emily is the two time reigning champion of the Knik 100 and 200 races where she bested some big name mushers for the titles. Emily is a junior through IDEA Homeschool. She enjoys playing old time fiddle and reading. After graduation she wants to continue racing and help her brother train for his races. Emily placed 6th in the recent Kusko 300.
If you’re in the neighborhood, the Jr. Iditarod will begin at Tolsona Lodge off the Glenn Highway at 10:00 am, Saturday, February 22nd and finish at Tolsona on Sunday, February 23rd. You can watch the Jr. Iditarod tracker to estimate Sunday finish times. For those of you following the Jr. Iditarod from a distance, keep an eye on the tracker at jriditarod.org, read Eye on the Trail updates and follow along on the Jr. Iditarod Facebook page. God speed to all the Jr. Iditarod mushers!
