STOWE, Vt. — It was a jam-packed day of classic sprinting up at Trapp Family Lodge on Wednesday, with 54 heats determining six champions at Junior Nationals between the U16, U18 and U20 men’s and women’s categories.
While some races were snowy, others were windier, and a few were neck-and-neck to the line, the conditions remained relatively consistent throughout in temperatures around 10 degrees throughout the day. The sun began to set soon after the U20 and U18 women’s finals, making for a picture-perfect ending on Day 2 of 4 at Junior Nationals.
Julia Kern (r) racing to a classic-sprint title at Junior Nationals on Wednesday in Stowe, Vt., edging Mattie Watts (c) and Vivian Hett, both from the Midwest.
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STOWE, Vt. — Four-hundred and thirty-four athletes whittled down to 180 in 30 quarterfinals. Fifty-four heats total, all on the top of the mountain at Trapp Family Lodge over the course of nine hours.
It was a full day of racing on Day 2 of U.S. Junior Nationals on Wednesday, with men’s and women’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprints determining six national champions.
Below you’ll find the list of who made the top 10 in the U16, U18 and U20 races. Every athlete that did so raced Trapp’s open-aired sprint course four times — nailing fast-enough times to advance after each round. The top six made the A-finals, and the next six battled for seventh through 12th place (and All-American status in the top 10). Complete results
The Junior Nationals U16 men’s classic sprint podium with New England’s Forrest Hamilton (c) of Mansfield Nordic, the Pacific Northwest’s Leo Lukens (l) of Mt. Bachelor in second, and Intermountain’s Zach Williams (r) of Sun Valley in third.
U16 Men
Forrest Hamilton (Mansfield Nordic/New England)
Leo Lukens (Mt. Bachelor/Pacific Northwest)
Zach Williams (Sun Valley/Intermountain)
Benjamin Koenig (NSCF-Fairbanks-FXC/Alaska)
Everett Sapp (New York SEF/Mid-Atlantic)
Tracen Knopp (Alaska Nordic Racing/Alaska)
Daniel Streinz (Maine WSC/New England)
Matthew Hoefler (Alaska Winter Stars/Alaska)
Dawson Knopp (ANR/Alaska)
Will Balcao (AWS/Alaska)
Fun Facts: Hamilton didn’t have to travel far to win his first national title; he’s a student at Champlain Valley Union High School 40 miles from Stowe in Hinesburg, Vt. His longtime teammates call him ‘Fo-Money.’ “I guess that’s my ski-trail name,” he says.
Amanda Kautzer (r) of Loppet Nordic Racing/Midwest, crests the final hill in Wednesday’s 1.4 k classic sprint A-final before winning her first title at Junior Nationals, ahead of runner-up Hailey Swirbul (Aspen/Rocky Mountain), in Stowe, Vt.
U16 Women
Amanda Kautzer (Loppet Nordic Racing/Midwest)
Hailey Swirbul (Aspen Valley SSC/Rocky Mountain)
Leah Lange (Park City NSC/Intermountain)
Hannah Halvorsen (Sugar Bowl/Far West)
Leah Brams (Cambridge Sports Union/New England)
Claire Benton (LNR/Midwest)
Jordan Floyd (Steamboat Springs/Rocky Mountain)
Chloe Levins (Mountain Top/New England)
Lizzie Larkins (Auburn/Far West)
Anna Johnson (Mesabi East/Midwest)
Fun Facts: Mini Kikkan?Kautzer has pink hair just like the three-time World Cup Sprint champion from Alaska, and she just nabbed her first Junior Nationals victory after placing fifth in the 5 k classic on Monday. “I was not expecting anything like this this week,” Kautzer says. She’s originally from Southeast Asia and lived there until she was 3. “I was born in Singapore, which is about as far away from a snowy climate as you can get,” she says. “From super warm to super cold, I like the transition.”
Far West’s Peter Holmes (1) leads his semifinal in Wednesday’s 1.4 k classic sprint at Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt. He went on to win his second national title in as many races.
Fun Facts: This was Holmes’ second title in as many races at Junior Nationals. “I always wear the same socks when I race,” he says.“I haven’t washed them since I’ve been here.”
U18 Women:
Julia Kern (Cambridge Sports Union/New England)
Mattie Watts (Endurance United/Midwest)
Vivian Hett (LNR/Midwest)
Zoe Snow (CSU/New England)
Sarah Bezdicek (LNR/Midwest)
Katharine Ogden (Stratton/New England)
Emily Hyde (Mt. Bachelor/Pacific Northwest)
Hannah Peterson (Durango/Rocky Mountain)
Olivia Ekblad (Methow Valley Nordic/Pacific Northwest)
Racquel Wohlk (Nordicwerks/Midwest)
Fun Fact: With at least five national titles in the last two years, Kern, 16, racked up her first victory of the 2014 championships. In her free time, she says she likes to surf around New England in places like Cape Cod or Hampton “and do photography and film stuff.”
Three New Englanders race for gold in the U20 men’s classic sprint A-final: with Fabian Stocek (2) ultimately taking first, Cole Morgan (l) placing second overall and Jack Hegman (5) finishing third at Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt.
U20 Men:
Fabian Stocek (Holderness School/New England)
*Cole Morgan (University of Vermont/New England)
Jack Hegman (UVM/New England)
Jack Schrupp (Gunstock/New England)
Patrick McElravey (Middlebury/Far West)
Haakon Sigurslid (Durango/Rocky Mountain)
Scott Harrison (LNR/Midwest)
Luke Brown (LNR/Midwest)
Connor Gray (BSF/Intermountain)
Andrew Egger (LNR/Midwest)
*Top American
Fun Facts: Originally from the Czech Republic, Stocek, 19, is a freshman at Dartmouth College and according to a NENSA blog post from a couple years ago, a fierce competitor at the game Twister. Morgan, a UVM sophomore, won his second-straight U.S. title in as many races at this year’s Junior Nationals. He shared the podium with his college teammate, Hegman, who hails from Huntington, Vt.
New England’s Heidi Halvorsen after winning Wednesday’s classic sprint for her first national title at 2014 Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt.
U20 Women:
Heidi Halvorsen (New England)
Ulrika Axelsson (Michigan Tech/Great Lakes)
Kelsey Phinney (New England)
Hannah Benson (Williams Outing Club/New England)
Kristen Bourne (Northern Michigan University/Midwest)
Sadie James (Bates College/New England)
Nora Gilbertson (St. Olaf College/Midwest)
Marion Woods (Alaska Winter Stars/Alaska)
Joelle Rommo (BSF/Intermountain)
Maddy Pfeifer (Andover Outing Club/New England)
Fun Fact: According to Halvorsen, 18, she has podiumed five times at Junior Nationals, and this was her first victory. A 2013 graduate of the Green Mountain Valley School Ski Academy, Trapps was her home course. When she’s not skiing: “I have a lot of grannie pastimes,” she says, “like knitting and troll making and quilting.”
Dasha Gaiazova leads Switzerland’s Bettina Gruber in Thursday’s 1.4 k classic sprint A-final at Canadian Nationals in Whistler, B.C. Gaiazova won the final ahead of Gruber and Canadian World Cup teammate Perianne Jones, respectively. (Photo: Martin Kaiser)
WHISTLER, B.C. – On another sunny day at Whistler Olympic Park, Canadian World Cup team members Dasha Gaiazova and Lenny Valjas set the standard, earning national titles in their favourite event – the classic sprint – on Thursday. Both won their respective 1.4- and 1.6-kilometre qualifiers at Canadian Nationals on fast, icy snow before delivering once more in the soft-and-slow finals.
Racing started early, as the para-nordic skiers and more than 300 younger racers competed in the sprints on Wednesday. By the time 75 women and 117 men finished the qualifiers on the Olympic courses, the crunchy, fast snow of Thursday morning was already turning to a thin layer of slush.
Dasha Gaiazova smiles as she cruises across the finish in first, claiming her second-straight title at 2013 Canadian Nationals in Thursday’s 1.4 k classic sprint in Whistler, B.C.
The women’s event was fairly straightforward with Gaiazova leading each heat most of the way around before finishing the 1.4 k course with a clear gap. In the final, Gaiazova coasted in with a big smile, followed by Swiss National Team skier Bettina Gruber comfortably in second. Gaiazova’s teammate, Perianne Jones over-powered Alysson Marshall of the Alberta World Cup Academy in the final stretch to take the silver medal.
“Classic sprinting, I love it!” Gaiazova said. “I had a great qualifier and it went really well in the heats.”
Still struggling with jet lag, Gaiazova came to the venue on Wednesday to watch the younger racers and award medals.
“It could be almost more fun than winning medals because you just see the joy on the faces of those people,” she said. “I got a chance to give out medals to para-skiers. It is so inspiring to see them race and fight.”
Gruber, who was second in the same event at Swiss Nationals earlier in the month and is headed to U.S. SuperTour Finals next week, was happy with her day.
“Pretty good, I would say, for just coming over to Canada,” she said. “Qualifying felt no so good; it was hard fight.”
“Qualifying was pretty icy, hard packed conditions are not my favourite,” Gruber said. “Right now, it’s pretty good, it’s a little slushy but still kind of good track.”
The second Canadian, Jones was happy with her performance. “It was really fun, and I am really happy that my season is over now,” she said.
Signing autographs before Thursday’s medal ceremony, Jones also handed out awards on Wednesday.
“It was great to be up here and see the kids race and give out medals at the end of the day,” she said. “That’s why we’re here, to see that next generation come up. It’s nice to see them race super-hard and then get to shake their hands at the end.”
Marshall collected her third individual bronze of these championships, putting a strong finish on a challenging season.
“I was feeling strong, and I was pretty close to Peri, so I am happy with that,” she said.
Marlis Kromm and Heidi Widmer took fifth and sixth for the Academy, making the A-final after winning Saturday’s team sprint.
Marshall and Gruber will be racing Saturday’s 30 k freestyle mass start, while the other podium finishers take a break. Gaiazova will be going to Russia in two weeks for a sprint race, and is resisting the temptation to do the distance race.
“The race organizers have done a great job and it’s a great venue,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to race here, for sure.”
Emily Nishikawa (AWCA), who also made time to give out awards on Wednesday, opted out of the sprints coming off some fatiguing races at World Cup Finals.
Vajlas Takes Control
In the men’s 1.6 k sprints, Valjas relied on tactics to collect his third national title in his only race at this year’s championships.
Lenny Valjas of the Canadian World Cup Team leads Phil Widmer of the AWCA (l) and Knute Johnsgaard of the Yukon Elite Squad (r) in Thursday’s 1.6 k classic sprint A-final at Canadian Nationals in Whistler, B.C. Valjas went on to beat Graham Nishikawa and Widmer, who were second and third, respectively, for the title. (Photo: Martin Kaiser)
His tall build and slick skis allowed him to move to the front on every downhill. With marginal grip, he judged his efforts on the climbs and finished comfortably in the top two in the quarterfinal and semifinal. In each heat, he led into the finishing straight, taking the fastest lane in the increasingly wet snow.
In the final, Phil Widmer (AWCA) followed Valjas into the stadium and moved over a lane to start the double-pole battle. In the slower lane, Widmer was unable to stay with Valjas, and his teammate, Graham Nishikawa, took advantage of the faster tracks to steal second, nearly running over Valjas, who slowed at the line.
“I was just out here to enjoy the day and have fun,” Valjas said. “It’s been a long season and I’m happy with how it ended up.”
Asked about his backup plan for the finish, he said, “I had one extra, tiny, gear if someone did show up beside me.”
A man of few words, Nishikawa answered a question about whether he expected to get a medal in the classic sprint with “No,” and a laugh. On tactics, he was more verbose.
Graham Nishikawa (AWCA) trying not to crash into Thursday’s sprint winner Lenny Valjas (l) after the A-final.
“A lot of guys [had] superfast skis,” Nishikawa said. “I think mine were right in the middle, good kick and decent speed, I got passed on the first downhill by some guys with fast skis but my strength is striding so I need the good kick.”
Widmer could have played it safe and followed Valjas for a near-certain silver, but chose to put it all out there, to the delight of the crowd.
“It is the end of the season, and the body is feeling it a little bit, but for the most part it was good,” Widmer said after the race. “It’s nice to have Lenny here and the Americans.”
Jess Cockney (AWCA) took fourth, after poor grip in the final caused him to lose ground on each of the climbs. Cockney saved his energy for a fast finish in the quarter and semi, but wasn’t close enough in the final to use his speed.
Rune Ødegärd of the University of Colorado-Boulder took fifth ahead of a breakthrough performance by Knute Johnsgaard (Yukon Elite Squad).
Two Norwegians, Ødegärd and his Colorado teammate Trygve Markset, who was ninth, were the only men to try double poling on skate skis and qualified in 16th and ninth, respectively.
After the race, Ødegärd said they made the decision so they wouldn’t have to re-wax after the qualifier. Without a support team, they skied all three heats on the same wax. Ødegärd had great skis in the quarter, gliding up from the back of the group to win, but reversed the process in the final, losing places on each downhill.
Americans Torin Koos (Bridger Ski Foundation/Rossignol) and Dakota Blackhorse-Von Jess (Bend Endurance Academy), who qualified in second and third behind Valjas, took advantage of those results in the quarters, knowing that a third place would guarantee them a lucky-loser spot.
NorAms and nationals use untimed heats to reduce the number of volunteers required. This changes the way that lucky losers are chosen from the best two times among third- and fourth-place finishers to the two lowest bib numbers who placed third.
Koos reported to the jury that he was obstructed in the semifinal and requested a spot in the A final. The jury reviewed the video and decided that there was “no evidence of obstruction.” After a 10-minute delay, the A-final was run without Koos being added as a seventh starter. He ended up 12th and did not start the B-final.
Ida Sargent (CGRP/USST) en route to a personal-best ninth in the Kuusamo World Cup 1.4 k classic sprint on Friday. (USSA photo: www.facebook.com/USSA.nordic)
Talk about depth. Last weekend, four U.S. women made history capturing third in the 4×5-kilometer relay in Gällivare, Sweden. On Friday, the lone US Ski Team (USST) female in Europe who didn’t race the team event was raring to go in Kuusamo, Finland.
Ida Sargent of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project came out with a renewed-and-focused fire in the 1.4-kilometer classic sprint, the first of three World Cup races in the Kuusamo mini tour this week. Known as a strong sprinter, her personal best in a preliminary round before Friday was 26th in last season’s Moscow World Cup skate sprint. She shattered that in Kuusamo.
Sargent, 24, led her U.S. teammates in the first sprint qualifier of the World Cup season under the lights on a chilly -12 degree Celsius (10 degree Fahrenheit) evening. She finished 13th to advance to the quarterfinals along with reigning World Cup sprint champion Kikkan Randall in 16th.
While some might have predicted Sargent would go on to achieve great things then, there’s a lot that can happen in sprints. Ask Randall.
For the next two heats, Sargent put herself in positions to stay alive, jolting from sixth to second behind Finland’s Anne Kylloenen to make the semifinals. In the second semi, she jumped up to third before the final grueling climb, and after losing some ground on the descent, fought hard for fourth in the deceivingly uphill stretch into the stadium.
Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN) ultimately edged Sargent in a double-pole showdown to the finish, nabbing the lucky loser spot and advancing to the final. Sargent settled for fifth in the heat and ninth overall – not bad for a career best that topped her 12th place in Moscow last season. Her previous best in a World Cup classic sprint was 29th.
“It’s tough being so close to the final but I’m still incredibly happy with the day,” Sargent wrote in an email. “It was a really fun day and I can’t stop smiling!”
Meanwhile, Randall also advanced to the semifinals after taking second to Slovenian Katja Višnar in the quarterfinals. In the semi, she strided alongside leaders Marit Bjørgen of Norway (the eventual overall winner) and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk ahead of the pack on the final climb. Soon after, she ran out of steam and finished fifth for 10th overall.
It wasn’t exactly the result Randall envisioned, but it was solid considering. After logging a great pre-race workout Thursday, Randall said on the phone that she didn’t feel as well as she’d hoped on Friday.
“I just felt a little flat out there and didn’t feel like I could kick into my sprint race gear,” she said. “I think the silver lining for me is on a bad day, I used to not even qualify, and today I didn’t bring my best, but was still a top ten.”
What’s even better was that Sargent was in there, too, Randall said.
“It was a great day for us, I mean two in the top 10 is an incredible result,” Randall added. “Really psyched with the way Ida skied today. She really came on strong there every time coming up the hill.”
That was what separated racers who were having a great day from the ones that weren’t. Bjørgen repeatedly attacked the final steep climb, and even when she struggled there in the semifinal, she found a way to gain some ground in the stadium.
“The Kuusamo course really tests the fitness of an athlete,” U.S. women’s coach Matt Whitcomb said. “It’s an incredibly strong finish with a very difficult hill followed by a long, hard false flat, and for athletes to do well here means that they are in great shape.”
Case in point: Sargent, who recorded her previous best on an even longer 1.5 k course.
“It was definitely a career-breakthrough kind of day for Ida that we’ve known has been in the cards for a long time,” Whitcomb said. “But actually seeing her hit that top-10 mark will give her all kinds of new confidence.”
For Sargent, getting there took tons of grit and work. Whitcomb laughed as he recalled what she said after the quarterfinal. She couldn’t decide which lane to be in and bounced around “five or six times” as a result, he said
“She kept getting boxed around, boxed out a little bit and just realized she needed to settle down, that she felt great and there was 35 seconds of climbing time where she knew she could make moves,” he said. “Once she settled down she found her open lane and was able to move up the pack.”
Sargent wrote that she was so excited after the qualifier that she didn’t have any expectations for the heats. Knowing her strengths in climbing and confident in her double-pole improvements, she aimed to stay calm throughout and “go for it” on the big hill.
That worked great in the quarterfinal, as she accelerated over the top and put herself in second at the finish. However, in the semifinal Sargent explained she was boxed out at the bottom and didn’t have her own track, which caused her to slow down and seek one.
“I wasn’t able to go for it as much on the uphill and then Lahteenmaki was just stronger double poling into the finish,” she wrote. “I think if I had a better track on the uphill I could have stayed at the front on the uphill and then maybe made the final … [but] I’m feeling good and excited to be here. We had awesome skis today and there is so much motivation and inspiration being on this team especially after the amazing weekend in Gällivare.”
The rest of the U.S. women recorded personal bests or close to it for a classic sprint (Jessie Diggins was 33rd, Holly Brooks 40th and Liz Stephen 68th), leaving Whitcomb pleased with the overall results.
“It’s a great day for us to put two girls and two guys into the rounds,” he said, referring to Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell, who placed 24th and 27th, respectively. “Also, really encouraged by Jessie finishing 33rd, just a half second out of qualification in what is generally not her strong event. There were a lot of great signs today and I think we’re going to see a whole lot from Andy and Simi in these sprint events. These guys are just starting to get going.”
In an email, Hamilton wrote that his goal had been to qualify, which he did in 29th. However, he hadn’t slept well the night before and felt his energy was flat throughout the day.
“I never feel great when it’s this cold, but I fought hard in my quarter and just didn’t have the zip I needed on the final long climb into the stadium,” Hamilton wrote after finishing fifth in his heat. “I’m happy with today, although skiing past the quarters would have made me much happier. I knew going into the day that it would was going to take everything I had to have a respectable race.”
The course didn’t exactly play to his strengths, he explained, and after having strep throat this time last season, he hadn’t raced in Kuusamo in two years.
“It’s a tough course for me,” he added. “There’s not a lot of technical skiing and a lot of the race rests on being light up that final climb. I am much better on courses that involve technical skiing and rolling terrain where I can use my weight to my advantage.”
Newell qualified ahead of Hamilton in 21st, and on his 28th birthday, was lucky to do so.
“In the qualification round I got super lucky because I almost went down after the first climb,” Newell wrote in an email. “There was a bit of ice before the downhill and my skis completely crossed and I don’t know how I didn’t fall but I managed to stay up despite losing a little time.”
In his quarterfinal, Newell was initially third behind Sweden’s Emil Joensson and Calle Halfvarsson, who went on to finish first and third, respectively, in the heat. All was going well until he and China’s Qinghai Sun “had a few close calls,” Newell wrote. “We were banging into each other a lot for some reason.”
Nonetheless, he was in a good position heading into the last climb, but didn’t have the kick he needed to keep up with Joensson and Norway’s Petter Northug, who was second in the heat. Newell came through in sixth.
“It’s a bummer to slip on this course and I had a few bad ones and then just wasn’t able to run the hill the way I normally can,” Newell added. “I’ve been feeling great, definitely feeling a lot better than what the results from today will show. It’s just the first sprint of the year and it’s only half points here so I’m not too concerned. Just looking forward to doing some more sprinting soon.”
Whitcomb reiterated this how early in the season it was and what Period 1 entailed.
“We are doing our best to ski fast each weekend, but we are also doing our best to maintain training volumes, good quality workouts,” Whitcomb said. “It’s possible we overreached just a little bit with regards to training [this week], but at the same time that’s what we’re training to maintain this time of year. Ultimately we’re gunning for Val di Fiemme [World Championships].”
Despite recovering well from two third-place results last weekend, Randall said she felt the effects of a hard strength workout on Tuesday.
“I think maybe that was a little hard, maybe flattened out my fast-twitch muscles a little bit, but overall I think it was a pretty solid week,” Randall said.
***
Extras
Diggins (33rd) on missing qualifying by just over ½ a second:
“Considering classic sprinting is something I’m still working on, I’m pretty psyched on today,” she wrote in an email. “I broke the course down into parts and skied each part as well as I could. I didn’t ski the last climb as well as I did in race prep however – I think I got too nervous – and that’s where I lost the most time. If I could do it again I know what I’d fix … and I get to do it again next year and the next ten years! :)”
Brooks (40th):
“My race was slightly mediocre, neither good or bad,” she wrote in an email. “The last big climb into the stadium frustrates me a bit because I feel like I always ski it better in practice and the warm up. Oh well, such is life. I have a few things to work on and that keeps it interesting! I’m really looking forward to the next two days. Saturday’s 5k skate race was my breakthrough last year so I’m crossing my fingers for another good one!”
Stephen (68th):
“Today was probably the best Kuusamo classic sprint I’ve ever had so that was good, but I’m psyched for the rest of the weekend,” she said on the phone. “I’ve skied the main uphill better every single time I’ve skied it, except for today. I think I was having a pretty good sprint until the big hill today. I couldn’t quite nail it, but the courses are awesome and they’re really good for people that are in really good shape so hopefully that bodes well for our team.”
![Peter Holmes (Unleashed Coaching/Far West) racing to the top U18 men's classic-sprint qualifying time at 2014 Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Junior-Nationals-Classic-Sprint-Qualification248.jpg")
![Julia Kern (r) racing to a classic-sprint title at Junior Nationals on Wednesday in Stowe, Vt., edging Mattie Watts (c) and Vivian Hett, both from the Midwest.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/IMG_9334.jpg")
![The Junior Nationals U16 men's classic sprint podium with New England's Forrest Hamilton (c) of Mansfield Nordic, the Pacific Northwest's Leo Lukens (l) of Mt. Bachelor in second, and Intermountain's Zach Williams (r) of Sun Valley in third.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/IMG_4383.jpg")
![Amanda Kautzer (r) of Loppet Nordic Racing/Midwest, crests the final hill in Wednesday's 1.4 k classic sprint A-final before winning her first title at Junior Nationals, ahead of runner-up Hailey Swirbul (Aspen/Rocky Mountain), in Stowe, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/IMG_8789.jpg")
![Far West's Peter Holmes (1) leads his semifinal in Wednesday's 1.4 k classic sprint at Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt. He went on to win his second national title in as many races.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/IMG_9114.jpg")
![Three New Englanders race for gold in the U20 men's classic sprint A-final: with Fabian Stocek (2) ultimately taking first, Cole Morgan (l) placing second overall and Jack Hegman (5) finishing third at Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/IMG_9229.jpg")
![New England's Heidi Halvorsen after winning Wednesday's classic sprint for her first national title at 2014 Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/IMG_9426.jpg")
![Dasha Gaiazova leads Switzerland's Bettina Gruber in Thursday's 1.4 k classic sprint A-final at Canadian Nationals in Whistler, B.C. Gaiazova won the final ahead of Gruber and Canadian World Cup teammate Perianne Jones, respectively. (Photo: Martin Kaiser)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMGP7192.jpg")
![Dasha Gaiazova smiles as she cruises across the finish in first, claiming her second-straight title at 2013 Canadian Nationals in Thursday's 1.4 k classic sprint in Whistler, B.C.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Dasha-tactic-blow-the-field-apart-IMG_1029.jpg")
![Lenny Valjas of the Canadian World Cup Team leads Phil Widmer of the AWCA (l) and Knute Johnsgaard of the Yukon Elite Squad (r) in Thursday's 1.6 k classic sprint A-final at Canadian Nationals in Whistler, B.C. Valjas went on to beat Graham Nishikawa and Widmer, who were second and third, respectively, for the title. (Photo: Martin Kaiser)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMGP7568-1.jpg")
![Graham Nishikawa (AWCA) puts out his hands to prevent crashing into Thursday's sprint winner Lenny Valjas (l).](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Mens-final-Lenny-slowed-IMG_1096.jpg")
