FasterSkier

Visit FasterSkier.com →

From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: 2018 Spring Series

  • Spring Series Rundown: Erik Bjornsen Takes U.S. Distance Nationals 50 k Title

    Spring Series Rundown: Erik Bjornsen Takes U.S. Distance Nationals 50 k Title

    Erik Bjornsen (102) of Alaska Pacific University and the U.S. Ski Team celebrates his win in the men’s 50 k classic mass start at 2018 U.S. Distance Nationals on Wednesday in Craftsbury, Vt., ahead of Adam Martin (110) of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project in second. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    2018 U.S. SuperTour Finals (Craftsbury, Vermont): 50 k classic mass start

    In the final race of the U.S. racing season, Erik Bjornsen of Alaska Pacific University (APU) and U.S. Ski Team (USST) won his second individual race of the week at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, with a victory in the men’s 50-kilometer classic mass start on Wednesday for the U.S. Distance Nationals title. He previously won the 15 k freestyle mass start on Saturday.

    Erik Bjornsen (102) leads his APU and U.S. Ski Team teammate Scott Patterson (101) and Craftsbury’s Adam Martin (110) during the men’s 50 k classic mass start at 2018 U.S. Distance Nationals on Wednesday in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    Bjornsen beat out Adam Martin of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) in the finishing stretch to finish first in 2:24:51.4 hours, 1.5 seconds ahead of Martin in second place.

    For the first 25 k of the race, about six skiers had been in contention while skiing together at the front of the field. By 35 k, that lead group had dwindled to three, with Bjornsen and his teammate Scott Patterson (APU/USST) leading Martin. Five kilometers later, Martin led the other two, and the three stuck together into the final 5 k lap.

    Ultimately, Patterson finished 22.8 seconds back in third place, ahead of another APU teammate David Norris, who came on strong while skiing alone on the last lap to close the gap to third, in fourth (+36.5).

    The rest of the field was strung out as they crossed the line, with Simi Hamilton of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team and USST placing fifth (+1:49.0), and his teammate Paddy Caldwell (SMST2/USST) following nearly three minutes later in sixth (+4:34.4). Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) finished seventh (+8:10.8), Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) placed eighth (+9:15.6), Ian Torchia of Northern Michigan University (NMU) and the USST Development Team was ninth (+10:26.3), and Canada’s Scott Hill (Team Hardwood) 10th (+11:00.2).

    In the junior men’s 30 k race, Ben Ogden (SMS) took the win in 1:29:17.6, while Hunter Wonders (APU) followed 17.2 seconds back in second place. Wyatt Gebhardt (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) placed third (+1:46.6).

    Live timing

    Complete SuperTour Finals results

  • Spring Series Rundown: Undefeated Diggins Edges Bjornsen for 30 k Victory

    Spring Series Rundown: Undefeated Diggins Edges Bjornsen for 30 k Victory

    Kikkan Randall (r) sprays her U.S. Ski Team teammates Jessie Diggins (c) and Sadie Bjornsen (l) with champagne on the podium of the 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals in Craftsbury, Vt. Diggins won, Bjornsen placed second and Randall finished third. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    2018 U.S. Distance Nationals (Craftsbury, Vermont): 30 k classic mass start

    Jessie Diggins swept SuperTour Finals once again, after doing so last year in Fairbanks, Alaska, and winning every individual race at 2016 SuperTour Finals the year before in Craftsbury, Vt.

    Back in Craftsbury on Tuesday, and coming off three-straight victories in the classic sprint, 10-kilometer freestyle mass start and mixed relay with her Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team teammates, Diggins, 26, pulled out her fourth-straight win in her last race of the season: the women’s 30 k classic mass start, which is part of U.S. Distance Nationals.

    Jessie Diggins (r) edging her U.S. Ski Team teammate Sadie Bjornsen at the line for the win in the women’s 30 k classic mass start at 2018 U.S. Distance Nationals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    She did so in an all-out effort to the line, beating her fellow U.S. Ski Team (USST) member Sadie Bjornsen by just 0.4 seconds in 1:25:27.2 hours. Diggins, Bjornsen of Alaska Pacific University (APU), and another USST member Sophie Caldwell (SMST2) broke away from the pack on the first of five laps at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Caldwell dropped off the pace around 10 k and skied on her own for the next 15-plus kilometers before being caught by a chase group of six, led by Kikkan Randall (APU/USST), on the final lap.

    Meanwhile, Diggins and Bjornsen skied together, trading the lead for the rest of the race. On the final short climb up to the stadium, Diggins pulled ahead slightly then extended her lead in the finishing straight. After finishing first and second, respectively, Diggins and Bjornsen laid on the ground for what seemed like a long time, particularly spent from the effort, before congratulating each other. Behind them, Randall outlasted the chase pack for third (+2:21.7), Caldwell followed just behind her in fourth (+2:23.1), Ida Sargent of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) and USST placed fifth (+2:26.5) and Rosie Frankowski (APU) finished sixth (+2:29.2).

    Also in the top 10, Liz Stephen (USST) finished the last race of her professional career in seventh (+3:10.9), Caitlin Patterson (CGRP) eighth (+3:27.2), Kaitlynn Miller (CGRP) ninth (+3:56), and Chelsea Holmes (APU) 10th (+4:45.3).

    Stratton had two wins on the day with Charlotte Ogden (SMS) winning the junior women’s 20 k classic mass start in 1:04:33.9. Canada’s Catherine Reed-Metayer (Skibec Nordique) placed second (+11.8), Waverly Gebhardt (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) finished third (+33.8), and Phoebe Sweet (Craftsbury Nordic) was the third American junior in fourth overall (+1:10.2).

    Spring Series concludes with the men’s 50 k classic mass start on Wednesday, starting at 9 a.m. EDT. Watch the races live on the SuperTour live stream.

    Results: 30 k | 20 k

    Complete SuperTour Finals results

  • Spring Series Rundown: Diggins Anchors Another Stratton Mixed-Relay Win

    Spring Series Rundown: Diggins Anchors Another Stratton Mixed-Relay Win

    The mixed relay podium on Sunday at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt., with Stratton (center: Simi Hamilton, Paddy Caldwell, Jessie Diggins, and Sophie Caldwell) in first, APU (left: Erik Bjornsen, Scott Patterson, Sadie Bjornsen, and Kikkan Randall) in second, and Craftsbury (right: Adam Martin, Alex Howe, Ida Sargent, and Caitlin Patterson) in third. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    2018 U.S. SuperTour Finals (Craftsbury, Vermont): Mixed relays

    For the second-straight year at the SuperTour’s season-ending Spring Series, the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team won the mixed relay, with three of the four athletes who raced on last year’s 4 x 5-kilometer mixed relay squad.

    Simi Hamilton, Sophie Caldwell, Paddy Caldwell, and Jessie Diggins combined for the win on Sunday in Craftsbury, tagging off in that order, with Diggins crossing the finish line first for the third-straight day. Diggins is undefeated in three races so far at Spring Series, after winning Friday’s classic sprint and Saturday’s 10 k freestyle mass start. The women’s 30 k classic mass start remains on Tuesday, followed by the men’s 50 k classic mass start on Wednesday.

    Diggins and her Stratton teammates beat the Alaska Pacific University (APU) first team by 13.2 seconds at the line with a time of 53:43.2. The co-ed mixed relay has been held at SuperTour Finals for the last five years, and APU won the first three editions of the race from 2014 to 2016. Stratton won last year in Fairbanks, Alaska, with Ben Saxton, Hamilton, Caldwell, and Diggins.

    APU led most of Sunday’s race, with Erik Bjornsen starting them off. He came through the first exchange in first place, just 0.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton in second. Behind them, Adam Martin of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project tagged in third, 0.8 seconds out of first.

    Paddy Caldwell (302) tags his Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team teammate Jessie Diggins (402) in second, while Craftsbury’s Caitlin Patterson (430) looks on, at the final exchange of the mixed relay at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. Diggins went on to anchor Stratton to first place. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    Sadie Bjornsen then extended APU’s lead to 7.3 seconds over Stratton’s Sophie Caldwell in second. Behind them, Craftsbury’s Ida Sargent came through the second exchange in 10.3 seconds back in third.

    APU’s Scott Patterson went on to hold off Stratton’s Paddy Caldwell on the third leg, tagging 3.5 seconds ahead in first. Diggins came up big for Stratton on the anchor leg, passing APU’s Kikkan Randall to secure the win.

    Craftsbury held its third-place position during the second half of the race with Alex Howe and Caitlin Patterson to finish third, 56.2 seconds behind Stratton. More than a minute later, APU 2 (Tyler Kornfield, Rosie Brennan, Logan Hanneman, and Rosie Frankowski) crossed in fourth (+2:04). Stratton’s second team (Saxton, Julia Kern, Andy Newell, and Erika Newell) placed fifth (+2:47.3), APU 3 (Reese Hanneman, Becca Rorabaugh, Eric Packer, Hannah Halvorsen) sixth, Dartmouth Ski Team (Luke Brown, Katharine Ogden, Gavin McEwen, Abigail Drach) seventh, Northern Michigan University (Zak Ketterson, Vivian Hett, Ian Torchia, Nicole Schneider) eighth, Middlebury College (Peter Wolter, Cate Brams, Adam Luban, Katie Feldman) ninth, and US Biathlon (Russell Currier, Clare Egan, Raleigh Goessling, Susan Dunklee) 10th.

    Thirty-one “official” teams and eight “unofficial” teams competed, with NMU/CSS/NYSEF leading the unofficial teams with a time of 1:00:01.9 (which ranked 19th overall).

    Racers have the day off Monday before the women’s 30 k and men’s 50 k classic mass starts (part of U.S. Distance Nationals) on Tuesday and Wednesday, starting at 9 a.m. EDT. Watch the races live on the SuperTour live stream.

     

    Relay results: Official teams | Unofficial teams

    Complete SuperTour Finals results

  • Spring Series Rundown: Diggins 2-for-2; Erik Bjornsen Wins Men’s Mass Start

    Spring Series Rundown: Diggins 2-for-2; Erik Bjornsen Wins Men’s Mass Start

    Erik Bjornsen (2) of Alaska Pacific University and the U.S. Ski Team (USST) leads Simi Hamilton (13), of the Stratton Mountain School T2 Team and USST, and Tad Elliott (12), of Ski Club Vail toward the finish of the men’s 15 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    2018 U.S. SuperTour Finals (Craftsbury, Vermont): 10/15 k freestyle mass starts

    Jessie Diggins won her second-straight race in as many days at 2018 SuperTour Finals and Erik Bjornsen pulled out a victory in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle mass start on Saturday in Craftsbury.

    Jessie Diggins (201) and Sadie Bjornsen (202) lead the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    Diggins, of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team and U.S. Ski Team (USST), won the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start in 25:56.0 minutes, just 1.2 seconds ahead of her USST teammate Sadie Bjornsen of Alaska Pacific University (APU) in second. The duo dropped the pack and battled to the line, while Kikkan Randall (APU/USST) skied on her own to third place, 12.6 seconds behind Diggins.

    APU took three of the top four with Rosie Frankowski finishing 43.7 seconds back in fourth. Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) followed in fifth (+1:02.2), and Sophie Caldwell (SMST2/USST) took sixth less than one-tenth of a second ahead of her Stratton teammate Katharine Ogden (Dartmouth College/SMS/USST Development Team) in seventh (+1:10.4). US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee (CGRP) placed eighth (+1:19.4), Julia Kern (SMST2/USST D-team) finished ninth (+1:26.0), and Erika Flowers (SMST2), who competed at last weekend’s Norwegian Birkebeiner, placed 10th (+1:37.0).

    In the men’s mass start, Bjornsen (APU/USST) and Simi Hamilton (SMST2/USST) went head to head down the finishing stretch for first, which Bjornsen took in 35:08.1. Hamilton finished 1.5 seconds back in second place, while Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) followed three seconds later in third (+4.6).

    According to live timing, Paddy Caldwell (SMST2/USST) edged his fellow national-team member Scott Patterson (APU/USST) by less than one-tenth of a second for fourth place (+6.5). Brian Gregg of Central Cross Country (CXC), Team Gregg and Loppet Nordic Racing placed sixth (+30.4), David Norris (APU) finished seventh (+52.1), Jack Hegman of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) eighth (+55.3), Adam Martin (CGRP) ninth (+56.2), and Eric Packer (APU) 10th (+59.8).

    Spring Series continues Sunday with mixed relays at 9 a.m. EDT at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

    Results: Women | Men

    Live timing

    SuperTour live stream

  • Spring Series Rundown: Stratton’s Newell, Diggins Win Craftsbury Classic Sprints

    Spring Series Rundown: Stratton’s Newell, Diggins Win Craftsbury Classic Sprints

    Jessie Diggins (3) celebrates her win in the women’s classic sprint final on Friday at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt., ahead of her Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team and U.S. Ski Team (USST) teammate Sophie Caldwell (4) in second. Craftsbury’s own Ida Sargent (in green and black), also of the USST, placed third, and Sadie Bjornsen (second from l, in blue) of Alaska Pacific University and the USST placed fourth. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    2018 U.S. SuperTour Finals (Craftsbury, Vermont): Classic sprints

    The end of the racing season is just around the corner. The U.S. SuperTour Finals (a.k.a. Spring Series) kicked off Friday with 1.3-kilometer classic sprints at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, and four other days of racing are set to follow on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Andy Newell (101), of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team and U.S. Ski Team (USST), racing to first in the men’s classic sprint final at 2018 SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, Vt., just ahead of his Stratton teammate Ben Saxton (102). Erik Bjornsen (103, behind Newell) finished third, Kris Freeman (119) placed fourth, Simi Hamilton (106) fifth, and Reese Hanneman (behind Bjornsen) sixth. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)

    The U.S. Ski Team (USST) made the trek from Europe less than a week after racing at World Cup Finals in Sweden. Despite the travel and fatigue at the end of a long season, Andy Newell and Jessie Diggins, who both train with the Vermont-based Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team in the offseason, came won the men’s and women’s finals, respectively.

    In Friday morning’s qualifiers, Simi Hamilton, also of the SMST2/USST, and Sadie Bjornsen, of Alaska Pacific University (APU) and the USST, posted the fastest men’s and women’s times, respectively.  Newell qualified second, and Diggins qualified third.

    Bjornsen went on to win the first quarterfinal and first semifinal, while Diggins did the same — winning the fifth quarterfinal and second semifinal. In the final, the two U.S. teammates met for the first time of the day. Diggins went on to cross the finish line first in 3:40.23, followed by her teammate Sophie Caldwell (SMST2/USST) 1.42 seconds later in second. Ida Sargent, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project and USST, placed third (+5.18), and Bjornsen narrowly missed the podium in fourth (+0.29), Rosie Brennan (APU/USST) placed fifth (+6.54), and Kikkan Randall (APU/USST) rounded out the final in sixth (+13.56).

    On the men’s side, Newell won all three of his heats, from the first quarterfinal to the first semifinal, right up to the final, crossing the line for the last time in 3:23.82. Hamilton won the third quarterfinal and placed second behind Newell in their semifinal in a photo finish for first (+0.01). Erik Bjornsen (APU/USST) won the other semifinal after winning the fifth quarterfinal as well. Ben Saxton (SMST2) advanced to the final as a lucky loser, along with Reese Hanneman (APU).

    In the final, Newell bested Saxton, his Stratton teammate, by 0.68 seconds for the win. Erik Bjornsen took the final spot on the podium in third (+1.41), ahead of Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) in fourth (+2.14), Hamilton in fifth (+3.02), and Hanneman in sixth (+4.5).

    SuperTour Finals continue Saturday with 10/15 k freestyle mass starts.

    Complete results

    Brackets

    SuperTour live stream