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.
On Saturday, the second day of racing at the U.S. Biathlon Fall Team Trials saw biathletes race mass start distance races outside Midway, Utah at Soldier Hollow (SoHo).
Clare Egan (USBA) won the women’s 10-kilometer event in 29:55.81 minutes. Egan, coming off a career best year on the IBU World Cup, shot clean while prone and missed two targets standing. Susan Dunklee (USBA), the winner of Thursday’s sprint race, placed second in 30:41.10 (1, 1, 3, 1). Joanne Reid raced to third in 30:41.10 (2,1,1,0). It was Reid’s second podium of the week at the Fall Trials.
The men raced 13.5 k on Saturday. Travis Cooper (USBA/National Guard Biathlon) backed up his win on Thursday with another victory in the mass start event. Cooper won in a time of 34:59.80 and missed a single target in his second standing bout. Paul Schommer (USBA) placed second in 35:06.28 (0,0,1,2). Third place went to Lars Hammernes Leopold (JNT). He crossed the line 0.41 seconds after Schommer and missed a single target in each of his standing stages. This was Leopold’s second podium of the trials at SoHo.
The Fall Trials conclude Sunday with a sprint race. The three-race SoHo series, along with results from the rollerski trials this summer in Vermont, are used to fill remaining start opportunities for Period 1 on the World Cup and Periods 2 and 3 on the IBU Cup.
Racers power onto the course at the start of the women’s SuperTour classic sprint final on Saturday in Sun Valley, Idaho. From left to right: Hannah Halvorsen, Veronika Mayerhofer, Becca Rorabaugh, Chelsea Holmes, Caitlin Patterson, and Kaitlynn Miller.
SUN VALLEY, Idaho — The opening day of the second SuperTour on the season brought a welcome change from last weekend: warmer weather. After enduring start delays and colder temperatures in West Yellowstone, Mont., racers enjoyed relative warmth and sunshine while sprinting in an open field at the Trail Creek venue in Sun Valley.
The 1.3-kilometer course set up for the classic sprint was ready to go thanks to the work of many coaches and volunteers throughout the week. Though the course started and finished in a flat stadium, it featured two climbs, a small one out of the start, and a larger one that reached the high point before dropping into the stadium. Both climbs represented an opportunity for the athletes to show off their striding ability.
This was something that the women’s race winner, Becca Rorabaugh of Alaska Pacific University (APU), was able to take full advantage of.
“I just love big striding and I knew that was going to be a sweet spot for me,” she said in a post-race interview. “I was really looking forward to that second hill.”
After placing sixth in the qualifier, Rorabaugh skied to a win in her quarterfinal before being narrowly bested by Kaitlynn Miller of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) in their semifinal. However, Rorabaugh, 26, was able to carry more energy into the final, where she won in 3:38.46, almost exactly one second ahead of Miller and 1.3 seconds ahead of Caitlin Patterson, also of the CGRP.
“I was slowly getting my motor going throughout the day and it turned out that I was able to last perfectly through the final,” Rorabaugh said. “It was just taking me a while to get going. I felt like I was really on it in time for the last heat, so it just worked out.”
Caitlin Patterson (in green) racing head-to-head with CU’s Christina Rolandsen (l) and Petra Hyncicova (center, in white) in their SuperTour classic-sprint quarterfinal in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Miller, meanwhile, skied strong throughout the day, but was unable to stay with Rorabaugh in the final. The 24-year-old CGRP skier won the qualifier in 3:35.73 before dominating her quarterfinal, winning it by over six seconds.
Her strategy of setting a fast pace from the start worked well in her semifinal, too, as she was able to edge Rorabaugh to the line. While Miller didn’t have quite enough energy in the final to stay ahead of the day’s winner, she had just enough to claim the second spot on the podium.
“[It felt] really good. The conditions are great, our skis were working really well, and it’s just a beautiful day,” Miller said after the final.
Miller’s teammate, Patterson was also pleased with how the day went, both for her and her teammates. It started with Craftsbury biathlete Clare Egan notching a career-best 16th in the IBU World Cup sprint in Östersund, Sweden, and Patterson said their team built upon that. She finished second in the qualifier and kept that speed throughout the rounds, winning her quarterfinal and semifinal before placing third in the final.
The women’s Sun Valley Super Tour 1.3 k classic sprint podium: (from l to r) Junior Hannah Halvorsen in sixth, Chelsea Holmes in fifth, Caitlin Patterson in third, Becca Rorabaugh in first, Kaitlynn Miller in second, and Veronika Mayerhofer in fourth.
“We just went for it, especially Kait. I don’t know if you saw her quarterfinal and semifinal, she just took off with it!” Patterson explained. “I felt like I had to fight a little more, but I think all around, a good day for both of us.”
Interestingly, none of the top three women in Saturday’s sprint placed in the top 10 in the skate sprint a week ago in West Yellowstone. Having another week to acclimate certainly helped the women from lower elevations, but the simple fact that this week’s sprint was classic made a big difference, too. Rorabaugh said she enjoys the striding while Miller feels classic skiing at altitude is just a bit easier than skating at some 5,750 feet above sea level.
The trio hopes to build upon their success in the sprint during Sunday’s 10 k classic. For Rorabaugh, a 10 k might just be the perfect race for where she is at right now.
“I’m looking forward to it because I feel like I have pretty good distance fitness. If it took me a whole day to get going today, odds are a 10 k could go alright,” she said.
As for the second- and third-place finishers, they said they were both feeling confident heading into Sunday.
“Watch out for us,” Patterson said of her team in Sun Valley. “All four, in green, watch out. We will be there.”
In fourth, Veronika Mayerhofer of the University of Utah, who won her quarterfinal and placed third in the semi, finished 3.76 seconds after Rorabaugh and 2.46 seconds off the podium. Just 0.25 seconds back, Chelsea Holmes (APU) placed fifth in the final, 4 seconds after Rorabaugh. Last week in West Yellowstone, Holmes placed fourth in the skate sprint, and last weekend’s sprint runner-up 17-year-old Hannah Halvorsen (Sugar Bowl Academy) reached the final again and placed sixth (+19.19).
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Olivia Ekblad of Montana State University crests the second hill before dropping back into the stadium.
In the junior women’s heats, meanwhile, a pair of Montana State University (MSU) skiers took first and second. Freshman Olivia Ekblad from Winthrop, Wash., won with sophomore Gretchen Burkholder from Steamboat Springs, Colo., following close behind in second. Rounding out the podium in the junior heats was Sun Valley’s own Annika Landis.
These spots were good enough for ninth, 10th and 11th junior women overall, as eight others qualified for the open heats. Halvorsen led those top juniors, finishing sixth in the overall standings. Still, the duo from MSU feels the sprint was a great way to start off their season.
“We have a really good group of girls at MSU to train with so its fun,” Ekblad explained. “Awesome coaches too. We’re definitely going to throw down this year, it’s going to be fun.”
Rosie Brennan leads Jennie Bender in the women’s final of the Madison SuperTour skate sprint. Bender would overtake Brennan for the win. (Photo: Renee Callaway)
Andrei Tiuterev (RUS) completed a Russian sweep of the Madison Square Capitol Sprints on Sunday in Madison, Wisconsin. Tiuterev bested countryman Dmitry Ozerskiy (RUS), the winner of Saturday’s classic sprint. Midwest native Karl Nygren (CXC) placed third.
Tim Reynolds (CGRP) was the fastest qualifier on the day, narrowly edging out Ozerskiy by 0.1 seconds.
Reynolds would go on to win his quarterfinal but fall in the semifinal, beaten to the line by Samuel Naney (MOD) and Karl Nygren.
Eric Walcott, another CXC team member, qualified third and won his quarterfinal but was found wanting against the Russian duo of Tiuterev and Ozerskiy in the second semifinal, finishing fourth.
Tiuterev, the eventual winner, appeared to pick up speed as the day wore on.
He qualified in 7th position, made it through the quarterfinal with a second place finish behind Ozerskiy, before finding another gear and beating his teammate in both the semifinal and the final.
According to Nygren, the third place finisher, tactics rather than speed prevailed on the narrow course in the final.
“It was very tactical,” Nygren told Fasterskier. “Naney led it out and I sat towards the back. The two Russians went hard around the second to last corner and pushed the pace and moved to the front on the gradual down.”
The Russians closed the door on the final turn into the finish, cutting off any chance for the the chasers.
“They [the Russians] took it on the inside and drifted out to block a pass on the best line,” said Nygren. “I decided to cut way back into the inside lane and was unable to close down the gap. They played it smart and skied well.”
In retrospect Nygren thought there may have been some team tactics, but on a short course with a narrow tracks it may have been as much a function of racing strategy as course profile.
“Looking back it appears they worked together but who knows,” Nygren concluded.
Beyond the racing the setting and crowd at the city sprints always makes this competition a highlight on racing circuit.
“Conditions were excellent and the city sprint atmosphere was amazing,” Nygren said.
Jennie Bender (CXC) got the better of Rosie Brennan (APU) on Sunday in the Madison Square freestyle sprints, a reversal of Saturday’s classic result.
Bender dominated throughout the day, qualifying in first position in a time of 1:53.0, 0.5 seconds ahead of rival Brennan.
She marched through the quarterfinals and seminfinals, winning both heats on her way to the final.
“City sprints are a nice change, and it is good for the athletes to get used to a different atmosphere of a typical race day,” Bender wrote to FasterSkier in an email. ”
Although the women’s field was small, there were enough top women to make the semis and final heats competitive. I am alway impressed with the wonderful volunteers there, who are super supportive.”
Eventual second placed finisher Brennan followed a similar trajectory to the final, winning both her quarterfinal and semifinal, before the exertions of Saturday’s classic sprint caught up with her.
“Today was challenging because I was unbelievable sore from the double pole derby of yesterday,” Brennan told FasterSkier. “My muscles were not happy to be ski racing today, but it was fun to skate today.”
Brennan eschewed tactics in favor of a more aggressive approach, saying “because of the way I felt, I thought my best chance was to just go for it from the gun and hope everyone else was tired.”
Her path to the final was challenged by third place qualifier Claire Egan (CGRP), whom finished second to her in the semifinal.
Egan would go on to finish fourth in the final.
Third place finisher Caitlin Patterson (CGRP), qualified 4th and delivered a series of gritty performances, finishing second in both her quarterfinal and seminfinal heats, before finding another gear on in the final to better her teammate Egan for a podium spot.
According to Brennan, the final wasn’t tactical, as the absence of a headwind muted the advantages of drafting.
“There wasn’t a head wind on the downhill so drafting wasn’t quite as important,” she said.
Despite a furious pace from the gun, her tempo wasn’t enough to unsettle Bender.
“Unfortunately, Jennie was able to stay with me and did a killer job skating the downhill so she passed me before we went around the final corner and I didn’t have much to answer with,” Brennan said.
Brennan echoed Nygren’s sentiments about the conditions and atmosphere of the Madison Square Sprints.
“The skiing was actually quite nice,” she said. “It was cold all weekend so the snow set up well and was firm throughout all the races.”
On Saturday, the second day of racing at the U.S. Biathlon Fall Team Trials saw biathletes race mass start distance races outside Midway, Utah at Soldier Hollow (SoHo).
![Skiers power onto the course at the start of the final. (From L to R: Veronika Mayerhofer, Becca Rorabaugh, Chelsea Holmes, Caitlin Patterson, Kaitlynn Miller)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/IMG_3812-e1449381823773.jpg")
![Caitlin Patterson tries to get the upper hand on CU's Christina Rolandsen and Petra Hyncicova in the quarterfinals (From L to R: Christina Rolandsen, Petra Hyncicova, Caitlin Patterson)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/IMG_3357-e1449381893459.jpg")
![The women's Sun Valley Super Tour 1.3 k classic sprint podium. (From L to R: Hannah Halvorsen, Chelsea Holmes, Caitlin Patterson, Becca Rorabaugh, Kaitlynn Miller, Veronika Mayerhofer)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/IMG_3941-e1449382924584.jpg")
![Olivia Ekblad of Montana State University crests the second hill before dropping back into the stadium.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/12/IMG_2600-e1449381872275.jpg")
![Madison SuperTour - Skate Sprint Women's Podium - (l-r) Rosie Brennan, Jennie Bender, Caitlin Patterson (Photo: Renee Callaway)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/2013-02-17_Winter-Fest-2013-481.jpg")