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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: Mary O’Connell

  • Americans Lock Out Canadians at Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour

    Americans Lock Out Canadians at Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour

    APU's Reese Hanneman (315) leading down the finishing stretch, with Sun Valley's Cole Morgan (r), Moritz Madlener (behind Hannneman) and Ben Saxton (behind Morgan) chasing. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
    APU’s Reese Hanneman (315) leading down the finishing stretch of the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour men’s classic sprint final on Dec. 10, with Sun Valley’s Cole Morgan (r), the University of Denver’s Moritz Madlener (behind Hanneman), Stratton’s Ben Saxton (behind Morgan), and Sun Valley’s Matt Gelso (behind Madlener) chasing. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    VERNON, B.C. — It might’ve been the first Canadian NorAm of the season, but the Americans made it all about themselves in what also doubled as their second stop on the U.S. SuperTour circuit this past weekend at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.

    U.S. skiers kept Canada off the podium in the classic sprints and freestyle intervals starts on Saturday, Dec. 10, and Sunday, Dec. 11, with Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and Canadian U25 Team, coming closest in fourth on Day 1.

    On Saturday, Bouffard-Nesbitt started off the very first NorAm race, a 1.2 k classic sprint, with a qualifying win. She went on to advance in second in her quarterfinal and third in her semifinal, before finishing fourth in the A-final, 1.49 seconds out of first.

    American Julia Kern of the Vermont-based Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team (formerly the T2 Team) won the women’s final in 3:17.04, after qualifying fifth and placing second in both her quarterfinal and semifinal. Kern led two Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) teammates, Liz Guiney and Kaitlynn Miller, in second (+0.67) and third (+0.91) on the podium, respectively.

    Bouffard-Nesbitt leads the American's through the bridge turn. Kern's tactical choice over a minute earlier gave her the inside position on Miller and the advantage she needed. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (AWCA) leads the Americans through the bridge turn in the women’s classic sprint A-final on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour. Stratton’s Julia Kern (second from r) made a tactical choice more than a minute earlier, which gave her the inside position on Craftsbury’s Kaitlynn Miller (l) and the advantage she needed to win. (Photo: Peggy Hung)

    Bouffard-Nesbitt led the six finalists into the finishing straight after opening up a wide gap at the top of the second climb.

    “Yeah, those Americans,” Bouffard-Nesbitt told FasterSkier after the race. “I was in first until we hit the final finishing straight, and then I just got out-double poled by three of the girls.”

    Kern, a U.S. Ski Team Development Team member and Dartmouth student, credited tactical choices for her victory.

    “In the quarterfinal, I made the mistake of not taking the outside, which turned into the inside turn on the second downhill,” Kern said.

    The second downhill on Sovereign’s sprint course has a gentle right turn leading into a high-speed left, followed by the long climb and then two sharp left turns to the finish. Keeping control of the inside for the last three turns gave Kern the ideal position to take the second skied-in finish lane to cross the line first.

    Guiney followed Kern to second, leaving Miller with the fresh snow in lane three.

    “I was in third the first half of the course, just stayed in the mix,” Miller said of the final. “I really like the striding hill at the end.”

    Despite being slowed in the final straight, Miller loved the conditions.

    “This course is really nice, the conditions are awesome,” she said. “I love all the fresh snow. We had really great skis today, so that always helps.”

    While Bouffard-Nesbitt was disappointed that there wasn’t a Canadian on the podium, she was happy with her day.

    “I haven’t really sprinted this year,” she said, referring to a stress fracture in her foot that put her on crutches for several months this summer. “The intensity I’ve done since I’ve been back on my feet has been almost exclusively controlled Zone 3.”

    The fourth American in the top five, Jennie Bender of the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) qualified third and finished fifth overall (+3.8). The SuperTour leader after West Yellowstone’s first two races of the season, she was disappointed with fifth.

    “It was a tough field out there,” Bender said. “It’s a really short course, lots of turns, three different 180-degree turns. I kind of got swallowed up on the last downhill and lost a little gusto.”

    Asked if she was tempted to double-pole the course, Bender laughed and said, “I was! I might of been interested to do it during the qualifier, but I was third, and yeah, I’ll keep the striding.”

    A third Craftsbury skier in the A-final, Heather Mooney qualified ninth and went on to finish sixth in the final (+19.84).

    “It’s a really fun course, fun with lots of transitions,” Mooney said. “Off the start of the final, I was really excited that we had three from our team. I just didn’t quite have it at the beginning, caught back up a little bit, but I was definitely on and off the back of the pack. Came in last, but it was a good day.”

    All six of the women’s B-finalists were American, with Becca Rorabaugh of Alaska Pacific University (APU) ultimately placing seventh, Erika Flowers (SMS Elite) eighth, Mary O’Connell (CGRP) ninth, Jessica Yeaton (APU) 10th, Mary Rose of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) 11th, and Anne Hart (SMS Elite) 12th.

    Maya MacIsaac-Jones, who had earned the opportunity to race World Cup Period 1, raced the NorAm sprint after sesamoiditis changed her early season plans.

    “I definitely wasn’t skiing as fast as I would like to be,” MacIsaac-Jones said, “but I am definitely just happy to be racing and on snow.”

    She was eliminated after placing fifth in her quarterfinal and skipped the 10 k freestyle on Sunday for a distance training session instead.

    ***

    The men's final on the first downhill. Hanneman leads Madlener, Briand, Gelso, and Morgan (Photo: Peggy Hung)
    The men’s final on the first downhill at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour on Dec. 10 near Vernon, B.C. Sun Valley’s Cole Morgan leads Denver’s Moritz Madlener, CNEPH’s Antoine Briand, Sun Valley’s Matt Gelso, and Stratton’s Ben Saxton Saxton in pursuit of APU’s Reese Hanneman (not shown). (Photo: Peggy Hung)

    The men’s classic sprint shared the same 1.2 k course and the same American domination of the podium after a semifinal crash took three Canadians out of contention.

    Reese Hanneman (APU) double poled to the win in 2:38.08 after qualifying 15th. Cole Morgan (SVSEF) and Ben Saxton (SMS Elite) rounded out the podium in second (+0.87) and third (+1.92), respectively.

    “I had a really bad qualifier, for me. I chose a classic ski,” Hanneman said of his qualification round. “But I think [grip wax] was much slower, as the heats showed.”

    He described the A-final as fast from the start.

    “I had a decent start; I was in second behind Cole up until the top of the first climb. I made a pass, double poled by him, and I was kind of leading into the big climb,” Hanneman recalled.

    “Then he and I were side by side, one and two, with a little gap. Then up the steep pitch, he took the lead and I tucked in behind him and just followed him over the bridge. I was able to close down the gap and then pass him and then turn on the jets coming in the final double-pole section.”

    Morgan, who won the qualifier and was one of the four others on skate skis in the final, was also pleased with his tactics.

    “I did the same tactic as I did in every heat, try to be in second place coming into the big downhill before the last hill,” Morgan said. “[I] was able to lead over the top, but didn’t have the same finish as Reese did.”

    Saxton double poled all four laps, as did Hanneman, Morgan and many of the top men.

    “I think that was the faster call, but it was definitely a physical task those last heats there,” Saxton said.

    Another double poler in the final, the University of Denver’s Moritz Madlener ended up fourth (+1.92) after qualifying third.

    “Considering how much we trained the last couple of weeks, it was a great result,” he said.

    For Madlener, who is originally from Germany, this marked his first visit to Canada.

    “This is German territory. The last time there was a World Cup here, the first five were Germans,” he said, probably not realizing that it was 11 years to the day since that 30 k pursuit event.

    The lone finalist on grip wax, Matt Gelso (SVSEF) finished fifth (+3.88) after winning his crash-marred semifinal. Antoine Briand of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) was the lone Canadian in the A-final, with a lucky loser time that was faster than Gelso’s winning time from the other semifinal.

    Angus Foster untangles himself as Evan Palmer-Charrette waits underneath. The ski through the big belongs to Simon Lapointe. (Photo: Shelley Woodman)
    Angus Foster (309) untangles himself after a semifinal crash at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour on Dec. 10, as his NTDC Thunder Bay teammate Evan Palmer-Charrette tries to get his breath back. The ski through the bib belongs to Simon Lapointe. (Photo: Shelley Woodman)

    For a few Canadian athletes, the crash in the second semifinal was the defining moment of the day. Only 50 metres into the race, Gelso used his inside position in the tight pack to pull in front of Angus Foster, of the Thunder Bay National Team Development Center (NTDC), but Gelso skied over Foster’s ski, triggering a chain reaction.

    “[Gelso] got through, but I went down, had two other Canadians go down with me,” Foster said after. “Probably the hardest crash we’ve ever had.”

    Foster fell sideways in front of NTDC teammate Evan Palmer-Charrette.

    “I just got unlucky, [Foster] fell right in front of me, and I just pitchforked over him, got the wind knocked out of me pretty bad,” Palmer-Charrette said. “Unfortunate, but that’s racing.”

    CNEPH’s Simon Lapointe was the third skier in the tangle. Lapointe got up quickly, but a broken binding required him to wait for a coach to run over with a spare ski.

    Palmer-Charrette was slow to get up, leaving Foster pinned in place. Foster finished the heat with three holes in the back of his race bib and likely a few ski-shaped bruises underneath.

    Lapointe, one of the top Canadians sprinters, was the most frustrated with the semifinal crash. He left the finish area with a quick French-language “nothing to say” before going on to win the B-final by 1.06 seconds over Palmer-Charrette in 2:43.31.

    None of the three Canadians protested to the jury member at the finish. Asked directly about whether there was cause for a protest, Foster said “That wasn’t a clean move, but that happens. People make mistakes.  Still frustrating, but….”

    Gelso was surprised to find only one skier with him at the top of the second climb. “We both went for a track at the same time, and I don’t know what happened,” Gelso said later, “but I’ve been on both ends of that.”

    Everyone interviewed spoke favorably of the combined NorAm/SuperTour weekend.

    “It’s really nice to get some deeper fields, to get the Americans and Canadians racing together,” Foster said. “It wasn’t so fun to watch the podium here.”

    Day 1 results: Classic sprint brackets

    ***

    APU's Scott Patterson leading Canadian junior Ty Godfrey (Team R.A.D.) during the men's 15 k freestyle interval start on Sunday, Dec. 11, at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour. (Photo: Peggy Hung
    APU’s Scott Patterson leading Canadian junior Ty Godfrey (Team R.A.D.) during the men’s 15 k freestyle interval start on Sunday, Dec. 11, at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour. (Photo: Peggy Hung)

    Day 2 at Sovereign proved to be more populated with Americans sweeping the top five and nearly the top 10 in the men’s and women’s distance freestyle interval starts.

    In the men’s 15 k, Scott Patterson (APU) topped the field by 13.2 seconds with a winning time of 40:00.2. Gelso reached the podium in second — his third this season in four SuperTour races — and Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) placed third (+26.6).

    The U.S. swept the top eight with Brian Gregg (Team Gregg) in fourth (+54.8), Paddy Caldwell (SMS Elite/Dartmouth/USST) in fifth (+1:20.5), Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) in sixth (+1:27.4), Madlener in seventh (+1:31.3), and Kyle Bratrud (CXC Team) in eighth (+1:33.5).

    Russell Kennedy of the Canmore-based Team R.A.D. was the top Canadian* in ninth (+1:38.8), and John Hegman (SVSEF) finished 10th (+1:44.2).
    (*While Kennedy lives and trains in Canada, he is originally from Truckee, Calif.)

    Out of 112 finishers in the men’s race, nearly 50 were American, and two were Australian national team members.

    “Gelso’s definitely in good shape so it was good to hear splits out there that I was leading,” Patterson said. He started in bib 94 behind Gelso in bib 80.

    “Fifteen k skate’s kind of been my game, one race I can always fall back to and know I can ski pretty fast,” Patterson added.

    Asked about the event doubling as a SuperTour, he said it added competition.

    “I would have loved to see the Canadians in West [Yellowstone], but it’s a weird course, makes sense to skip it,” he said of the SuperTour’s usual first stop on the circuit (one of the few places in the U.S. with reliable early season snow) at the Rendezvous Ski Trails in West Yellowstone, Mont. The SuperTour opener was originally scheduled for Bozeman, Mont., which would have been a NorAm as well, but moved because of low snow.

    “It’s always fun to have a bunch of people that you don’t know all that well,” Patterson added. “This is my first time in Silver Star and it’s been great.  Real winter, and we’ve been lacking that in Anchorage [Alaska].”

    After spending a good chunk of last season in Europe on the World Cup, Patterson noted that even those venues tend to rely on manmade snow.

    “It’s nice to have dumping snow out here,” he said.

    “I think the third lap, things started to slow down,” Patterson added about the race itself. “I was getting ice through my glasses and eyes. It made things feel a little more closed in, feel like it’s snowing harder. I think it slowed down a little bit, but maybe that’s just getting tired, too.”

    Sun Valley's Matt Gelso (front) charging a false flat on his first lap of the men's three-lap 15 k freestyle on Dec. 11 at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
    Sun Valley’s Matt Gelso (front) charging a false flat on his first lap of the men’s three-lap 15 k freestyle on Dec. 11 at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour, followed by Welly Ramsey (Ford Sayre). (Photo: Peggy Hung)

    Gelso recalled a slower last lap as well, but was pleased with his effort.

    “It’s a great course, and it was fun,” he said.

    Gelso was strongly in favor of combining the two North American circuits whenever possible, recalling a conversation he had with some U.S. and Canadian national-team members at 2015 World Championships.

    “Devon Kershaw and a bunch of the Canadians and Americans were staying in the same hotel, and we were talking about how cool … instead of having one Canadian, one American that goes to the World Cup on the Continental Cup, why [doesn’t the International Ski Federation] give North America three spots for Canada and the US, and all of our races are together?” he said. “Sometimes it will be three Americans, sometimes it will be three Canadians, sometimes it will be two and one, whoever’s racing fast. The more we are racing together, I think the better we’re going to fare internationally.”

    “I mean, we’re friends with these guys, we know who they are,” Elliott said of racing with Canadians. “Michael Somppi, Kevin Sandau, they’ve been visited us at U.S. nationals last year. Silver Star’s gorgeous, great skiing, great course, well-run races, so it’s always a pleasure to visit here.”

    Elliott, a former U.S. Ski Team distance skier, described feeling surprised with his effort on Sunday after what he called a “great sprint” in West Yellowstone (in which he placed 14th) followed by a head cold, which forced him to skip the West Yellowstone distance race.

    “I rested all week indoors, and I felt incredible today,” he said.

    Kennedy in ninth called his race a solid start, but had hoped to finished a “little higher up.”

    “The U.S. guys are skiing super-strong right now, you could just see it out there,” Kennedy said. “I thought I was skiing pretty well, and then got some splits off of Gelso, and OK, they’re moving. I am hoping when we have [World Championships] trials in Park City, we’ll be a little bit more up there, but we’ll see. It’s good to have that competition, too. You can’t rest anywhere, you have to push everywhere, so that’s good.”

    Asked about the NorAm/SuperTour combo, he was also positive.

    “It’s good for us to have the extra competition and it’s good to race new faces,” Kennedy said. “Especially in sprints, you get used to the same tactics from the same people. When you have someone new, it’s nice to have to adjust your tactics and be prepared for what they’re going to do when you don’t know them as well. In distance, it’s really cool to have new guys to chase. I can kind of know the Canadians, what’s happening with them, but I was chasing down David [Norris] today, and he kind of surprised me how strong he was on the last lap, it was good to have that extra push, for sure.”

    The second-fastest Canadian man of the day, Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) placed 15th (+2:13.1).

    “I feel really fast on the one-skate, and the uphill was good, too,” Dumas said after. “I improved a lot my offset this summer, so it was good for this course.”

    In terms of season goals, he’s looking to qualify for U23 World Championships, where he’d like to achieve a top 20.

    ***

    Chelsea Holmes leads Erika Flowers at the 5 k mark of the women's 10 k freestyle interval start on Sunday, Dec. 11, at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour. (Photo: Marie-Éve Bilodeau-Corriveau)
    Chelsea Holmes leads Erika Flowers at the 5 k mark of the women’s 10 k freestyle interval start on Sunday, Dec. 11, at the Sovereign Lake NorAm/SuperTour. (Photo: Marie-Éve Bilodeau-Corriveau)

    In the women’s 10 k, Chelsea Holmes (APU) took the win in 30:42.9, topping the time of the race’s previous leader, Katharine Ogden (SMS Elite) by 13.4 seconds. Stratton had two on the podium with Flowers in third, 36.4 seconds back from Holmes.

    “The course was really hard, but my techs and coaches gave us really good skis,” Holmes said after. “Today, I had the most amazing team, all the boys finished and they were cheering so hard.”

    Holmes started 30 seconds after Flowers and 1 minute behind her APU teammate Rosie Frankowski.

    “Chelsea started right behind me, and her and Frankie [Frankowski] and I all skied together for most of it, which made it a lot more fun cruising through the snow,” Flowers recalled. “We had a good little crew going, so it was hard, but hard with friends.”

    Frankowski finished with Holmes and 59.9 seconds off her winning time in sixth place, behind Gregg in fourth (+40.8) and Rose in fifth (+51.7). APU had three in the top seven with Rorabaugh in seventh (+1:09.8). Craftsbury’s Guiney placed eighth (+1:17.9), Deedra Irwin (SVSEF) was ninth (+1:18.4), and Kern, Saturday’s sprint winner, 10th (+1:24.8).

    For the second day in a row, Bouffard-Nesbitt was the top Canadian woman, placing 13th (+1:51.8). Of the top 20, the U.S. swept all but three places: 13th, 18th with NTDC’s Annika Richardson, and 20th with Sovereign Lake’s own Hannah Mehain. (Both Richardson and Mehain belong to Canada’s Junior National Team.)

    “I’ve never had an easy race at Silver Star,” Bouffard-Nesbitt said after Sunday’s 10 k. “It was really hard as usual. To be honest, all morning, I feel pretty wrecked from yesterday’s race. Whole body, that sprint really took a toll on me. I was kind of just trying to play the hand I was dealt the best I could, make the most of it. I think I’m happy with it.”

    Asked how she felt about being the top Canadian for the second-straight day, albeit outside the top 10, she replied, “Let’s say, bittersweet. Obviously, we want to have Canadians represented at the top of these fields, among the Americans, but of course I’m happy to be top Canadian.”

    Regardless, she was glad to have the competition.

    “We not coming here to have easy wins; we’re coming here to be challenged,” Bouffard-Nesbitt said. “I’m very happy to have them here, and I’m very happy when they can show us what fast racing looks like.”

    Sixty-two women finished the distance race, and about half were American. Most of the NorAm field is headed to Rossland, B.C., for next weekend’s NorAm, which is not a SuperTour and will not count toward the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association’s (USSA) national ranking list.

    Day 2 results: 10/15 k freestyle

     

  • Reid, Hajkova Land Top Two to Lift CU to NCAA Title

    Colorado University, the 2013 NCAA skiing champions. (Photo: Steve Fuller/Flying Point Road. All photo sales benefit NNF)
    Women’s 15 k freestyle mass start winner, Joanne Reid holds up the University of Colorado’s first-place trophy at the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships on Saturday at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt.. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com/All photo sales benefit NNF.)

    RIPTON, Vt. – Joanne Reid knows exactly what it takes to win. The University of Colorado senior has been no stranger to the podium in her four years at Boulder, placing third as a sophomore at the 2011 NCAA Skiing Championships.

    But this season was an exception. In 10 total Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) races, Reid won eight of them. Her unrivaled dominance made the 20-year-old from Palo Alto, Calif., the clear-cut RMISA MVP.

    The question was: how would she fare against eastern-collegiate skiers on what was essentially their home turf at Rikert Nordic Center in Vermont? On Thursday, in the first of the two-day nordic NCAA Championships, Reid placed fourth in the women’s 5 k classic individual start. It was the first time she hadn’t made the top two all season.

    Saturday was a different story. With teammate Eliska Hajkova, Reid was confident they could get out front in the 15-kilometer freestyle mass start and stay there. Just as they’d done all season (including when they swept the podium with teammate Maria Nordstrom at regionals), they planned to feed off each other to achieve what they both wanted: the podium.

    Joanne Reid leads her Colorado University teammates, Eliska Hajkova (4) and Maria Nordstrom (9) early in Saturday's 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Reid won by nearly 27 seconds and Hajkova was second. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com. All photo sales benefit NNF)
    Joanne Reid leads her Colorado University teammates, Eliska Hajkova (4) and Maria Nordstrom (9) early in Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Reid won by nearly 27 seconds and Hajkova was second. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    The CU seniors led from the start: Reid in a blue headband, Hajkova in a pink one. The way they were skiing, that was one of a few ways you could tell them apart.

    Changing leads throughout the first and second laps, Reid took charge for good on the third and final loop around a twisty, turning and technical 5 k course. Hajkova remembers her dropping the pack – with Marine Dusser of the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) and Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth College) – on the third of several hills.

    “She kind of went and we couldn’t follow,” said Hajkova, who hails from the Czech Republic. “We were, like, falling apart.”

    About a half kilometer from the finish, Reid entered Rikert’s spectator-packed stadium in first without any contenders in sight. She cruised around the field’s final curve more than 30 seconds ahead, grabbed a CU flag a few hundred meters before the finish, and carved some turns while making her way across the line.

    Reid finished in 38:17.8 for her first NCAA title, 26.8 seconds ahead of Hajkova, who outlunged Dusser for second. The RMISA MVP runner-up, Dusser placed third for the second-straight race at NCAAs, 0.4 seconds behind Hajkova.

    Colorado University’s top-two sweep put the Buffs in prime position against the University of Vermont (UVM) for the combined alpine-nordic NCAA team title. Trailing by 54 points to start the day, CU overtook UVM by 16 points after the women’s race.

    Thanks to some solid men’s performances in the following 20 k, CU rolled to a 43-point victory over the University of Utah (which put three men in the top five) and topped UVM by 56 points. Last year, UVM edged CU for the team win, but in 2011, CU took it.

    “Our girls were not such a surprise because they were consistent and forming all season,” said CU head coach Richard Rokos, who’s in charge of both the university’s alpine and nordic programs. “I was a little surprised that UVM didn’t put a little more resistance on us.”

    Joanne Reid (Colorado University) after winning Saturday's 15 k skate mass start for her first NCAA title at the 2013 championships in Ripton, Vt.
    Joanne Reid (University of Colorado) with her mom Beth after winning Saturday’s 15 k skate mass start for her first NCAA title at the 2013 championships in Ripton, Vt. Beth Heidin won a NCAA nordic title at the 1983 championships. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com)

    With Reid, it was somewhat of a blast from the past. Her mother Beth Heiden skied for UVM and won the 1983 NCAA Nordic Championships. Before that, she was the all-around world speed skating champion in 1979, the 1980 world road cycling champ and a bronze-medalist speed skater at the 1980 Olympics.

    “I saw her at the finish line and it was great,” Reid told BuffZone.com. “It’s cool that we have both now won NCAA individual titles … Every time I go skiing with her, they just list all her awards so now I have one that she has. I just need a few more world championships in other sports now to catch up.”

    Reid’s uncle, Eric Heiden, won five gold medals at the 1980 Olympics, and set four Olympic records and a world best there. According to the CU website, he was the only athlete in the history of speed skating to have swept five events in a single Olympics.

    Colorado University seniors Joanne Reid (l) and Eliska Hajkova celebrate placing first and second, respectively, in Saturday's 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    University of Colorado-Boulder seniors Joanne Reid (l) and Eliska Hajkova celebrate placing first and second, respectively, in Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    On Saturday, Reid put down a commanding performance of her own and said she couldn’t have done without her teammate.

    “It’s always better if I can have this one right next to me,” she said of Hajkova. “That’s what makes it really complete.”

    After a somewhat relaxed first lap, the CU women led a group of four the last two loops with Dusser and O’Connell, who placed fourth.

    “I was more comfortable in front and I just kept skiing how I felt,” Reid said. “I guess I ended up in front.”

    Hajkova said they had “great skis,” which Dusser noticed early on. The former French national-team biathlete wasn’t having as much luck with hers.

    “I tried to keep my energy and stay behind Eliska,” Dusser said. “But she was a better sprinter. I was tired at the end so she beat me by not a lot, but that’s a race.”

    A 2011 NCAA champion in the 15 k classic, Hajkova said placing second to Reid was about as much as she could’ve asked for after struggling to get healthy since last fall.

    “I couldn’t dream for more,” Hajkova said. “If I had been second to somebody else, and Joanne didn’t win, it would be a little bit sad, but this, I’m just on top of my happiness.”

    Dusser, too, was thrilled with another podium in her first NCAA Championships. Unsure what her plans are next year, she’s hoping to ski another year at UAA, but said it depends whether she can get another scholarship.

    “I would like to stay in Alaska,” Dusser said. “It was out too quick with biathlon and I don’t regret. I really like nordic skiing; I really like the spirit of NCAA race. It’s a lot of fun and people are really nice and I like my team.”

    Thursday’s runner-up, O’Connell finished 33.3 seconds behind Dusser (1:00.5 after Reid). Silje Benum of Denver University was fifth (+1:03.2) and the University of New Hampshire’s Anya Caldwell Bean was another 5.4 seconds back in sixth.

    “Top ten I thought it would be awesome,” Bean said. “But I didn’t really know what to expect.”

    She avoided several crashes, but top contenders like Elizabeth Guiney (UNH), Anja Gruber (UVM) and Annie Pokorny (Middlebury College) did not. Guiney placed 16th, Gruber ended up 21st and Pokorny did not finish after falling on a downhill less than two kilometers into the first lap.

    After hitting a tree in Thursday’s 5 k and knocking her hips out of alignment, Pokorny wasn’t sure she would be able to compete Saturday. Finally able to bend at the waist again that morning, she decided she could.

    “It would’ve been fine if I stayed on my feet,” Pokorny said while watching the men’s 20 k on crutches.

    She completed the first lap, but ultimately did not finish. After an initial look at her injury, Pokorny believed she had bruised her femur.

    Women's 15 k freestyle mass start podium at 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    Women’s 15 k freestyle mass start podium at 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. From left to right: Annie Hart (Dartmouth/8th), Anya Caldwell Bean (UNH/6th), Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth/4th), Marine Dusser (UAA/3rd), Joanne Reid (CU/1st), Eliska Hajkova (CU/2nd), Silje Benum (DU/5th), Rosie Frankowski (NMU/7th). (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    As for the rest of the field, Rosie Frankowski of Northern Michigan University placed seventh, Dartmouth’s Annie Hart was eighth, Utah’s Rose Kemp (who also fell) was ninth, and Denver’s Makayla Cappel finished 10th.

    At the end of the day, the happiest coach had to be Rokos. He said getting his alpine and nordic teams to combine for a national title was tricky, especially because of the nature of downhill racing.

    “On the nordic side, it’s a race to go and ski your best and race fast,” Rokos said. “In alpine, all year long we go pretty much the same until NCAA Championship and then we put them in a dilemma, ski fast but finish, and there is no compromise between those things.”

    He told his alpine squad they had to finish and was proud of those athletes for using such discipline. And while UVM beat CU on the downhill runs at Middlebury College’s Snow Bowl, the Buffs made up for it at Rikert.

    “Every single person on the team made a great contribution,” Rokos said of Colorado’s 18th NCAA victory, his seventh with the team since 1991.  “It’s teamwork and it came that way.”

    He also credited the team’s success to head nordic coach, Bruce Cranmer, in his 13th season with the Buffs.

    “Both Eliska and Joanna are in their last year; they were maturing athletically throughout all their career with CU and they have a great coach,” Rokos said. “[He] did a great deal of work with them and it paid off.”

    Women’s results

    2013 NCAA 15 k champion Joanne Reid waves a Colorado University flag after helping her team to a national title. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    2013 NCAA 15 k champion Joanne Reid waves a Colorado University flag after helping her team to a national title. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    For more photos from the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships, visit Flying Point Road Photography. All proceeds go to the National Nordic Foundation (NNF).

  • Gruber Crowned NCAA Classic Champion; UVM Leads Championships After Two Events

    Gruber Crowned NCAA Classic Champion; UVM Leads Championships After Two Events

     

    University of Vermont junior Anja Gruber won the 5 k classic race at NCAA Championships on Thursday by 11.1 seconds over Dartmouth's Mary O'Connell. Marine Dusser (University of Alaska, Anchorage) took third.
    University of Vermont junior Anja Gruber won the 5 k classic race at NCAA Championships on Thursday over Dartmouth’s Mary O’Connell. Marine Dusser (University of Alaska, Anchorage) took third in the second event and first nordic race of the NCAAs.

    RIPTON, Vt. — In the world of college skiing, a lot can change in a year — just ask newly crowned NCAA 5 k classic champion Anja Gruber. The University of Vermont junior was her team’s fourth woman last season and had never competed at NCAA Championships before Thursday. But in her first appearance at the most important race of the college season Gruber bested the entire 40-woman field and won the first nordic event at Rikert Touring Center by 11.1 seconds.

    Dartmouth College freshman Mary O’Connell finished second and University of Alaska, Anchorage, freshman Marine Dusser took third. With the completion of the giant slalom and classic events at NCAAs, UVM sits in the lead at the halfway point of the championships with 389 points to the University of Colorado’s 368.5 points.

    Gruber en route to an 11.1-second win.
    Gruber en route to an 11.1-second win.

    “It’s pretty unbelievable right now,” Gruber said after the podium ceremony made her national title official. “I’m not sure if this actually just happened!”

    The 21-year-old from Leutkrich, Germany, stepped from the beginning of the carnival season to make up the hole left by three senior women who graduated from the 2012 championship squad. It was a big void to fill, but UVM nordic coach Patrick Weaver says Gruber rose to the occasion spectacularly, and particularly on Thursday at NCAAs.

    “Anja was the clear number four skier for us last year, always in fourth, kind of like the domestique of the team,” Weaver said. “With everyone graduating last year I think she realized this was her opportunity. She came back in great shape and I always had it in the back of my mind that she had as good a chance as anybody in this race, so [I’m] just super-excited to see that happen. Really happy for her.”

    Between six regular-season competitions Gruber tallied two classic victories, one freestyle win and helped lead UVM to an undefeated EISA season headed into Thursday. And once NCAA competition began at Middlebury, team was everything. UVM’s alpine squad drew first blood in the giant slalom on Wednesday and the nordic athletes wanted to do their part to maintain the momentum.

    “It’s really great to have a good result for yourself, but more important than that is that you get those points for the team,” Gruber said. “Our alpiners are definitely pulling their weight and we want to do that, too. Everyone knows they have to do their very best in order to make this work and that’s what we all do.”

    When she lined up as 37th starter out of 40 on Thursday, Gruber’s goal was a simple one: ride the energy of a successful 2013 campaign and ski the best race she could for the Catamounts.

    “I came here and — we were joking, this is just the strawberry on the frosting on the cake,” Gruber said. “But we also knew that this whole season, it worked out great, so we were just saying, ‘Why shouldn’t it work today?’ I definitely wanted to have a good race and you can’t really influence how the other people will do, so as long as you ski your best…yeah. That worked.”

    The second, third and fourth-place finishers on Thursday all ended up being the only three skiers behind Gruber on the start list. It was a finicky day for kick wax at Rikert and some teams appeared to struggle with the grip, but Gruber said she and her teammates had great skis, which helped her on the deceptively challenging course.

    “I went out really hard, I think,” Gruber said. “I was telling myself, ‘You fell good, this is good,’ and then when the hills started my skis were working and I said, ‘Oh, my skis are working, this is good.’ And then I was starting to hurt pretty bad, like, ‘Oh, I’m dying.’”

    Spurred up the last hill by a slew of Catamount fans, teammates and coaches, Gruber finished hard on Rikert’s newly-homologated trails put a few more seconds of space between herself an the remaining competitors. O’Connell got a final split saying she was only five seconds down, but in the end Gruber won by over 11 seconds.

    “Anja made up quite a bit of time in the finishing stretch,” O’Connell said.

    Mary O'Connell (Dartmouth College) brings it home for silver.
    Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth College) brings it home for silver.

    The Dartmouth freshman from Steamboat Springs, Colo., put together an impressive race in her own right. Like Gruber, 2013 is also O’Connell’s first NCAA Championship appearance, and with a goal of reaching just the top-10 on Thursday she finished ahead of nearly everyone on the stacked start list. As the final starter, O’Connell left the gate 30 seconds behind CU’s Joanne Reid, a pre-race favorite, and set out to use the position to her advantage.

    “I had the last starting position, which I was both excited and nervous about,” O’Connell said. “It’s a good position, because then your splits are very accurate. I started right behind Joanne Reid and I guess she was one of the favorites to win, so I just wanted to keep her in my sights. And it’s a 5 k, so I pretty much just went hard the whole time and tried to ski the down hills really well.”

    When she crossed the finish line, O’Connell bumped Dusser out of second by just 0.8 seconds. The result has her looking forward to Saturday’s freestyle race, particularly since she won the 15 k at Rikert earlier this season at the Middlebury carnival.

    “I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m much better at distance skating, and the last time we did a 15 k skate here I won the race,” O’Connell said. “So I have good confidence going into it — you know, a top 5, a top 10, would also be great.”

    As Dusser is former French National Biathlon Team member, she wasn’t too upset at the last-minute demotion from silver to bronze. The UAA freshman from Villard de Lans, France, only began training for races in the classic technique this year, and as the third-ranked RMISA skier at NCAAs this year she had top-5 expectations for Thursday’s race.

    “It’s my first championship and I’m a biathlete, so I wasn’t really good in classic before,” Dusser said. “So I didn’t really know what to expect but this season was pretty good, so yup — I’m happy.”

    Marine Dusser (University of Alaska, Anchorage), third.
    Marine Dusser (University of Alaska, Anchorage), third.

    For the 24-year-old, cross-country races are generally more enjoyable experiences that what she’s used to on game day.

    “Biathlon is really stressful with the shooting, so I enjoy and feel it’s more fun, but at the same time I feel [NCAAs] is really important, so I’m happy,” Dusser said. “When I see all the people around me…I think it’s a really important race, so I’m glad to be here and to try.”

    Under two seconds behind Dusser, Reid placed fourth for CU. Sloan Storey (University of Utah) was fifth (+31.0) and Maria Nordstroem (CU) placed sixth (+32.2). UVM leads CU in the team standings by a slim twenty points headed into Friday’s slalom events at the Snow Bowl. The fourth and final event of the NCAA championships is the 15/20 k mass start freestyle, which takes place at Rikert on Saturday.

    Does UVM feel any pressure to maintain their lead and repeat their 2012 title?

    “We try not to think about defending, we just want to win this one,” Weaver said. “We try not to look back and we like to look forward, so we’re just taking this one day a time… We did our job today and I think we’re still in the lead, so we’re going to send good vibes to the alpine team tomorrow and hopefully they can do what they do best. And then we’ll see what happens Saturday.”

    Results and team standings

    — Matt Voisin contributed reporting.

  • Americans Notch 10th, 12th in Junior Worlds Relays

    Americans Notch 10th, 12th in Junior Worlds Relays

    The junior men's relay gets underway on the last day of competition at the 2013 Junior World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Photo: Eric Packers.
    The junior men’s relay gets underway on the last day of competition at the 2013 Junior World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Photo: Eric Packers.

    Ask any athlete what their favorite race is, and nine times out of ten their answer will be: “relays.” The four-person event fittingly caps off the World Junior Championships every year — the preceding individual races identify new world champions, but the relay is where athletes go to truly ski for flag and country.

    It was with awareness of this fact that the American 4 x 5 k and 4 x 3.3 k relay teams lined up together for their final races of the week on Sunday in Liberec, Czech Republic. On a fast, hard track the U.S. women placed tenth, matching their 2012 performance in Turkey, and the men finished twelfth.

    Heather Mooney (Middlebury College) scrambling for the U.S. in the 4x3.3 k relay at World Junior Chamionships. Photo: Eric Packer.
    Heather Mooney (Middlebury College) scrambling for the U.S. in the 4×3.3 k relay at World Junior Chamionships. Photo: Eric Packer.

    Is it what they were hoping for? Yes and no. A few standout individual legs highlighted the group performance while a mishap or two dashed greater team ambitions. But sometimes racing is a mixed bag, and at the end of a week of high profile skiing most athletes were riding the high of competing against the best in the world.

    One of the standout performances came from Heather Mooney (Middlebury College) in the women’s relay. She scrambled for the U.S. on classic skis to put the team in ninth at the first exchange and within nine seconds of third place.

    Skiing in her favorite relay position, Mooney held on to the leaders for a good while. Russia’s team led the pack through the first leg, and Mooney kept the blue suit within her sights for longer than she expected to.

    “My skis were really fast, so I’d gain a lot on the down hills, and also on the double pole parts I was able to pick up some time,” she wrote in an email. “3 k races are always the most difficult for me, definitely the most painful races out there. Coming up the big hill, about three minutes to go, I was hurting a lot, and just out of contact with the pack.”

    Through the pain Mooney noticed the Russian scrambler, Alisa Zhambalova, not too far away, and the sight gave her a second wind.

    “I really wanted to give our team a chance, so tried to really dig deep to tag off in that pack,” she said.

    Mary O'Connell (Dartmouth College), U.S. leg number two. Photo: Eric Packer
    Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth College), U.S. leg number two. Photo: Eric Packer

    She nearly succeeded, and came through the tag zone just behind the Norwegian team at the back of the chase group.

    “Knowing your teammates are counting on you, it makes it a little easier to find the truly painful gear,” Mooney said. “My goal was to get there today, without blowing up, so although I wasn’t able to bring it in with the pack, I’m happy I was able to ‘roll my eyes back,’ as Pepa [Miloucheva] tells me!”

    Mooney tagged off to Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth College) 29 seconds behind the leaders, and from there O’Connell sought to reel the Norwegian team in.

    “Heather had a great leg,” O’Connell said. “I left the exchange zone and saw Norway right ahead of me and tried to bridge the gap. But then I sorta just died.”

    She gave everything she had, but felt tired during her leg.

    “I just felt…a little off my game,” O’Connell said. “I was pretty disappointed with my leg. Relays are hard because you’re not just racing for yourself but for your team, but I can say that I gave everything I had all the way.”

    She posted the 11th-fastest split to hand off to Emily Hannah (Harvard University) in tenth place, 1:23 down to the leaders. The U.S. would hold the position for the remainder of the relay. Hannah and Corey Stock (Dartmouth College), the American’s anchor, skied the rest of the race by themselves and finished 2:43 off Sweden’s winning time.

    Hannah also said she felt off after a week’s worth of racing.

    Emily Hannah (Harvard University) skiing the third leg for the U.S. Photo: Eric Packer.
    Emily Hannah (Harvard University) skiing the third leg for the U.S. Photo: Eric Packer.

    “I did not feel very good today, I just felt flat and tired, like I didn’t have anything extra to give,” she said. “Even though it wasn’t my best race, though, I had a lot of fun… I am really glad that I got to see the level that international skiers my age are at; it gives me a more definite sense of where I need to be.”

    At the end of the day, the team focused on positives from the team camaraderie and a hard-working support crew.

    “Again, the team is great here,” O’Connell said. “Everyone is so supportive and the coaches and wax techs just did an amazing job.”

    Mooney agreed, adding that it was eye-opening simply to be in Liberec against the best U20s in the world.

    “It is really motivating to be here, to see what the best looks like,” she said. “I’m excited to go home, into the rest of the season and next year, really knowing what I need to try and get there.”

    Women’s 4×3.3 k relay results

    Cory Stock (Dartmouth College) bringing it home. Photo: Eric Packer.
    Cory Stock (Dartmouth College) bringing it home. Photo: Eric Packer.

     

     

    Junior Men’s Relay

    Like the women, American men’s squad approached the race on Sunday with an extra sense of higher purpose. On top of all the usual relay excitement they wanted to redeem themselves of disappointing individual results from earlier in the week, and to it together on the dramatic team stage.

    The Americans’ second man, Ben Saxton (F.A.S.T. Performance Training), put it this way: “We were super mentally ready to hang with the big dogs, to suffer and hurt and be in the hunt.”

    Logan Hanneman (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) closely tailing the Russian leader in the early kilometers of the 4x5 k relay. Photo: Eric Packer.
    Logan Hanneman (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) closely tailing the leaders in the first leg of the relay before an unlucky fall. Photo: Eric Packer.

    Such a mentality can be powerful, and perhaps it was that desire to suffer with the leaders that  propelled Logan Hanneman (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) to position the American team just behind the leaders early in the scramble leg, right around fourth place.

    Things were looking good for the U.S. until bad luck struck on Hanneman’s second lap. He fell on an inopportune downhill and the pack got away from him with the lost momentum. The race suddenly became a matter of catching up for the remaining three and a half legs.

    “My leg was going really well, until I fell on the second lap on this huge downhill,” Hanneman said. “So I lost a lot of places. So that wasn’t so great, but I was right with the leaders until then.”

    He tagged off to Saxton in 14th, 34 seconds behind Russia at the front of the pack. Hanneman was, understandably, frustrated with the end result, both from his relay and from earlier in the championships.

    “The week was interesting. I know I can ski better, however I played the cards I was dealt,” he said. “That’s racing. It was another great experience though.”

    Out on the course, Saxton did his best to catch back on to the pack. He skied the seventh-fastest split out of the second-leg skiers to do it, passing five teams along the way to bring the U.S. back in the hunt for a top-10. Though happy with that kind of feedback, Saxton noted that attempts to ski well from that far back were difficult.

    Ben Saxton (F.A.S.T. Performance Training) on the second leg. Photo: Eric Packer.
    Ben Saxton (F.A.S.T. Performance Training) on the second leg. Photo: Eric Packer.

    “I went pretty hard out of the start and tried to relax on the hills the first lap,” Saxton said. “The problem wasn’t the fitness, it was that when we weren’t in the top group the pace was just slower and we proceeded to lose time. Trying to bridge that gap was suicide, but we were losing time staying there so it was a weird situation.”

    In addition to the physical challenges of closing the deficit, it was a tough spot to ski from mentally, particularly because the team had been so fired up before the start.

    “That fall could’ve happened to anyone, it was just a very unfortunate fall,” Saxton said. “Everyone just went their hardest. It was really just such a bummer because we were more mentally ready than I’ve ever seen us.”

    Saxton tagged off to Kyle Bratrud (Northern Michigan University) in ninth, who skied the first skate leg on “pretty tired” legs. He skied with a Japanese athlete for most of the 5 k and handed the race off to Sawyer Kesselheim (Bridger Ski Foundation) in 11th, 1:22 down from the leaders.

    Kesselheim skied with Japan’s Tomoki Sato skied and caught up to another skier on the last climb before the finish, only to get passed again in the final stretch.

    “I pushed hard up the last hill and created a gap but got out-sprinted in the finishing zone,” Kesselheim said. “I wish I could have saved more for the end but it was fun and a good experience.”

    Though unhappy with their result on paper, the team was able to focus on highlights from the week at the conclusion of the race. They’re more motivated than ever, and for at least one athlete the best part of the week was that the individual competitors came together as a team by the end of the week.

    “The greatest part of the week was the people,” Saxton said. “The friends I got to know better from America and those new ones I met just this week will never really leave and in cross country skiing, which is a sport that’s incredibly people-driven, that’s quite the gift to take from any trip, especially this one.”

    Men’s 4x5k relay results

     

    Special thanks to Eric Packer for his photos.

     

    Kyle Bratrud (Northern Michigan University) on leg 3. Photo: Erick Packer.
    Kyle Bratrud (Northern Michigan University) on leg 3. Photo: Erick Packer.
    Sawyer Kesselheim (Bridger Ski Foundation) anchoring. Photo: Eric Packer.
    Sawyer Kesselheim (Bridger Ski Foundation) anchoring. Photo: Eric Packer.
    An American cheer squad: Liz Guiney, Annie Pokorny and Sloan Storey. Photo: Eric Packer.
    An American cheer squad: Liz Guiney, Annie Pokorny and Sloan Storey. Photo: Eric Packer.

     

     

  • Mooney Takes 26th to Lead U.S. in World Juniors Skiathlon

    Mooney Takes 26th to Lead U.S. in World Juniors Skiathlon

    Heather Mooney (USA) led the U.S. at World Juniors on Friday with a 26th-place finish in the 10 k skiathlon. Photo: Sawyer Kesselheim.
    Heather Mooney (USA) led the U.S. at World Juniors on Friday with a 26th-place finish in the 10 k skiathlon. Photo: Sawyer Kesselheim.

    At a race as big as Junior World Championships, a lot of factors go into turning a race into a great day. A personal best. Fast skis. Bluebird skies. For Heather Mooney (Middlebury College), it was some combination that helped her towards her 26th-place showing in the women’s 10 k skiathlon in Liberec, Czech Republic, a performance that led the Americans at the championships on Friday.

    “I’m definitely very happy with my race today,” Mooney wrote in an email. “My real goal was to try and stay relaxed and not waste any energy through the classic leg, getting in a good position, not getting pushed around by anyone, and then in the skate I hoped just to ski smooth and stomach as much pain as I could. I think I did those things really well, so I’m happy with that.”

    Mooney and two teammates, Sloan Storey and Corey Stock, started next to each other in the narrow, five-lane chevron with bibs 41, 42 and 43. The trio, along with Mary O’Connell in bib 35, was able to ski close to each other in some fashion through the classic leg. The Americans expected a chaotic mass start and for the most part made it through the first few kilometers unscathed and in control of their own races.

    “The course starts up a steep hill before dropping down a big downhill over a bridge with a big corner, so we were all expecting there to be a lot of crashes, but it ended pretty hassle-free for most of us,” Mooney said. “Getting through the first lap was a bit nerve wracking, but the girls in front took it out really fast, so it spread out reasonably well.”

    Mooney working through the skate leg. Photo: Sawyer Kesselheim.
    Mooney working through the skate leg. Photo: Sawyer Kesselheim.

    Mooney came through the pit in 31st at the halfway mark and picked people off in the skate leg to finish 26th overall with the 28th-best freestyle time. As someone who is historically a better classic skier Mooney was particularly excited with the second half of her race.

    “I’m generally not as strong of a skater, but it’s something I’ve been working a lot on this year, so I’m really excited to have a solid skate result, especially here!” she said.

    Two years ago in Estonia, Mooney was 50th in the pursuit. On the heels of a 19th-place showing in the classic sprint, the skiathlon marks her new best in a distance race at World Juniors.

    On top being happy with a PR, Mooney said having good weather for the first time all week made a great day even better.

    “Thanks to the wax techs, our skis were really fast, and I was able to glide up a lot of the beginnings of the hills where other people were already skiing, so that was really fun!” she added. “It was a bit colder this morning, so the tracks were firm and fast.”

    Storey finished 32nd, 13.2 seconds behind Mooney. The University of Utah freshman characterized her skiathlon experience as “crazy,” “hectic,” and “very fun.”

    “Every aspect of it — coaches having to have to wax two pairs of race skis versus just one, racers having to have stay on their feet and not crash or break a piece of equipment during the many collisions in the mass start…and half way through the mass start we had [to] switch all of our gear from classic to skate. It was hectic to say the least, but very fun,” Storey said.

    She and Mooney worked together to move up through the pack, and Storey also caught rides with athletes she was able to pass by the end of the race. Like Mooney, she attributed a big part of her success to great skis.

    “My skis were BOMB!” Storey said. “One of my highlights was being able to run and not slip up one of the steepest pitches and pass a group of girls who began herringboning… All in all the race was super fun and another great new experience here in Liberec! I’m so proud of all of my teammates for all of their success as well as myself.”

    O’Connell finished 35th, 8.6 seconds behind Storey. The Dartmouth College freshman was hoping for a top 30 on Friday had a hard time being too disappointed with 35th in spite of a few trip-ups in the classic leg. For the first kilometer she felt she skied smart and relaxed, but was unable to avoid colliding with another girl that went down in front of her shortly into the race.

    “At about 1 k, a girl in front of me fell and I just skied right into her, and then some people behind me skied into me, I think maybe a few US girls too,” O’Connell said. “That was a bit chaotic for a second. After that, I sorta lost my composure and sorta panicked and wasn’t able to kick my skis real well. Going up one of the steep hills in the classic leg, I just tripped again and took a face plant. At this point I was just trying to make it to the skate leg, trying to keep it together.”

    O’Connell came through the classic leg in 38th. She made it through the transition to freestyle with no mistakes and began to work her way back to the teammates ahead of her, posting the 30th-fastest skate split as she did so.

    Though she didn’t think it was her best race, O’Connell was inspired by the skiing she saw around her on course.

    “Being here is so fun, and cool to see all these really fast kids racing around you,” she said. “It’s really inspiring. It lets me know what I need to do from this point on to be able to compete at the top level in the future.”

    Corey Stock (Dartmouth College) finished 40th overall in 29:56.8. She had the 49th-ranked classic split at the halfway mark and moved up nine places by posted the 23rd-fastest freestyle time.

    Women’s 10 k skiathlon results.

     

    Kyle Bradtud (USA). Photo: Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK.
    Kyle Bratrud (USA) competing in the freestyle race earlier this week. Photo: Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK.

    Kyle Bratrud (Northern Michigan University) led the Americans in the junior men’s 20 k skiathlon in 34th. With the 28th-fastest classic time and 40th-ranked freestyle split, he finished 3:06 behind the Russian leaders at the front of the pack.

    “I am pretty satisfied,” Bratrud said. “I started with bib 47 so I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me getting in to it.”

    By the end of the first 10 k the field had begun to string out. Bratrud said he “really laid down the hammer” in the classic portion in order to move up and he came through the first half in 28th, about one minute down to the leaders.

    “The change was not nearly as bad as I thought I just tried to relax,” he said.

    The 19-year-old hadn’t competed in a skiathlon since his freshman year of high school, so Friday’s race was a “rather new experience” for him.

    “I think it’s definitely an interesting format,” he said. “It’s a really grueling race since you work both sets of muscles, so there was a lot of pain experienced in that race.”

    Like his teammates, Bratrud noted that sunny skis and hard tracks made for a more enjoyable day of skiing than competitors have yet seen this week under Liberec’s overcast skies.

    “[There were] very challenging courses so they really tested me… I was able to see my weaknesses so I’m very excited to train this summer and fix those!” he added. “Overall [I’m] pretty pleased. Feels great to wear that uniform and look down and see USA on my leg — living the dream.”

    Logan Hanneman skiing in a pack. Photo: Josh Smullin.
    Logan Hanneman skiing in a pack. Photo: Josh Smullin.

    Logan Hanneman (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) was the second American to come through in 39th. Ever the competitor, Hanneman had high expectations for the skiathlon and in the first few kilometers of the race he led the field for a few laps.

    “After the sprint qualifier, I thought that I definitely had a top ten in me,” he said. “The first few laps of the classic portion were great. I was right up there and feeling great.”

    The wheels started to come off after the second 2.5 k lap.

    “I was leading the race on the second lap of the classic portion. Then I seemed to find reverese,” Hanneman said. “It really felt like I ran into a brick wall. The muscles just began cramping and I don’t really know what happened. So from there on out, I was in survival mode, as dumb as that sounds. In the skate, I was just barely skiing.”

    Hanneman came through the exchange in 23rd at 10 k and went into damage control in the second half. His skate leg was the 61st-best time in the field.

    “I am not realy that excited about my result,” he concluded. “I hope the relay goes much better.”

    Forrest Mahlen (Alaska Pacific University) and Tucker McCrerey (University of Utah) came in 70th and 71st, respectively, just under six minutes behind the winning time. Like Hanneman, they were not happy with the placing but looked forward to a shot at redemption in the relay.

    Mahlen thought he may have suffered from mild food poisoning from dinner the night before and felt his stomach clench throughout the race.

    “I don’t know if it really affected my performance other than to make the race a little more painful than usual,” he said, adding that “the race itself was super exciting; 92 of the best junior skiers in the world all trying to fit into two classic tracks on a 2.5 kilometer loop lets you know how you stack up real quick.”

    McCrerey echoed the sentiment. “I love the skiathlon because it tests your form in both disciplines,” he said. “I’m really bummed that I did not have a good race because I thought I could really do some damage in this field. There will be another time in the future.”

    Men’s 20 k skiathlon results.

  • Mahlen, O’Connell Lead U.S in Junior Worlds Distance Freestyle

    Mahlen, O’Connell Lead U.S in Junior Worlds Distance Freestyle

    Sawyer Kesselheim leading Forrest Mahlen partway through the men's 10 k freestyle at Junior World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Photo: Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK.
    Sawyer Kesselheim leading Forrest Mahlen partway through the men’s 10 k freestyle at Junior World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Photo: Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK.

    Junior World Championships action continued in Liberec, Czech Republic, on Wednesday with a 5 and 10 k individual start freestyle. Forrest Mahlen (Alaska Pacific University) and Sawyer Kesselheim (Bridger Ski Foundation) put up another pair of top-30s for the U.S. in the men’s event, placing 27th and 29th, respectively. Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth College) led the way for the American women by finishing 33rd in the 5 k.

    The 10 k freestyle was Mahlen’s first event of the championships, and his 27th-place showing brought redemption over what he called a “super-poorly” skied distance race in Turkey last year, where he was 72nd.

    “I’m super-excited with my result today!” Mahlen said. “One of my goals for this season was a top 30 here at world juniors so 27th is right in there. I was only 90 seconds behind the leaders and 15 seconds out of top 20 so I’m pretty happy with my time.”

    As the 33rd starter out of a field of 98, Mahlen sought to pace his 10 k aggressively.

    “My strategy was to take it out at a pace that I couldn’t hold the whole time to see what I had in me,” he said.

    As a result, Mahlen skied by himself for nearly the whole race, which went three times around a 3.3 k loop. With the 18th-ranked split on the first lap, he accomplished the fast opening pace he intended. When Kesselheim was on his first lap he caught Mahlen finishing his final one, and the two helped each other along while Mahlen was “fading hard” from his quick early pace.

    “He brought me around, for sure,” Mahlen said.

    U.S. Ski Team development coach Bryan Fish thought the competitive field and challenging course in Liberec demanded highly focused skiing from athletes from the get go.

    “I think at World Championships like this you have to be aggressive,” Fish said. “It was also an interesting course. There weren’t any really long hills but there were certainly some steep ones out there, so very transitional skiing. You had to ski well on the corners, dowhills and the uphills. The uphills were quite steep, much like the sprint course, so really powerful skiing [worked well].”

    While Mahlen went out fast and faded, Kesselheim skied a more consistent race to finish two places and only 0.6 seconds behind him. In addition to catching a ride with Mahlen, Kesselheim skied one of his laps with one of the German skiers in the top seed.

    “I was lucky enough to lap through when some of the top guys were starting,” Kesselheim said. “I got some help on my last lap from a German skier who pushed me up some of the biggest hills.”

    He had hoped for a top-20 but was still excited with a top-30. “I felt that I raced smart,” Kesselheim said. “I pushed the transitions and paced it well… I also felt that pushing over the tops of hills and through the flats was very important. I focused on that and was able to execute which helped me to make up a lot of time.”

    Kyle Bratrud (Northern Michigan University), in his first career World Juniors race, took 46th on Wednesday, 33 seconds behind his other teammates. In his debut at the event Bratrud was focused primarily on gaining experience and was pleased with the result.

    “My goal this year was to make World Juniors, beyond that was all a learning experience and getting to race on a course of that difficulty and watch and even ski with a few of the top juniors in the world was a huge opportunity,” he said. “I have been feeling pretty sluggish this week from the travel as this is my first trip to Europe so it was nice to finally get to race and shake out some of that junk from my legs.”

    As the 55th starter Bratrud skied mostly by himself, but watched the faster seeds closely when they skied near him.

    “A few of the top juniors were starting as I was going out for my last lap so I got to ski with them for a little bit and get a feel for what they do that makes them so fast, which was awesome,” Bratrud said.

    Ben Saxton (F.A.S.T. Performance Training) was the fourth American in 60th. He was the top U.S. performer in the classic sprint on Monday but didn’t feel at his best in the 10 k.

    “I don’t know exactly what my goals were but whatever they were, I didn’t reach them today, so it was a disappointing result in that sense,” Saxton said. “But I have a LOT of stuff to learn from this and it’s my first distance race on a big stage.

    “I didn’t really feel too hot out of the start, but I was essentially on my own the whole way. The one chance I had for a ride I blew because I chickened out and scrubbed some speed on a downhill. I was getting consistently mediocre split results which I could tell by just looking around behind me were becoming obsolete as soon as higher bibs came through. But I tried my hardest I just wasn’t springy and at my sharpest today.”

    Men’s results.

    Mary O'Connell on her way to finishing 33rd in the World Juniors 5 k. Photo: Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK.
    Mary O’Connell on her way to finishing 33rd in the World Juniors 5 k. Photo: Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK.

    On the women’s side, O’Connell led the American team in 33rd. She was introduced to Junior Worlds competition in Turkey last year and, like Mahlen, wanted to come to Liberec and improve upon her original results. Her best finish a year ago was 42nd in the 10 k skiathlon and on Wednesday she cut that down by nine places in the 5 k freestyle, finishing 1:05 behind the leaders.

    “I am happy with the way it went,” O’Connell said. “The course was super short but very painful, I’d say one of the hardest 5 ks I’ve ever done. There are a few places where I wish I could have pushed a little harder, and a top 30 would have been great! But I’m still pleased with the way I raced.”

    O’Connell got off to a strong start in her freshman season with a seventh-place finish at U.S. Nationals earlier this month in the senior freestyle race, surprising even herself. Not sure of where that would put her against the fastest juniors in the world, she limited her expectations for the 5 k.

    “I knew my fitness was there after Nationals, I just wasn’t sure how that was going to compare internationally. Obviously, these kids are fast. I think the winning time was less than 13min!” she said. (It was; Germany’s Victoria Carl won in 12:35.)

    For such a short race, O’Connell said it was important to go hard for the entire thing.

    “There was one really steep hill, comparable to Hermod’s Hill (at Soldier Hollow) and it was important to ski light and quick but not kill yourself there on the first lap. Since it was so fast, pacing was important, but there was not a significant difference.”

    O’Connell noted that the snow and her skis was also extremely fast, contributing a quick finish time.

    “The coaches and wax techs are doing an incredible job with our skis, they were so fast today!” she said. “I actually almost fell on some of the corners! The team atmosphere is really great and we’re really all just having so much fun!”

    At the end of the day, races like those from O’Connell, Mahlen and Kesselheim are exactly the kind of improvements Fish likes to see from year to year and race to race.

    “Head to head competition like today is not only a test but also an incredible opportunity to strengthen the performance of our top developing athletes,” he said.

    Sloan Storey (University of Utah) finished 45th in the 5 k for the U.S., Emily Hannah (Harvard University) took 51st and Anika Miller (Payette Lakes Sports) was 52nd.

    Women’s results.

    Special thanks to Logan Hanneman/Corduroy AK for his photography.

     

     

  • Brennan Makes Peace with Soldier Hollow, Leads APU 10 k Sweep

    Brennan Makes Peace with Soldier Hollow, Leads APU 10 k Sweep

    Rosie Brennan (APU) pushing up the infamous Hermod’s Hill for the last time at Soldier Hollow on Friday in Midway, Utah. The Park City native won the 10 k freestyle individual start by 10.9 seconds over teammate Sadie Bjornsen for her first national title.

    FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2013 U.S. Cross Country Championships is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic in Bennington, Vt.

    MIDWAY, Utah — If there was ever a place for Rosie Brennan to win her first national title, just outside Park City, Utah, had to be it. That’s where the 24-year-old Alaska Pacific University skier grew up; it’s where her mom convinced her to try nordic in eighth grade.

    It’s where Brennan said she “had a love-hate relationship” with Soldier Hollow throughout her ski career. How better to erase the memories of some tough-to-swallow results there than dominate one at U.S. Cross Country Championships?

    With a podium finish already out of the way (Brennan was third in Wednesday’s classic sprint), she climbed two rungs higher on Friday, winning the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle individual start on the second day of nationals. More than a victory, it was an affirmation for Brennan, who spent two years on the national team from 2007 to 2009 and was known as a classic sprinter.

    “It’s sweet to be home, but I’ve always struggled racing here,” Brennan said after her 10.9-second win over APU teammate Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team. “It’s really awesome to be able to excel at home.”

    Brennan’s mom, Wiggy, celebrated with her. A Park City resident and volunteer at nationals, she said it was “very exciting” to see her daughter win. “I’ve watched a lot of races in my life,” she said with a laugh.

    An all-APU podium at U.S. nationals on Friday. Rosie Brennan (c) won the 10 k freestyle individual start, Sadie Bjornsen (l) was second and Kate Fitzgerald placed third.

    Brennan, too, couldn’t have been much happier.

    “To be honest I never thought I’d win a skate race,” she said. “Then starting in West [Yellowstone], I realized that the work I’d done this summer was finally starting to pay off, so it suddenly became my goal to start winning more skate races and now, I don’t know, maybe I even like it more.”

    At the first SuperTour of the season in November, Brennan started off with a freestyle victory – her first – in a 10-kilometer freestyle individual start. With another staggered start on tap for Friday, she was excited going in.

    “I actually really enjoy individual starts, I’m sort of an old-fashioned skier that way,” she said. “I like the grinding-individual mental game a lot. That’s sort of my strength.”

    Brennan capitalized on what turned out to be a tough day for most, working hard in the early single-digit temperatures and resulting sluggish conditions. She said the conditions helped her pace the challenging course at Soldier Hollow (a slight variation from the Olympic 5 k with more climbing initially and a turnaround about three-quarters up Hermod’s Hill).

    To survive and do well at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level, Brennan knew she’d have to keep her tempo low and power high throughout the two-lap race.

    On the first loop, she caught teammate Becca Rorabaugh, who started 30 seconds ahead of her and ultimately placed sixth (repeating her result from Wednesday). Knowing Rorabaugh’s strength in downhills, Brennan followed her lead on the long descent before the massive climb up Hermod’s.

    Meanwhile, Brennan was getting splits that she was a couple seconds behind Bjornsen. Then she started hearing she was ahead of her.

    “The lead was slowly decreasing the whole time, particularly on the flats ’cause she’s a lot better there,” Brennan said. “The whole time I was thinking, ‘How can I make up seconds on the flats? There’s one more hill at the end. Just pick it up there.’ ”

    She did, leaning hard as she V1ed up the two-tiered climb, and racing down the hill’s backside before the stadium for the nearly 11-second win.

    “I’m so excited,” Brennan said. “My parents were here, I have lots of friends and family here, all my old coaches are here so it’s been really great.”

    Rosie Brennan (l) and APU teammate Sadie Bjornsen embrace after the 10 k freestyle race at U.S. nationals on Friday. Brennan won and Bjornsen took second.

    One of the earlier starters in bib 25, five spots ahead of Brennan, Bjornsen said she didn’t have many splits to go off, but heard she was eight seconds behind her teammate just before her last time up Hermod’s. That motivated Bjornsen to give her all.

    “I skied that hill with Rosie in a camp in October, and I remember she just flew by me like I was standing still,” Bjornsen recalled. “What she told me was, ‘You know what Sadie? You have to use your weight into your legs,’ and so all I was thinking about was taking big steps and putting my weight into each step so I was just giving it every last bit.”

    At the finish, Bjornsen laid on the ground longer than she could ever remember doing. “Just like, eyes in the back of the head,” she said. “So I think I really pushed it at the end.”

    A runner-up for the second-straight race at U.S. nationals after placing second to Jennie Bender (Central Cross Country) in the classic sprint, Bjornsen said she “kind of had a fire” fueling her from the start. Two days ago, Bender overtook her at the end of the A-final, winning by 0.3 seconds. Bjornsen, who won a national title in the 10 k classic race two years ago, wanted more.

    “I had so much determination from that that I think I did the opposite of what I always do,” Bjornsen said of her pacing, in which she felt she went out too hard. “I was just having so much fun on the transitions, then I got to Hermod’s and all of a sudden I realized I had gone out too hard and started feeling the burn. I really struggled between 5 and 6 k. I think I lost a lot of it right there.”

    Sadie Bjornsen (APU/USST) putting her head down up Hermod’s for the last time Friday in the 10 k skate race at U.S. nationals in Midway, Utah. She ended up second to APU teammate Rosie Brennan.

    Even though she would retool her strategy next time, Bjornsen was pleased with her performance and even happier for Brennan.

    “I knew she had a win; I said this earlier this year that she had it in her,” she said.

    And with Kate Fitzgerald placing third (+38.2) to complete the APU podium sweep, she said it was simply an awesome day. Head coach Erik Flora, too, said it was incredible.

    “Starting with Kikkan [Randall] this morning and Holly [Brooks] had another solid day for a classic prologue, so lot of good energy and the girls just tore it up,” he said, referring to Randall’s seventh place finish in the fifth stage of the Tour de Ski, a 3.3 k classic prologue in which Brooks was 38th.

    Most of all, APU’s success came down to its team element, Flora explained.

    “It’s my belief that everybody trains hard, everybody commits themselves to this, but the team is what makes it,” he said. “It gives you an advantage. Every day in the highs and the lows, you have friends you can share those with.”

    Fitzgerald also enjoyed the upside, tying her best-national finish of third after last year’s classic sprint. While some felt the 15-second intervals clumped racers together making it harder to pass, Fitzgerald said she didn’t have any troubles and enjoyed the quick turnover.

    APU’s Kate Fitzgerald (r) and Erika Flowers (Stratton Mountain School T2 Team) work their way up Hermod’s on the first of two laps in the 10 k individual skate race at U.S. nationals on Friday in Midway, Utah. Fitzgerald placed third and Flowers was eighth.

    “You always had someone around so you’re like, ‘All right, just follow that girl!’ ” she said after working to continually pick off people.

    Fitzgerald spent the first lap keeping her heart rate in check, “trying not to go above the red line, especially up Hermod’s,” she said. There was no need to kill it in any one spot, just stay smooth.

    Earlier this season in West Yellowstone, Fitzgerald’s blood sugar crashed during the 10 k, a similar distance race at altitude. She had the issue once before in a race, she said.

    “Now I’m just eating a lot more carbs, which is awesome, I don’t have a problem with that,” Fitzgerald explained. “I am just really cautious about eating a ton for breakfast and dinner and things like that.”

    Feeling good on Friday, she aimed to stay competitive and on-track with the split that she was in third or close to it for most of the race.

    “I knew I was somewhere around podium so I was just trying to keep it steady and going,” she said.

    Fitzgerald succeeded, and Annie Pokorny of Middlebury College shattered her previous best of 16th at nationals in fourth place, 2.3 seconds off the podium. After growing up in Park City, Pokorny moved to Washington and finished high school in Sun Valley. Racing at what felt like home at Soldier Hollow, she had hoped for a top 10.

    Annie Pokorny (Middlebury) on her way to placing a career-best fourth at U.S. nationals in Friday’s 10 k freestyle individual start at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.

    “It was kind of one of those, ‘I know I can get a top 10; that would be friggen awesome!’ ” the 20-year-old sophomore said.

    She had consciously worked to improve her skating since late November after placing 21st in the 10 k SuperTour opener in West Yellowstone. She met with her coach, Andrew Gardner, and told him she wanted to be better in the discipline.

    “I think it’s finally starting to click,” Pokorny said. “Today was a really good day.”

    After starting relatively easy then finding another gear to stick with Brennan, who passed her on the first hill, Pokorny had a sense of how well she did after finishing. But fourth? She didn’t initially believe it.

    “I just like looked at the board and said, ‘All right, I’m gonna cool down and come back and see where I really finished,’ ” she said with a laugh. “When I came back, I was still in fourth and still really excited so it was a perfect day.”

    Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) was content with her best national finish of fifth (+42.4) despite feeling like she was missing a little “pop.” Her toes were part of the problem, she said.

    “I think I got frostbite or frostnip on my toes when I was in Alaska so my feet are just frozen all the time now,” she said. “So that made it a little bit interesting.”

    Rather than hurt, Patterson said they felt more like blocks of ice after racing in sub-zero temperatures at the Besh Cup two weeks ago. “But that happens,” she said.

    “Today was fun,” Patterson added. “I usually can feel fairly well when I’m near the edge, the red line that I don’t want to cross at altitude, so I mostly focus on skiing really smooth and in a good rhythm and definitely a little bit conservative on the first lap, though I was hurting a little bit by the end.”

    On the final climb, she looked up and saw about 10 people ahead of her and nearly came to a stop at the turnaround at the top.

    “It’s a little bit too bad because I think I was pretty close to third,” Patterson said after finishing 4.2 seconds off the podium..

    Rorabaugh was next in line, 49 seconds behind Brennan, for her third sixth-place finish in the last four races. She was seventh in the other, the Bozeman SuperTour 10 k classic mass start.

    “I feel like it’s very consistent,” Rorabaugh said of Friday’s result. “I’d like to break through that a little bit. I think I was only 10 seconds out of top three today, which is pretty close, so I’m pretty happy.”

    She recalled several different tactics throughout the day: “Annie Pokorny went out really hard and then survived, some people went out really hard and died.” She started conservatively and finished hard. “It worked for me,” she said.

    Shooting for a top 30, Dartmouth College freshman Mary O’Connell, who raced for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, achieved seventh (+51.0). She was previously 19th in a classic sprint at nationals last year before competing at Junior Worlds in Erzurum, Turkey.

    “I wasn’t sure what my fitness was going to be but it went really well,” O’Connell said. “I was getting splits about being in the top 10, which I did not really believe at the time.”

    — Audrey Mangan contributed reporting

    Official results | Results with splits

  • USST Puts National Training Group Through the Paces

    USST Puts National Training Group Through the Paces

    Members of the National Training Group during a threshold workout at Soldier Hollow last week. Photo: Matt Whitcomb/U.S. Ski Team.

    Members of the U.S. Ski Team’s National Training Group (NTG) spent last week in Park City, Utah, for a training camp centered on group training and exposure to the resources at the Center of Excellence. Athletes joined interval sessions with the national team on the rollerski track at Soldier Hollow and underwent a series of physiological tests for assessment and feedback on their development.

    The camp was a new addition over last year’s schedule; the result of a decision by USST coaches to further focus on development.

    “Back in the spring we sat down and decided that we’d put in another camp into our development pipeline specifically for this NTG and have them come out to Park City with the intent to get them into the COE,” said Bryan Fish, USST development coach.

    Quality training was the camp’s primary goal, but with the COE nearby athletes were also able to work with the USST’s staff of physiology, strength and nutrition experts.

    “The feedback we got was very positive; the athletes felt like they got a lot of education out of being here,” Fish said. “We could send them home with test results and feedback, which we provided to their club coaches, on areas where they’re strong, areas where they can improve.”

    Emily Hannah, Marion Woods and Mary O’Connell. Photo: Matt Whitcomb/U.S. Ski Team.

    Over the course of the week, Fish said the workouts and test results he saw were encouraging.

    “What I’m seeing in the REGs and the J2 camp is that our athletes are indeed getting more fit and more prepared, tactically and technically. We’re seeing that in the physiology results that come in house,” Fish said. “For us, from the national team coaching staff, what we saw was hugely positive. It’s a testament to the clubs and these athletes that we’re training more; training better.”

    One such workout to provide positive feedback were threshold skate intervals at Soldier Hollow, which the NTG athletes completed alongside resident national team athletes across multiple disciplines — cross country, nordic combined and biathlon were all represented in the same workout.

    “Our general premise, from my perspective, is to get our best athletes together on occasion to train and compete,” Fish said. “They don’t have to train together 24/7 but getting together and going head-to-head they all learn and they all improve.”

    With most of the U.S. nordic combined team, biathlete Jeremy Teela and several U.S. cross-country athletes on the course with the NTG skiers at the same time, the threshold workout got “kinda frisky,” said nordic combined skier Billy Demong.

    “With all these cross country skiers and our guys, we went a little harder than we planned.”

    Too fast or no, Fish thought the collaboration was a valuable experience.

    “There’s a part of the training that’s intensity-based and another that’s tactical,” he said. “There’s a balance, and I feel you have to let a little bit of that go and train like you’d race. It was a prime opportunity to get in good tactical training on the Soldier Hollow courses, and for the most part they did a good job.”

    Billy Demong leading the pack through the flats during threshold. Photo: Bryan Fish/U.S. Ski Team.

    National Training Group Park City Camp Roster:

    Women:

    Emily Hannah (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club)

    Mary O’Connell (SSWSC)

    Becca Rorabaugh (Alaska Pacific University)

    Marion Woods (Alaska Winter Stars)

    Jesse Knori (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation)

    Nichole Bathe (Central Cross Country)

    Heidi Halvorsen (Green Mountain Valley School)

    Men:

    Ryan Scott (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Team HomeGrown)

    Will Wicherski (Williams College)

    Patrick Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School)

    Eli Hoenig (Cambridge Sports Union)

    Cal Deline (SSCV)

    Adam Martin (CXC)

  • Hoenig and Stock Claim Double Gold for New England and CSU in Junior Nationals Sprint

    Hoenig and Stock Claim Double Gold for New England and CSU in Junior Nationals Sprint

    Eli Hoenig (NE/Cambridge Sports Union) cruising around a corner on the back side of the sprint course in Solder Hollow. Hoenig won the J1 men's classic sprint at Junior Nationals on Monday.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

     

    MIDWAY, Utah — Eli Hoenig (New England/Cambridge Sports Union) knows how to make himself hurt.

    He got off to a fast start and skied in front as the A-final pack moved up the first hill.

    By the time he group came within sight of the finish line, Hoenig trailed teammate Paddy Caldwell (NE/SMS). But Hoenig didn’t doubt the speed in his double pole as he gained on Caldwell, who was striding down the straightaway

    The J1 boys' sprint podium. Hoenig (1), Caldwell (2) and Morgan (3).

    Inch by inch, Hoenig pulled ahead, and won by a slim 0.63 seconds. After crossing the line and managing to congratulate Caldwell on his race, his stomach protested to the ordeal of skiing four all-out sprints in one day and emptied itself in the finish pen.

    “I don’t know, maybe it was something I ate, or I just went really hard,” said Hoenig once he’d recovered. “I feel great mentally—physically I’m kind of down in the dumps.”

    It would be unsurprising if Hoenig’s finish line discomfort were simply a matter of exerting himself beyond his limit. His father confirmed in the finish area that it wasn’t the first time his son’s lunch had ended up on the snow after a race.

    Hoenig and Caldwell’s battle left the rest of the J1 boys’ final a full 11 seconds back from the winning time. Cole Morgan (Intermountain/Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) took the bronze medal, Nick St. Clair (Pacific Northwest/Bend Endurance Academy) took fourth, Zach Goldberg (Midwest/Minnesota Valley) finished fifth and Harris Dirnberger (MW/Central Cross Country JDP) was sixth.

    J1 boys qualifier results

    J1 boys sprint brackets

    Overall sprint results

     

    Stock Knocks off Another National Title

    Corey Stock (NE/CSU) raising her arms in triumph after winning the classic sprint at Junior Nationals on Monday.

    As junior skiers grow through the age-class ranks, there are certain names that routinely pop up near the top of results at Junior Nationals. Corey Stock’s (New England/Cambridge Sports Union) is one such name. But she isn’t simply fast; she consistently performs at the very top of her game when it counts the most, destroying her competition.

    Monday’s classic sprint at Soldier Hollow was no exception. After posting the fastest qualifier that morning, Stock went on to win the J1 final 4.36 seconds ahead of Jesse Knori (Intermountain/SVSEF). She opened an early lead and never let up.

    “I was trying to just go all-out from the beginning and open a gap early,” said Stock after her win. “There are big hills in the beginning, and hills are probably my strong suit.”

    A solid double-pole was also crucial to surviving the sprint. As the sun warmed the snow to well above 40 F, the course became soft and slow. The J1 girls’ were some of the last heats to go off, and featured with the worst of it. For the finals, the weather changed its mind again, and cloud cover began to cool the tracks back down.

    “It was definitely pretty slow and sluggish in the [heats], but it’s good practice to learn to change it up in the different conditions,” said Stock.

    The Lincoln-Sudbury senior doesn’t take each new win lightly; her triumphant fist pump as she crossed the line could easily have been in celebration of her first national title.

    “It feels really nice—to be skiing against all these awesome athletes back in the U.S.,” said Stock, who was in Erzurum, Turkey at the end of February for her first World Junior Championships.

    Behind Stock, Knori claimed the runner-up spot in front of third finisher Mary O’Connell (Rocky Mountain/Steamboat Springs WSC). Heather Mooney (NE/Stratton Mountain School) was fourth, Lucy Newman (RM/SSWSC) finished fifth and Emily Hannah (RM/SSWSC).

    Qualifier results (scroll for J1 girls)

    J1 girls sprint brackets

    Overall sprint results (scroll for J1 girls)

    The J1 girls' sprint podium: Stock (1), Knori (2) and O'Connell (3).

     

  • Nilsson Charges Down Homestretch to Take Sprint Victory in Erzurum

    Nilsson Charges Down Homestretch to Take Sprint Victory in Erzurum

    Sweden's Stina Nilsson at the front of the women's final in Erzurum, Turkey today.

    ERZURUM, Turkey — Stina Nilsson (SWE) trained all summer for the World Juniors sprint, and on Monday she got what she’d worked for with her victory at the Kandilli Nordic Ski Center. She led a 1-2-4 Swedish team performance in the freestyle sprint, which exceeded ever their coaches’ expectations. Jonna Sundling (SWE) was fourth.

    Unlike the men’s sprint outcome, which featured a repeat winner, Nilsson came from a 12th-place showing in the classic sprint at the 2011 championships in Otepaa, Estonia. She was jubilant as she crossed the finish line, having come from behind Switzerland’s Christa Jaeger and her own teammate Evelina Settlin (SWE) to take the lead in the final straightaway. Settlin finished as the runner-up and Jaeger faded to third.

    “I was confident in my ability to ski strong in the final meters, so when at the top of the last hill I was near the front, I knew it would be very hard for me to be beaten,” said a radiant Nilsson in the post-race press conference.

    “I am very happy; I trained all summer for this and now it has paid off.”

    Her teammate Settlin was equally pleased with her podium finish. Both women pointed to strong team chemistry as a significant contributor to their success on Monday.

    As they waited for the flower ceremony to begin immediately following the race, the Swedish coaches said they were pleasantly surprised with the strength in their girls’ performance. Two on the podium they expected, but not another one in fourth. The results have them excited for the women’s relay later this week.

    Noticeably absent from the top of the results in their usual numbers was Norway—their first and only qualifier was Hilde Losgaard Landheim, who qualified in 10th and ended up finishing fifth.

    “They were had a little bit of a bad day today,” sad Brit Baldishol, one of the Norwegian coaches, offering no excuse.

    Racing Ends for U.S. in Qualifier

    This World Junior trip is the first for every one of the U.S. women.  Though none of the Americans advanced to the heats, they were eager to use it as a learning experience for the rest of the championships.

    Corey Stock was the first American finisher in 41st, 5.0 seconds out of the top 30 and 13.99 seconds behind Jaeger’s winning qualifying time.

    Stock said she hadn’t set out for the sprint with any particular outcome goals, as this is her first European trip.

    “I’m taking each race one at a time,” she said. “I was really excited for today, I’ll be really excited for Wednesday and Friday.”

    “You know, I didn’t know what to expect—what comes, will come. I’m mainly thinking about process goals, like technique and transitions—that really helps me rather than outcome goals, since I didn’t really know what to expect.”

    In preparation for the sprint, Stock practiced the transitions on Sunday during training.

    “The course started out with the main hill at the beginning, so that was interesting, strategy-wise, being at altitude and trying to not going too hart at the beginning, but not too easy,” she explained.

    Emily Hannah, whose home club in Steamboat Springs, Colo. has her more used to racing at altitude than others, was 49th (+16.19).

    “I guess I’m more used to it, but it still hurts,” she said.

    She felt that her quickness was there for the sprint, but thought she lacked the power each stroke needed to master the course in Kindalli, which reminds her of the sprint course at Soldier Hollow.

    “Once you get to the top, it’s all about being powerful and smooth all the way through—there wasn’t any rest, and on the downhills the fastest girls were freeskating,” said Hannah.

    Going into the sprint, qualifying was in the back of her mind, but since she “didn’t make that happen,” her takeaway was that it was a learning experience to apply to the rest of the championships.

    Hannah was most looking forward to the pursuit on Friday. Though she’s only done one in practice, “I’m really excited for that one, it should be fun,” she said.

    Stephanie Kirk was less than a second behind Hannah in 51st (+16.84). Like all of the other U.S. junior girls, this is her first World Juniors experience. Lining up for the sprint qualifier, she admitted to some nerves.

    “I was kind of excited slash intimidated,” she said. “I think nerves kind of work for you, but once you start racing, you should be relaxed, and that’s hard in a sprint race.”

    Once she got going out on the course, Kirk was passed by the girl who started behind 15 seconds behind her.

    “I was like, ‘Whoa, this is not like racing in the U.S.,’ said Kirk. However, she’s “definitely a lot more motivated and ready for Wednesday.”

    Mary O’Connell was the fourth American finisher on Monday in 58th, and her reaction after the sprint was over was similar to Kirk’s—“Wow, that was harder than I was expecting,” she said.

    The juniors have the day off of racing tomorrow. Competition resumes in Kindalli at 10:00 am EET with on Tuesday with the U23 sprint qualifier, followed by the heats at 12:00 pm EET.

    World Juniors women's top podium (l to r): Evelina Settlin (SWE) 2nd place, Stina Nilsson (SWE) 1st place and Christa Jaeger (SUI) 3rd place.