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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: NorAm mini tour

Sunday Rundown: Ramsau, Toblach, Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

Bryan Fletcher (USA Nordic) jumping to 45th in the Nordic Combined World Cup on Sunday in Ramsau, Austria. In the 10 k that followed, he skied the third-fastest time to finish 14th overall. (Photo: Romina Eggert/USA Nordic Facebook)

NorAm mini tour (Rossland, B.C.): 10/15 k freestyle pursuits

Team Gregg ended the Rossland NorAm mini tour with another double win, with American Caitlin Gregg and her husband Brian Gregg winning the 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits, respectively, at the Black Jack Ski Club trails.

The women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit podium at the NorAm in Rossland, B.C., with American Caitlin Gregg (c) in first, and Canadians Zina Kocher (l) and Andrea Dupont (r), in second and third, respectively. (Photo: Cross Country Canada)

Caitlin capped the long weekend with her third-straight win, a 48.28-second victory over former Canadian biathlete Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic). Caitlin started first and was first across the finish in 29:02.86, while Kocher started ninth and rose to second place for her second-consecutive podium (after placing third in Saturday’s skate sprint). Andrea Dupont (Rocky Mountain Racers) started fourth and finished third (+1:58.35) for her second-straight podium as well (she was second in the skate sprint behind Gregg).

Lisle Compton of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay and Canadian National Junior Team finished fourth overall (+2:07.03), Frederique Vezina of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) was fifth (+2:16.10), and Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) sixth (+2:16.51). Laura Leclair (CNEPH) placed seventh, Kaia Andal (Caledonia Nordic) was the top junior in eighth overall, Jaqueline Mourao (Brazil Ski Team) ninth, and Sophie Carrier-Laforte (Skinouk) 10th.

Brian, who won the Rossland men’s 10 k classic on Friday, also started Sunday’s 15 k freestyle pursuit first and finished in that position in 38:43.93. Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) raced to second overall, 7.65 seconds back, after starting fourth, and Jack Carlyle (AWCA) reached the podium in third (+8.75) after starting 10th.

Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay) ended the weekend in fourth (+17.68), Philippe Boucher (CNEPH) was fifth (+19.02), Brian McKeever (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) sixth (+22.16), Michael Somppi (AWCA) seventh (+34.62), Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) eighth (+52.78), Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) ninth (+54.76), and Julien Locke (Black Jack/Canadian U25 Team) 10th (+1:04.46).

Results

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FIS Nordic Combined World Cup (Ramsau, Austria): Saturday & Sunday individual competitions

Bryan Fletcher (USA Nordic) notched seventh in the Nordic Combined World Cup this weekend in Ramsau, Austria, for his best result since January 2016. (Photo: USA Nordic/Facebook)

After a bye week, the Nordic Combined World Cup resumed in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria, with back-to-back individual normal hill/10-kilometer Gundersen starts on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, American Bryan Fletcher posted his best individual result in nearly two years in seventh place, 32.6 seconds behind German winner Eric Frenzel.

Saturday’s individual competition on Ramsau’s 98-meter hill started out with Japan’s Taihei Kato going farthest in the jump portion, the Czech Republic’s Tomas Portyk jumping to second, and Frenzel jumping to third. Fletcher tied Japan’s Yoshito Watabe for 28th and the two started the 10 k race 1:02 minutes back accordingly.

While Frenzel picked off two places to finish first in 24:05.8 minutes, Fletcher moved up 21 spots to seventh place with the second-fastest course time of 23:48.4.

Germany had two on the podium with Fabian Rießle just 0.7 seconds back in second place, and Norway’s Jan Schmid finished third, 8.1 seconds behind Frenzel.

On Sunday, Rießle climbed to the top step on the podium, winning the weekend’s second normal hill/10 k in 26:12.5.

Norway’s Jørgen Graabak led after the jump portion, yet ultimately finished sixth, 9.8 seconds behind Rießle.

Rießle jumped to ninth and started 18 seconds out of first, then took the win on the four-lap course by just 0.3 seconds over Italy’s Alessandro Pittin. The Italian notched second place after starting 36th based on his jump and racing the fastest 10 k time in 25:00.8.

Finland’s Eero Hirvonen finished third (+1.5) after starting 10th, and Schmid was another 2 seconds back in fourth (+3.5) after jumping to seventh. Frenzel did not start.

Three Americans qualified for Sunday’s competition. Fletcher jumped to 45th and started 1:30 back, yet rose to 14th (+43.7) with the third-fastest course time. His younger brother Taylor Fletcher skied the second-fastest course time to finish 34th (+2:01.6), up 24 places after jumping to 58th. Adam Loomis finished 52nd (+4:38.6) after jumping to 59th.

The U.S. Nordic Combined team is headed back to the states to prepare for U.S. Olympic trials later this month, according to the USA Nordic Facebook page.

Results: Saturday | Sunday

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FIS Cross Country World Cup (Toblach, Italy): 10/15 k classic pursuits

Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo after winning the men’s 15 k classic pursuit for his seventh World Cup win of the season on Sunday in Toblach, Italy. With win No. 7, he has the most wins before the new year in FIS Cross Country World Cup history. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

Women’s report

Men’s report

If you thought Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was out, think again. After placing 10th in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle on Saturday in Toblach, the 21-year-old Norwegian raced to his seventh victory of the season in the men’s 15 k pursuit on Sunday.

In doing so, Klæbo broke the record for the most World Cup wins before the New Year: he’s tallied seven in the last eight races he’s contested.

On Sunday, he started 10th, 36 seconds behind his Norwegian teammate Simen Hegstad Krüger, who won the 15 k freestyle and started first. Klæbo had worked his way up to third by 11.4 k, and at the finish, he edged Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov by 1.9 seconds for the win in 33:31.1 minutes.

Ustiugov, who started fifth, claimed second, and Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin rose from 14th to third place (+4.5), ahead of Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh in fourth (+9.7), Finland’s Matti Heikkinen in fifth (+9.8), France’s Maurice Manificat in sixth (+10.7), Norway’s Hans Christer Holund in seventh (+11.1), Switzerland’s Dario Cologna in eighth (+11.8), Canada’s Alex Harvey in ninth (+16.3), and Krüger in 10th (+24.0). Norway’s defending Overall and Distance World Cup champion, Martin Johnsrud Sundby placed 11th (+34.4) after starting 20th based on his result on Saturday.

Erik Bjornsen once again led the U.S. men, racing from 29th at the start to 26th (+1:43.1). Scott Patterson improved from 42nd to 39th (+2:37.2), Paddy Caldwell moved up from 52nd to 44th (+2:57.7), and Noah Hoffman slipped to 49th (+3:01.7) after starting 40th.

Canada’s Devon Kershaw moved up five places to 33rd (+2:02.8), Graeme Killick finished 50th (+3:42.0), Russell Kennedy 66th (+5:05.8), and Knute Johnsgaard moved up six places to finish 76th (+6:20.8).

The all-Norwegian women’s 10 k classic pursuit podium on Sunday at the World Cup in Toblach, Italy, with Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (l) in second and Heidi Weng (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

In the women’s 10 k classic pursuit earlier in the day in Toblach, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen overcame a 22-second starting deficit to take the win by just 0.3 seconds over her teammates Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in second. It was an all-Norwegian podium with Heidi Weng in third (+0.8).

Bjørgen started fifth, 22 seconds behind Swedish race leader Charlotte Kalla, based on their results in Saturday’s 10 k freestyle individual start. By the 6.4 k checkpoint, Bjørgen led a pack of four other Norwegians and Kalla — all within 1.4 seconds of first. At 8.5 k, Bjørgen led Østberg in second and Weng in third, while another Norwegian Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen skied another eight seconds back with teammate Ragnhild Haga in fourth and fifth, respectively. By that point, Kalla was skiing alone, another 11.7 seconds in sixth, while American Jessie Diggins led a group 25 seconds behind Kalla in sixth.

Ultimately, Bjørgen finished first in 25:19.3 and formed an all-Norwegian podium with Østberg and Weng, Jacobsen placed fourth, 21.5 seconds out of first and 20.7 seconds behind Weng in third.

Haga was fifth (+31.8), Kalla sixth (+41.9), Diggins seventh (+53.7), Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva eighth (+54.2), American Sadie Bjornsen ninth (+55.2), and Austria’s Teresa Stadlober 10th (+55.6) in a photo finish with Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, who placed 11th (+55.6).

For the U.S. Ski Team, Diggins and Bjornsen retained their starting positions of seventh and ninth, respectively, while Rosie Brennan started 19th and finished 25th (+2:14.6). Chelsea Holmes (Alaska Pacific University) finished 39th (+3:03.8) and Liz Stephen (USST) finished 48th (+4:05.2).

Canada’s Emily Nishikawa placed 53rd (+4:14.5), Dahria Beatty finished 63rd (+5:44.7), Cendrine Browne 66th (+5:57.7), and Katherine Stewart-Jones 70th (+7:31.5).

Results: Women | Men

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IBU World Cup (Annecy, France): Women’s and men’s mass starts

Women’s report

Men’s report

France’s Justine Braisaz won her first International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup race of the season on Sunday at home in Annecy, France, topping the women’s 12.5 k mass start by 11.2 seconds in 37:19.4.

While Braisaz shot 19-for-20 (0+0+1+0), Iryna Kryuko of Belarus cleaned the four-stage race for second place, her first World Cup podium. Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, who won Saturday’s 10 k pursuit, placed third (+19.9) with two penalties (0+1+0+1).

Two North Americans qualified for the selective mass start, with Susan Dunklee (US Biathlon) racing to 20th (+1:16.3) with three misses (1+0+1+1), and Emma Lunder (Biathlon Canada) placing 28th (+2:21.4) with a single penalty (1+0+0+0).

In the men’s 15 k mass start that followed, France’s Martin Fourcade finally got the win he was looking for, shooting clean and beating his main rival Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway by 3.9 seconds. Fourcade crossed the finish line first in 36:30.3, Bø settled for second after skiing two early penalty loops (2+0+0+0) and Germany’s Erik Lesser tallied his second podium in Annecy (after placing third in the sprint) in third place again (+6.2) with clean shooting.

Two Americans and a Canadian qualified for the mass start, with US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey leading them in 23rd (+2:22.4) with three penalties, Sean Doherty following in 24th (+2:52.5) with four misses, and Biathlon Canada’s Scott Gow finishing 26th (+4:05.4) with five penalties.

Results: Women| Men

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OPA Cup (St. Ulrich, Austria): 10/15 k freestyle pursuits

On the final day of Alpen Cup (a.k.a. OPA Cup) racing in St. Ulrich, Ida Sargent of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) scored her third-straight top five with a fifth place in the women’s 10 k freestyle mass start. She previously placed third in the skate sprint and 5 k classic on Friday and Saturday.

Germany’s Julia Belger won the women’s mass start on Sunday in 28:33.6, while Saturday’s 5 k winner, Elena Soboleva of Russia placed second (+0.7). Russia had two on the podium with Mariya Istomina in third (+6.4). Germany’s Elisabeth Schicho finished fourth (+15.8), just ahead of Sargent in fifth (+15.9).

Germany’s Antonia Fräbel placed sixth (+17.1), followed by American Sophie Caldwell in seventh (+17.9). The USST had three in the top 10 with Julia Kern in 10th (+41.9), out of 60 finishers.

In the men’s 15 k freestyle mass start, Beda Klee of Switzerland took the win in 37:14.6, 2.4 seconds ahead of Germany’s Thomas Bing in second. Six-time Olympian Sergey Dolidovich of Belarus reached the podium in third (+4.5).

The U.S. had two men in the race, with Simi Hamilton finishing 14th, 16 seconds out of first, and Andy Newell finishing 71st (+2:25.2) out of 118.

Results: Women | Men

December 17, 2017
AWCA Men Work Together; Women Sweep Top 4

Alysson Marshall (l) and Emily Nishikawa (r) of the Alberta World Cup Academy and Senior Development Team leading the 10 k freestyle pursuit at the NorAm Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

The art and appeal of racing usually boils down to the unexpected. One can guess who will win, pick the favorites and anticipate the moves, but nothing is ever over ’til, well, it’s over.

In two entirely different pursuit races Sunday in Cantley, Quebec, the odds and work ethic played out for the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA). In the men’s 30 k classic pursuit, Graeme Killick and Jesse Cockney set out to aidi teammate Kevin Sandau in his quest for the NorAm lead and World Cup racing opportunity that came with it.

As it turned out, Killick won and Sandau successfully held off Brent McMurtry of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH), placing second in the last race of the three-day Eastern Canadian Championships. McMurtry, who was third, previously led the NorAm circuit and was also looking to secure a few World Cup starts this season.

Five of the Academy’s men placed in the top 6, with Jesse Cockney in fourth, Pate Neumann in fifth and Gerard Garnier in sixth.

In the women’s 15 k classic pursuit, four Academy athletes swept the top 4, and most guessed the win would go to either Alysson Marshall and Emily Nishikawa. Both AWCA athletes, they started more than a minute ahead of their next closest contender. Eventual third-place finisher Kate Brennan, also of the AWCA, said the start was almost comical as the rest of the women watched them take off then stood around and waited to go.

Race Favorites

With a NorAm mini-tour title and World Cup trip at stake, Marshall and Nishikawa strategically skied together for most of the race, waiting for the best opportunity to make a move. Neither could have predicted a minor slipup near the finish would make the difference.

With slightly less than a kilometer to go, Nishikawa found herself on Marshall’s heels. A moment later, Nishikawa was on the ground, trying to catch her breath and make sense of what just happened.

Nishikawa had crashed at a high speed on the final downhill, and while she wasn’t sure what happened, she knew the win was out of reach. Marshall skied away and locked up the victory and NorAm leader’s spot by 29.2 seconds. She needed to beat Nishikawa by at least 4 seconds to do so.

Alysson Marshall (r) leads her teammate on both the Alberta World Cup Academy and Senior Development Team, Emily Nishikawa, in the 10 k freestyle pursuit at the NorAm Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

Marshall said she looked back shortly after Nishikawa fell and could not see her. At that moment, she knew she had won with the chase group nearly 2 minutes behind.

“I still had gas left,” Marshall said in a phone interview from the airport, where she was getting ready to fly to Latvia via Frankfurt and join a few other Canadians on the OPA/Scandinavian Cup circuit. She would stay in Europe and compete in the World Cup for a few weeks, starting at Feb. 17-18 in Poland.

“I was ready for the last sprint and I think I probably could have gotten it [without Nishikawa falling],” Marshall said. “But at the same time, I didn’t really know.”

Nishikawa said she was fine after the crash, but had to sit down at the finish after salvaging second place.

“I was aiming to go into a wider track, and I think Alysson was aiming for the same track,” she said. “I think I got a pole in the rib. I winded myself pretty bad. That happens all the time in racing; it’s kind of unfortunate.”

Other than that, Nishikawa said she felt good, attacking on the climbs and responding to Marshall’s pushes on the downhills and flats. Starting 4 seconds behind Marshall, she caught up to the pursuit leader on the first climb and let Marshall lead the first of three laps. Nishikawa said she was ahead for most of the second and third laps, and remembered AWCA program director Mike Cavaliere calling out to them on the last hill: “Here’s where the race begins!”

A few moments later, it ended for Nishikawa. Even if she had finished within a second or two of Marshall and beat her time, Nishikawa would have secured the NorAm regional spot. Regardless, she was looking forward to the U23 World Championships in Turkey, which she would leave for next Saturday.

With a few World Cup experiences of her own, Kate Brennan held off AWCA teammate Brittany Webster by 1.4 seconds for third. She also edged Sara Hewitt (CXC) by 3.8 seconds for her best NorAm result in three years and career-best in a NorAm distance race.

“I think I finally figured out pacing. I’ve been having trouble with that all year,” Brennan said. “I grew up in the Ottawa area so I was kind of coming back to my home trails and had lots of people cheering for me so that was fun.”

Webster skied the fastest 15 k of the day to climb her way out from ninth place to start to finish fourth. In two NorAm starts this season, she has placed fourth in both.

Working Together

Men's 30 k classic pursuit podium on Day 3 of NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships in Cantley, Quebec: Graeme Killick (center) in first, Kevin Sandau (r) in second, and Brent McMurtry (l) in third. Photo courtesy of Mike Cavaliere.

In preparation for the men’s race, the AWCA athletes and coaches met Saturday night to discuss tactics, according to Cavaliere.

Sandau was trying to make it back to Europe after starting his season on the World Cup circuit this year, and it was critical that the men starting around him helped him out.

For Killick, the first out of the gate after winning Saturday’s 15 k freestyle interval start, he would have to see how his problematic hip flexors felt during the classic race. Sandau started 7 seconds behind, and Cockney was next out 8 seconds later.

If the three worked as a team, they figured they could hold off McMurtry, who started just over a minute after Sandau. With World Cup starts on the line after he placed an uncharacteristic 11^th on Saturday, McMurtry would likely be hungry.

“We wanted to make sure they kept pushing each other and didn’t let Brent get any encouragement,” Cavaliere said. “We needed those guys not to let their guard down.”

Within the first 5 kilometers of the race, McMurtry had already put the pressure on, narrowing the gap to about 46 seconds. They still had five laps to go.

“Brent skied so strong today; he was clawing back time just skiing alone,” Sandau said. “The whole race I had the Jaws theme song in my head. It was one of the scarier races in my career.”

With the three AWCA teammates skiing together in the lead, Sandau said they took turns leading, each setting a fast pace in an effort to permanently drop McMurtry.

“We knew that we should take advantage of our starting positions and work together to maintain that gap,” Sandau said. “It would be stupid not to unless one of us was feeling phenomenal.”

Killick said he fed off the teamwork as each skier used their strengths to pull them ahead.

“Jess was amazing on the double pole, even on the climbs, and Kevin and I [pushed] on the climbs,” Killick said. “Through the race, I was trying to do my part. I was sort of strung out in a few places when Jess and Kevin would go up the front and start hammering the hills and flat sections, but I was able to recover well in the draft.”

According to Cavaliere, the coaches told Cockney that he could help set a fast pace for half the race and drop out around 15 k. That way, the sprinter could help Sandau without having to worry about recovering for the team’s training camp in Italy in a few days and stiffening up during the long flight on Monday.

As Sandau, Killick and Cockney opened the gap to almost a minute on McMurtry at the midway point, Cockney had done his job, but decided to finish the race. Before then, Sandau said he was a little worried Cockney might ski away from him. He told Cockney how well he was skiing as they entered the stadium near the end of the third lap.

“He spent all he had at 12 k,” Sandau said of Cockney, who hung in to place fourth. “He just kind of sacrificed himself. I owe a lot of today’s race to Jess.”

Cavaliere joked that they gave Cockney the George Hincapie Award, referring to the American cyclist known for helping Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France seven times.

While Sandau didn’t win, he did what he needed to.

“Priority number one was to beat Brent,” he said. “It would have been good to win overall, but Killick got the little push at the end. … I was ecstatic to be up there with him. He’s obviously in some good shape.”

Killick said he was similarly happy to feel strong enough to stay with Sandau. The two traded leads until the shortly before the stadium finish, when Killick stayed in front on the last hill.

“I just turned it on the last little climb [and] put in my best sprint after 30 k,” Killick said.

There, he edged Sandau for his second victory in two days. Saturday’s marked his first career NorAm win. Killick said it was a good indication of what kind of shape he was in before U23 Worlds in two weeks.

The third man to finish, McMurtry had a different experience in Sunday’s pursuit. For all but the first 2 k, when he skied with teammate David Greer, McMurtry skied alone. When he passed other Academy skiers, many of them refused to help him gain ground on Sandau. McMurtry didn’t blame them.

“Honestly, I knew that it would take a minor miracle [to catch Sandau and win],” McMurtry said. “It’s a race that I really enjoy. I like 30 k and I like classic so I just sort of focused on skiing my own race. After 20 k, I heard they were working together pretty seamlessly. I knew that I couldn’t catch them at that point.”

According to lap splits on Zone4.ca, McMurtry came as close as 44.2 seconds from Sandau around 10 k. He later lost time, but regained about 9 seconds around 20 k. Regardless, he was 54 seconds back. Disappointed he didn’t set himself up better for the pursuit, he was glad to win the time trial.

“It’s like a little bit of a consolation prize,” McMurtry said. “If nothing else, I think I was quite a bit stronger relative to those guys. Skiing 30 kilometers by yourself is pretty tough.”

Women’s results

Men’s results

February 5, 2012
Nishikawa Puts on Strong Last Lap for Fifth NorAm Title

Emily Nishikawa (r) chasing Alberta World Cup Academy teammates Heidi Widmer (l) and Alysson Marshall (center) and Emily Nishikawa (right) in the semifinal of the NorAm 1.2 k freestyle sprints at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 21. Nishikawa went on to place fifth. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

Nearing the halfway point of the 10 k freestyle interval start at the Eastern Canadian Championships on Saturday, Emily Nishikawa heard a motivating split time: she was 10 seconds out of first.

For different skiers under various circumstances, that might come as a surprise or a letdown. For Nishikawa, it told her exactly how to ski the second lap in order to beat Alberta World Cup Academy teammate Alysson Marshall. Hard.

Nishikawa racing at Sovereign Lake, B.C., earlier this winter. (Photo: Jesse Winter Photography/jessewinterphotography.com)

Fortunately, the 22-year-old Yukon native had prepared for the task ahead, keeping plenty of energy reserves for the second 5 k loop in Cantley, Quebec.

In a phone interview, Nishikawa said she laid it on particularly thick in the last 2 k to win claim her first outright freestyle title in a NorAm this season. Starting one bib ahead of Marshall, Nishikawa skated to the fastest time of 27:00.4, beating Marshall by 8.2 seconds. It was her fifth victory of the season.

“Toward the end of the second lap, I was still feeling really good so I just went as hard as I could up the last couple climbs and was able to get a lead there,” Nishikawa said.

Knowing that Marshall started 30 seconds behind her kept her pushing forward.

“I didn’t want to look back,” Nishikawa said. “I knew she was gaining on me after the first lap, just from the splits, but I just kind of focus on my own race. … I’m really happy with how my distance skiing is going and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It should be exciting.”

On the third day of the mini tour, Marshall as Friday’s freestyle sprint winner will start first in Sunday’s 15 k classic pursuit, 4 seconds ahead of Nishikawa. According to Zone4.ca, Andrea Dupont (Rocky Mountain Racers) put herself in the third spot after finishing seventh on Saturday and Kate Brennan (AWCA), who was ninth, will start fourth.

On Saturday, Marshall used a different game plan that Nishikawa, racing harder rather than conservatively from the start. She had hoped to build a gap and keep it throughout the race.

“The first lap went well but I couldn’t keep it going on the 2nd lap and lost time to Emily,” Marshall wrote in an email. “I saw her at a few parts of the course and got a few splits so I knew where I was standing most of the race.”

She expected they would be close again on Sunday.

“We will probably ski together most of the race,” Marshall wrote. “It will probably come down to whoever has the most energy left on the last lap!”

The third-place finisher in Saturday’s 10 k, Amanda Ammar of Canmore/Track ’n Trail skied a significantly stronger second lap, making up five spots from ranking eighth at the midway point. She finished 55.7 seconds out of first.

While the former national team member heard she was in third near the end of the race, she tried not to overthink it.

“I just like to take [splits] and toss them as soon as they come in because I don’t like thinking about placing when I’m racing,” Ammar said. “I just want to race my race and see what the results are when I’m done.”

When she found out she was third for the second straight time in a NorAm 10 k (with the other in a pursuit two weeks ago), Ammar said she couldn’t believe it. Several top racers, such as Nishikawa, Marshall and Brittany Webster (AWCA), started behind her, and she feared they’d catch her.

Impressed with her improvements in skating this season, Ammar was also thrilled with third because of what she woke up to Saturday morning.

“I’ve just been feeling kind of tired so I was staying positive, like ‘OK, this might be tough today, but I’m just gonna push through it,’ ” she said. “Once I started racing I felt good … I was just trying to push over every hill as much as I could and just stay strong throughout the whole race. I had a second faster lap which is amazing, especially for me in skate, because usually I die out in the second lap.”

Ammar was slated to start sixth in the pursuit behind friend Sara Hewitt (CXC), who was fourth on Saturday, 3.9 seconds behind Ammar. Andrea Lee (Strathcona) was fifth in the 10 k and Megan McTavish (XC Ottawa) was sixth. After Dupont, Erin Tribe (NDC Thunder Bay) was eighth, and Webster placed 10^th behind Brennan.

Women’s 10 k freestyle results

Women’s 15 k pursuit start list

February 4, 2012
Killick Leads AWCA Sweep in NorAm Distance Race

Graeme Killick (AWCA) on his way to winning the 10 k classic in West Yellowstone on Nov. 26, 2011. Killick won his first NorAm of the season in the 15 k freestyle interval start on Saturday.

Minutes before the NorAm freestyle interval starts on Saturday, three Alberta World Cup Academy coaches scrambled to get into position. In the women’s race as well as the men’s, they had several athletes starting one after another, many of which they knew would be competing for top spots.

Earlier that morning in the wax room, AWCA head coach Chris Jeffries jokingly told sprint coach Stefan Kuhn that the men’s team had not swept a distance podium this season.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen today,” Jeffries later said in a phone interview.

Some 6,500 kilometers their training centre in Canmore, Alberta, the AWCA athletes prepped their own skis at this weekend’s Eastern Canadian Championships mini tour in Cantley, Quebec.

Before the races, Jeffries knew it would be a challenge to give all his athletes splits, and they weren’t able to set up an iPad application to help them do so in time for the men’s 15 k.

Fortunately for them, it didn’t really matter. The coaches used stopwatches to measure the difference between Graeme Killick and Kevin Sandau, two of their athletes that started within a minute of each other.

From the start, the teammates skied head to head, clocking the exact same time on the first of three laps. Killick remained a second or two ahead for most of the race, and at the beginning of the last lap, the 22-year-old heard he was 4 seconds up on Sandau.

On the final climb, the margin was 2 seconds, pushing Killick to drive harder toward the finish. There, he edged Sandau by 0.5 seconds for his first NorAm victory of the season. After Killick won in 34:20.8, AWCA skier Pate Neumann finished third, 37.1 seconds behind.

With Neumann’s bronze, the Academy completed the sweep and did one better by placing four men in the top five. Jesse Cockney (AWCA) was fifth after Erik Carleton (Rocky Mountain Racers) in fourth.

Considering the AWCA coaches weren’t able to give much information to many of their racers, Jeffries said their results indicated the team was where it needed to be. In some ways, it was good that they didn’t have the technology working for them.

“They’re in good shape and they train hard, and this is the time of year where it pays off,” Jeffries said. “I think sometimes athletes rely too much on splits and it’s good to just go hammer it out.”

For Killick, all he needed to know was where Sandau was.

“Kevin’s been fighting for that spot to go over to Europe,” Killick said. “I didn’t know where [NorAm leader] Brent [McMurtry] was, but I knew it was Kevin and I that were fighting for the win so I was sort of pumped to be up there with him.”

Killick leads the first of four laps in the NorAm 15 k freestyle mass start in Rossland, British Columbia, where he finished third on Dec. 18, 2011.

Earlier in the season in Rossland, British Columbia, Killick was third in a NorAm 15 k freestyle mass start behind Sandau in first and McMurtry in second. On Saturday, McMurtry finished 11^th for his first time outside the top 3 in a NorAm distance race this season.

While Killick said he was better known for his classic skiing, a lingering hip-flexor issue forced him to skate more in training. That translated into improving freestyle results.

“It’s really nice to have a good skate race like that going into U23’s,” Killick said of the under-23 world championships in Turkey at the end of the month.

“Even though I’ve been kind of injured, I’ve been bringing up my skating,” he added.

Both Killick and Sandau said they attacked the hills and flats equally as they tried to outdo each other.

“My legs were feeling good so I wanted to try to one skate the hills and get some good speed,” Sandau said. “I knew I was really tight with Killick for the majority of the race so I tried to get him at end, but I guess it didn’t work.”

Regardless, Sandau said the finish set him up well for Sunday’s 30 k classic pursuit. According to Zone4.ca, he will start 7 seconds behind Killick and 1:01 ahead of McMurtry, his main rival in the NorAm standings.

“The win would’ve been a lot better and it sucks to lose by [half] of a second, but that second place still does me good,” Sandau said. “It definitely helped me toward that regional spot.”

While his two teammates battled for first on Saturday, Neumann said he had no idea where he stood until after the race. Upon discovering he secured third by 0.9 seconds, he was excited about his season best and felt he could have given even more.

“It was nice to finally feel like my body is in race shape,” Neumann wrote in an email. “I was sick for a while after Christmas and it took a long time to bounce back. But I am happy to say I am finally back.”

Rounding out the top 10, David Greer (CNEPH) was sixth, Christopher Hamilton (NDC Thunder Bay) was seventh and Russell Kennedy (Canmore) was eighth. Raphael Couturier (Skibec) finished ninth and Harry Seaton (NDC Thunder Bay) was 10^th.

Complete men’s 15 k freestyle results

30 k classic pursuit start list

February 4, 2012
Cockney Nabs Third NorAm Sprint Victory (updated)

Jesse Cockney (AWCA) races to a sixth-place finish in the 15 k freestyle pursuit at the Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 22. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

Note: This recap has been updated to include quotes from third-place finisher Harry Seaton.

Heat after heat, Jesse Cockney may have been racing around the same 1.4-kilometer sprint course in Cantley, Quebec, but in his mind, he was at the U23 World Championships on Friday.

Cockney, 22, had been trying to visualize what it would be like in Erzurum, Turkey, ever since he officially qualified for the U23 trip in mid January. It helped that the NorAm circuit provided a variety of terrain for the Alberta World Cup Academy member to practice tactics on.

Two weeks ago at the Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, Cockney faced a new course on his home turf, just as hilly as ever. Transitioning to the Eastern Championships on Friday, he discovered the Cantley course was similar to last year’s: flat and fast. That was good for Cockney; he won the freestyle sprint there last year.

Aiming to hang back and ski relaxed, just like he did in the final a year ago, Cockney found ways to win his quarterfinal and semifinal. The second-fastest qualifier after Brent McMurtry (Pierre-Harvey NTC), Cockney primed himself for the A-final.

Starting out in third or fourth, Cockney said in a phone interview that he made his way to second behind Drew Goldsack (Rocky Mountain Racers). At the final climb, Cockney saw his opportunity to overtake the leader and pushed the pace until the finish.

Cockney went on to win the final – his third in five NorAm sprints this year – despite McMurtry’s push to stay with him. He nipped McMurtry at the line, and Harry Seaton (NDC Thunder Bay) crossed the line just behind them in third. It was Seaton’s best NorAm result of his career.

“Brent and I were definitely right with each other on the last corner coming in with about 100 meters left,” Cockney said. “I had a couple solid free skates and I think I put a small gap on Brent and … I think [Harry was] pretty close.”

“I just worked hard to put myself in a good position near the front,” Seaton wrote in an email. “[I] skied really smart and made the best of the opportunities that came my way. … Being a bigger guy I like the power courses.”

Russell Kennedy (Canmore) was fourth and Graeme Killick (AWCA) finished fifth ahead of Goldsack, who had severe shoulder pain when someone stepped on his pole before the last climb. The two-time Olympian and World Cup skier has been coping with a rotator-cuff injury since crashing in the A-final at the NorAm sprint in Whistler, British Columbia.

“I couldn’t put much power through my arm or move it very quickly for a few strides due to the pain,” Goldsack wrote in an email. “By that time it was too late, a gap had opened up. I was also hurting quite a bit at that point so I wasn’t able to close the group.”

Cockney said the pace in the A-final was especially slow from the start and probably ended up being the slowest heat of the day. That made timing more important. Cockney was still learning how to push the pace early without blowing up.

“I have led in a lot of [heats] and kind of got burned at the end,” Cockney said. “[I was] just trying to relax and let someone else lead and make moves in smart places and put myself in a spot to kind of come down to that last 100 meters and trust my legs.”

Perhaps just as importantly, Cockney trusted his skis and said they helped determine when to make his moves on the hard-packed course.

Best known for his distance results, McMurtry exploded out of the gate for his first-career NorAm qualifying win. He went on to nab second place for the sixth time in a NorAm race this season.

After winning the quarterfinal and placing second to Killick in the semifinal, McMurtry wrote in an email the final went as he’d hoped.

“I wanted to come down the last hill and into the stadium in second position and slingshot around to take the win,” he wrote. “This all went [according] to plan other than I was not able to get around Jess. He was pretty fast coming into the finish so I had to settle for second.”

For McMurtry, the result was a good start to the three-day mini tour, in which he is trying to secure his top spot in the NorAm standings. Kevin Sandau (AWCA) as the runner-up was eighth in Friday’s sprint behind B-final winner Matt Wylie (AWCA). Dudley Coulter (NDC Thunder Bay) was ninth and Pate Neumann (AWCA) finished 10^th.

***

Competition resumes Saturday with the women’s 10 k and men’s 15 k freestyle interval starts.

Men’s overall sprint results

February 4, 2012
Marshall Opens Easterns with Another NorAm Win

Alysson Marshall (AWCA) skis to a victory in the 10 k freestyle pursuit at the Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Jan. 22 to keep her NorAm leader's jersey. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

Alysson Marshall has a pretty good idea what her strengths are in any given race. Power up the hills, charge down them and conserve energy wherever possible.

The 23-year-old Alberta World Cup Academy skier played Friday’s 1.4 k freestyle sprint accordingly, pacing herself to a qualifying win in 3:31.19 on the first day of the NorAm mini tour in Cantley, Quebec. She was 2.61 seconds ahead of the next fastest woman, Andrea Dupont of the Rocky Mountain Racers.

For Marshall, it was the first time she had won a qualifier since the NorAm opener in Sovereign Lake. At the Eastern Canadian Championships on Friday, Marshall continued to dominate the heats and made a point to keep some reserves for the final.

The top seed in the A-final, Marshall said in a phone interview that she positioned herself in second throughout the race. That way, she could be in control and respond to attacks without having to set the tempo. When it came to the finish, it was game on.

Marshall used her recurring slingshot tactic and passed teammate Emily Nishikawa on the final downhill before the stadium. After one last corner, Marshall jutted ahead and beat Nishikawa to the line. Dupont, who led the A-final until the last uphill when Marshall stepped on her pole, was third.

The tangle gave Nishikawa an opportunity to move ahead of the group after skiing in third for most of the race. Marshall recovered and held her position behind her.

“I don’t like leading,” Marshall said. “I like being in second and feeling in control and being able to move around people later in the race. That’s usually the way I try to play it.”

She knew the finish was her best strength of all, considering she won two previous race in the final stretch. At the NorAm Western Canadian Championships two weeks ago, Marshall won the freestyle sprint and pursuit in Canmore, Alberta.

For Nishikawa, it was the second straight time Marshall outsprinted her to the finish, yet the 22-year-old said she was excited for her best sprint result of the season. Nishikawa previously placed fifth to Marshall in Canmore’s 1.2 k sprint.

“Alysson came up behind and was able to get the win [Friday], but I was still able to hang onto second, which I was pretty pumped about,” Nishikawa said.

Earlier in the day, she qualified in fourth behind Marshall, Dupont and Kate Brennan (AWCA) for one of her better qualifying results of the season.

“I never usually feel that great in the qualifiers and they always get better as the day goes on,” Nishikawa said. “It was sort of the same thing that happened today, but I was able to get on the podium, which is a first for me this year in sprinting.”

Dupont tied a NorAm season best of third in a sprint, and Brennan was fourth. Heather Mehain (Sovereign Lake/BC Ski Team) finished fifth and Erin Tribe (NDC Thunder Bay) was sixth in the A-final.

Brittany Webster (AWCA) won the B-final, ahead of Amanda Ammar (Canmore/Track ’n Trail), who was eighth overall, and Sara Hewitt (CXC) in ninth. Rebecca Reid (AWCA) was 10^th.

For Marshall, the win extended her overall NorAm points lead on Nishikawa, who ranked second. Marshall was invited to race in several OPA and Scandinavian Cup races in Europe, but opted to skip the first weekend in Switzerland to try to make it back to the World Cup in March. She needed to secure the top NorAm spot to do so, and said if all went well, she could be leaving for Latvia and the remaining OPA tour on Monday.

Nishikawa said she was most focused on the U23 World Championships and would not race in next weekend’s NorAm in Orford, Quebec, to prepare for Turkey.

***

Competition resumes Saturday with the women’s 10 k and men’s 15 k freestyle interval starts.

Women’s overall sprint results

February 3, 2012
Sandau Rallies to Overcome Deficit, Beat McMurtry (updated)

Kevin Sandau (AWCA) racing to a 32.3-second victory in the 15 k freestyle pursuit on the last day of the NorAm mini tour in Canmore, Alberta, on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

Note: This story has been updated to include quotes from third-place finisher and overall NorAm leader Brent McMurtry.

If there’s one thing an athlete dreads besides injury, it’s sickness. Kevin Sandau felt the latter coming on Saturday in Canmore, Alberta, the night before the last race of the Western Canadian Championships.

With most other NorAm races, the Alberta World Cup Academy and Senior Development Team skier would have found it easier to simply sit one out. However, Sandau was in the middle of a mini tour and with just two on the NorAm circuit this season, he needed to finish out the three-day series.

His push to capture the lead in the overall NorAm standings depended on it.

Fortunately, the body is an amazing thing. As Sandau shot out from the start of the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit, he felt his body match his intentions. He was the second man to start, 41 seconds behind the mini-tour and overall NorAm leader Brent McMurtry (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre).

Brent McMurtry (CNEPH) racing to a third-place finish in the NorAm 15 k freestyle pursuit on the last day of the Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

By about 8 k, Sandau said he caught McMurtry and extended his gap on 77 others, racing against only the clock and winning the pursuit by 32.3 seconds in 1:07.10.1.

Sandau’s teammate, Graham Nishikawa, was the overall runner-up after starting 1:26 behind McMurtry. Nishikawa caught the man in the leader’s jersey on the second lap, and despite McMurtry hanging with him until the end, Nishikawa managed to edge him in the final sprint. McMurtry was third by 0.8 seconds (+33.1).

“I don’t really know what the reason is, I just had low energy and bad legs right from the start,” McMurtry said in a phone interview on Monday. “Once Kevin caught me which was pretty quickly, he skied right through me and there was nothing I could do.”

He regrouped by focusing on second, but with about 3 k to go, Eric Carleton (Rocky Mountain Racers) and Nishikawa caught him. From there, McMurtry dug deep to stay with them to the finish and ultimately edged Carleton, who was fourth.

While Nishikawa and Sandau acknowledged some racers, like McMurtry, didn’t have their best races on the World Cup course, they were pleased with how they felt throughout all three laps.

“I think things started working together and when I started catching time on [McMurtry],” Sandau said on Sunday. “My coach told me before the race, ‘There’s 15 k, you don’t need to make up the time all at once.’ … I didn’t think I started that quick and I was already making time up.”

Sunday morning when he woke up and decided to race, Sandau thought he might be contending for second.

“I thought first was too far gone,” he said. “In the race, I felt pretty normal … I was surprised by that and my legs actually felt good. It was kind of a mental thing, like, think about it after the race.”

On the downhills, Sandau felt his body respond well to the recovery and he sensed a shot at winning.

“I knew I could make up that 41 seconds and push it at the end,” he said. “I think I was the fifth-fastest time of the day. That was still a heck of a day for me.”

Nishikawa posted the fastest 15 k split after starting six places back. He made the winning the time trial his goal and hoped his body would hold up. On Friday, Nishikawa said he had an unusual experience in the middle of the 10 k classic interval start.

Erik Carleton (RMR) leads Graham Nishikawa (AWCA), center, and Brent McMurtry (CNEPH), right, during the NorAm 15 k freestyle pursuit at the Western Canadian Championships in Canmore, Alberta, on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Angus Cockney.

“I don’t know if I ate enough food and I got really, really tired out there and kind of had to pull over for a bit,” he said. “It was really bizarre … all of a sudden I was really out of it.”

His coaches told him to keep racing and he finished ninth. With the snafu out of the way and a double oatmeal in his stomach for Sunday’s 15 k, Nishikawa wanted a better result, but was unsure how his body would react.

Throughout the race, he gradually increased his pace so as not to rock the boat and blow up. By the last climb, Nishikawa moved to second place just ahead of McMurtry and Carleton.

“As it happens, I skied really well today and managed to catch up to some guys,” Nishikawa said.

He pointed out another racer on the course, Canadian National Ski Team member Ivan Babikov, as a motivator. Babikov, who is on break from the World Cup circuit until the end of the month, jumped into the NorAm race as sort of a tune up. He started close to the end as a result and skied the second-fastest time to finish 28^th overall.

“[I] wasn’t planning to race because I don’t have any race skis here with me,” Babikov wrote in an email from Canmore, where he’s recovering after the Tour de Ski with his expectant wife and 9-year-old son. His second child is due in April.

“I wasn’t expecting anything,” he added. “That was simply for training, another hard workout.”

The two-time Olympian was also nursing his wrist injury after a crash in Stage 4 of the Tour. He finished out the event, placing 27^th overall, and took some time off with the team in the Canary Islands before returning to Canada. While Babikov said his wrist, which suffered soft tissue damage, was not 100 percent, he explained it was much better than the Tour: “just a bit sore.” He estimated the healing time was four to six weeks since; he was on Week 3.

On Jan. 31, Babikov wrote that he would fly to Russia to compete in the Rybinsk World Cups on Feb. 4-5.

Note: The NorAms have a break in the schedule next weekend and will resume with the second of two mini tours this season at the Nakkertok Nordic Centre in Cantley, Quebec, on Feb. 3-5.

With one win and two third-place finishes in Canmore, Brent McMurtry remains on top of the NorAm standings with 854 points. Sandau trails by 40 points, and Nishikawa is third with 529. Jesse Cockney (AWCA) ranks fourth with 516, and Michael Somppi (NDC Thunder Bay) was fifth with 419.

Rounding out the top 10 on Sunday, Brian McKeever (Foothills) was fifth, Somppi was sixth, Cockney was seventh, David Greer (CNEPH) was eighth, Phil Widmer (AWCA) was ninth, and Pate Neumann (AWCA) was 10th.

Men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit results

January 22, 2012