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Tag: Sarah Edwards

  • Fresh from Europe, Nordgren and Cook Take Sprint Titles at U.S. Biathlon Nationals

    Fresh from Europe, Nordgren and Cook Take Sprint Titles at U.S. Biathlon Nationals

    Mark Johnson leaving the start en route to placing second in the 10 k sprint. Photo: Rich Jehle.

    Fresh off of World Championships appearances in Ruhpolding, Germany, U.S. national team members Leif Nordgren and Annelies Cook won the 10 and 7.5 k sprints at U.S. Biathlon Championships in West Yellowstone, Montana, on Thursday.

    While most of the rest of the World Championships team continued on to Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, for the final weekend of World Cup racing, Cook and Nordgren headed home for a different kind of racing – which Nordgren said was actually nice.

    “There was a great atmosphere today,” he wrote in an e-mail to FasterSkier. “I heard over a 100 racers participated, which kind of blew me away. For sure I wasn’t expecting that many, but they all looked happy to be here and it looked like they were having some fun too!

    “It was cool to go from Ruhpolding to here,” he continued. “In some ways it’s nice just to go out and have some fun during your race, without having 30,000 people screaming at you.”

    Jenny Abraham of Colorado Biathlon, fourth place senior women's 7.5 k. Photo: Rich Jehle.

    The biathletes – who hailed from at least 13 states and competed in categories ranging from boys and girls up to senior veterans – were greeted by plenty of snow, despite rain last night, and calm conditions on the range.

    In the women’s race, Cook held off fellow national team members Laura Spector and Corrine Malcolm by shooting well, earning just one penalty to their three. She picked up a 1:24 victory over Spector, with Malcolm another 15 seconds behind.

    Cook could not be reached for comment.

    In the men’s race, Nordgren won by a minute and three seconds over Mark Johnson, but the penalties were reversed: Nordgren had three, and Johnson one. Despite earning his first senior national title, Nordgren said there was plenty to improve on in his race.

    “For me the race wasn’t super great,” he admitted. “Three penalties in shooting was about two too much for today. It was a perfect day for shooting so there’s no excuse.  Skiing felt surprisingly well for having traveled so much in the last few days. It was kind of a shock to come up to this altitude and only train for a day before racing, but I took it easy skiing and it went pretty well.”

    Michael Gibson of Vermont Collegiate Biathlon placed third, roughly three and a half minutes behind Nordgren.

    Adaptive biathlon races were also held, with Sarah Edwards winning the women’s crown and Eric Frazier and Omar Bermejo winning the men’s sit-ski and standing divisions, respectively.

    Racing continues Friday for the adaptive skiers and Saturday for the able-bodied racers.

    Results

    Eric Frazier and Robert Ackerman line up at the start of the men's sit-ski race. The pair went 1-2. Photo: Rich Jehle.
  • Cnossen, Edwards, Leach Capture Victories at Adaptive Nationals

    Cnossen, Edwards, Leach Capture Victories at Adaptive Nationals

    Christina Kouros on her way to winning the adaptive 5km sit-ski. Photo: Flying Point Road.

    RUMFORD, Maine — Following the completion of Thursday morning’s 10/15 k freestyle distance events, the adaptive skiers had their chance to take to the course at the 2012 U.S. Adaptive Cross Country Nationals at Black Mountain.

    A change in schedule resulted with the adaptive race being shortened. The male sit-skiers completed four laps of the 2.5 k loop for 10 k while the women did two laps for 5 k.

    With 18 athletes out on course, there was no shortage of excitement. All of the sit-skiers were out on course together, despite the fact that not all athletes were completing the same number of laps. Tactics played  role, as athletes completing all four laps had to be sure they were conserving enough energy for the remainder of the race, while the athletes competing in the shorter distance were able to take a more aggressive stance.

    Two racers head back into the stadium during the adaptive 5km sit-ski.

    U.S. Paralympics High Performance Nordic Director John Farra was excited that 18 athletes competed in the event, matching the record number of entrants set on Tuesday in the sit-ski sprint race at Black Mountain.

    In the stand-up division, David Leach outpaced Eric McDaniel, Jr., for the victory.

    Dan Cnossen set a blistering pace to take the win in the men’s race by more than a minute. Cnossen was followed by his teammates on the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Team, Sean Halsted in second and Andy Soule in third.

    In the women’s race, Sarah Edwards claimed her second win of the week with Christina Kouros second and Mikayla Briere in third.

    Complete Results

    All Flying Point Road photo proceeds will be donated to the National Nordic Foundation (NNF).