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  • Bishop’s University NorAm and World Selection: Weekend Summary from Canada

    Bishop’s University NorAm and World Selection: Weekend Summary from Canada

    Cendrine Browne (bib 1) leads Katherine Stewart-Jones (bib 2) at the start of the 14.3km at Bishop's University. (Photo: Ian Aitken)
    Cendrine Browne (bib 1) leads Katherine Stewart-Jones (bib 2) at the start of Sunday’s 14.3 km skate mass start at Bishop’s University. (Photo: Ian Aitken)

    The third NorAm weekend of the season was also Canadian selection trials for 2019 World Nordic Ski Championships and a Quebec Cup event on the Bishop’s University trails in Lennoxville, which is a neighborhood in Sherbrooke, Québec. With variable weather the Mont Orford club rallied and held races all three days of the competition schedule.

    On the line were NorAm series points, COC leaders’ bibs, and six automatic selections for the World Championships in Seefeld. Four athletes have been pre-selected for the World Championships: Alex Harvey (PyeongChang, WC period 1), Lenny Valjas (PyeongChang), Dahria Beatty (WC period 1), and Emily Nishikawa (Tour de Ski). The race winners from each day would join that group.

    Skate Sprint, Friday

    Maya MacIsaac-Jones was the fastest woman all day. (Photo: Michèle Carriere)
    Maya MacIsaac-Jones was the fastest woman all day. (Photo: Michèle Carriere)

    Racing began Friday with skate sprints on a technical course. The weather cooperated, with -10 C air, dry snow, and snow flurries. Maya MacIsaac-Jones (CNST) took the first selection, along with the qualifier and every heat, winning the 1.3km A final in 2:36.83. Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST) was second (0.05) while Laura Leclair (Nakkertok) earned her first senior NorAm podium at 3.77 seconds.

    “The start position was very important because the course isn’t very wide and it makes it very hard to pass,” Leclair wrote of the A final. “I wanted to start fast and stay close to Maya.”

    Stewart-Jones had a similar strategy, writing “In the final my strategy was to position myself behind Maya from the beginning because I knew she was feeling strong and it would allow me to conserve energy and avoid having to pass other people.”

    Evan Palmer-Charrette on his way to qualifying 4th. (Photo: Michèle Carriere)
    Evan Palmer-Charrette on his way to qualifying 4th. (Photo: Michèle Carriere)

    The men’s 1.6km sprint final was more aggressive, with Evan Palmer-Charrette (Team R.A.D.) winning in 3:06.58, edging out Julien Locke (CNST) by 0.11 seconds at the line with early leader Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.) 2.26 back in third.

    Palmer-Charrette had a plan to attack at the midpoint of the final. “Dominique Moncion-Groulx [Nakkertok] and I had the same thought and tangled up,” he wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “I thought that ended my chances but was able to bridge back to the lead and come through with a strong finish.”

    “Everyone was skiing tight together in the first half of the final,” Locke wrote after the race. “I knew that the differences would be made in the 2nd half so I held my position mid-pack and made sure I was ready for when the pace ramped up. Russell pushed hard up the 2nd climb and I waited for the steep pitch to hop by him. I led down the twisty turns and through most of the finishing straight. Evan had a great kick in the last few meters of the gradual downhill finish.”

    “It was a fun final, I led most of it. Julien came in front of me on the last hill and I followed him down,” Kennedy wrote. “Evan took a really good line into the finishing straight. He had a great day and I am super stoked for him.”

    Classic Distance, Saturday

    The individual start classic day dawned cold, but a delay to a noon start allowed legal racing at -19 C with less wind.

    Scott Hill putting in the fastest second lap in the 15km. (Photo: Ian Aitken)
    Scott Hill putting in the fastest second lap in the 15km. (Photo: Ian Aitken)

    Scott Hill (Hardwood) won the men’s 15km and earned his trip to Seefeld with the fastest splits on the last three laps, with Kennedy fading on the last lap for second, 9.0 seconds back. Graham Nishikawa (CPNST) held on for third at 38.0 seconds.

    “I put together my best race of the year so far in terms of pacing, tactics, technique, focus and all the other small things,” Hill wrote. “For sure double pole strength made the difference today on such a flat course. I don’t consider myself a great double poler but after I went to Norway this summer and raced some almost entirely double pole rollerski races and got my butt kicked really bad, I have been working a tonne on double pole since I got back to Canada at the end of August and it paid off today.”

    Stewart-Jones won the women’s 10km, earning the selection spot along with the virtual COC leaders bib. Cendrine Browne (CNST) was second at 30.8 seconds, an improvement from her 4th on Friday. Zoë Williams (Nakkertok) was third at 1:53.5, edging out Frederique Vezina (CNEPH) by 3.1 seconds.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones moving up in the 10km. (Photo: Ian Aitken)
    Katherine Stewart-Jones moving up in the 10km. (Photo: Ian Aitken)

    “It was a pretty flat course so there was a lot of double pole. I think that what made the difference was really going out hard from the start and trying to stay as consistent as possible,” Stewart-Jones wrote. “On a course like this it’s easy to lose focus but you can lose a lot of time if you aren’t keeping the tempo high on the flats.”

    Athletes from the east were less likely to comment on the cold than the westerners. All names withheld to protect the guilty.

    Skate mass start, Sunday

    Russell Kennedy leading early in the 19.3km. (Photo: Ian Aitken)
    Russell Kennedy leading early in the 19.3km. (Photo: Ian Aitken)

    Sunday was warmer as a massive snowstorm rolled through Quebec. The trails became softer and deeper as the day progressed despite the shortened courses.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST) continued her dominance with a win in 48:25.5 minutes, on a shortened course of 14.3 km, with one 4.3 km lap and two 5 km laps.

    “There was a ton of snow so it was really slow,” Stewart-Jones. “Cendrine and I worked together and exchanged leads. I made a break on the last little bump before the finish.”

    Browne had her final chance to get an automatic selection. “I started pretty fast, and already after 4 km, the pack was broken. Katherine and I were with a little group of 6 skiers but broke away after 6 km and skied together for the remaining 9 km,” she wrote. “I tried to attack on the last uphill but Katherine stayed with me and attacked me when there was 500 meters to the race. I was so tired I couldn’t follow… I think I attacked too early but I had to try!”

    COC leader Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.) collected his first win of the weekend to earn his trip to World Championships, finishing alone at 57:12.6 on the four lap 19.3 km race. Hill was second at 23.4 seconds behind. Palmer-Charrette out-sprinted the remains of the original six leaders to complete the podium at 1:07.0.

    “It was a hard day with the amount of snow that fell,” Kennedy wrote. “I found myself on the front early so I pushed the pace and kept pushing. Took a break on the second lap and pushed the third and fourth lap.”

    At the end of the weekend, MacIsaac-Jones, Palmer-Charrette, Stewart-Jones, Scott Hill, and Russell Kennedy have met the qualification standard for Seefeld. The High Performance committee should soon announce their official selection; if there is a sixth athlete chosen, it is likely to be Browne with 4th, 2nd, and 2nd places.

    Kennedy continues as COC leader while Stewart-Jones moved past Dahria Beatty to earn the women’s leader bib.

    Results: Qualifier, Heats, Classic Distance, Skate Mass Start

    Ian Aitken’s photo galleries: Saturday, Sunday

     

     

  • Sunday Race Rundown: Otepää and More (Updated 2x)

    Sunday Race Rundown: Otepää and More (Updated 2x)

    Norway’s Therese Johuag after winning the women’s 10-kilometer classic sprint on Sunday in Otepää, Estonia. (NBC screenshot)

    FIS World Cup Otepää, Estonia classic 10/15 k individual start 

    Women’s Full Report | Men’s Full Report

    World Cup cross-country action returned to the Otepää race venue on Sunday, with athletes reconvening after Saturday’s classic sprints for the weekend’s distance classic event. In the women’s 10-kilometer individual start classic race, Norway’s Therese Johaug finished first in a time of 29:53.7 for the win. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson finished second (+48.4) while Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva claimed third (+56.7).

    Skiing for the U.S. Ski Team (USST), Jessie Diggins was the top North American woman on Sunday, placing 13th (+2:26.0). Two more Americans skied into the Top 30, with Rosie Brennan finishing 27th (+3:09.9) and Sadie Bjornsen 29th (+3:11.3).

    Also skiing for the U.S. on Sunday, Caitlin Patterson and Ida Sargent finished in 39th (+3:50.9) and 41st (+4:17.2), respectively. Dahria Beatty was the lone Canadian to enter the race, placing 43rd (+4:42.5).

    Results

    Screenshot
    The men’s 15-kilometer classic podium on Sunday in Otepää, Estonia with Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (left) in second, Iivo Niskanen of Finland (center) in first and Norwegian Didrik Tønseth (right) in third. (FIS screenshot)

    In the men’s 15 k, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen took first, completing the course in a time of 40:07.1.  Russia’s  Alexander Bolshunov finished in second place (+15.9) and Norway’s Didrik Tønseth in third (+46.4).

    The USST’s Erik Bjornsen led the charge for the Americans, placing 30th (+2:35.7). Scott Patterson placed 36th (+3:01.0), while Ben Lustgarten finished in 53rd (+4:41.1). Kevin Bolger placed 56th (+4:57.3) and Andy Newell did not start.

    Racing for Canada, Len Valjas placed 43rd (+3:56.9) and Bob Thompson 52nd (+4:24.0).

    Results

    ***

    Katherine Stewart-Jones leads Cendrine Browne early in the mass start. (Photo: Michèle Carriere)
    Katherine Stewart-Jones leads Cendrine Browne early in the mass start. (Photo: Michèle Carriere)

    Worlds Selections/NorAms/Coupe Québec, Bishop’s University, Québec

    The NorAm weekend wrapped up with mass start free technique on shortened courses. The predicted extreme cold and extreme snow didn’t materialize with a relatively balmy -13C recorded by the jury.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST) continued her dominance with a win in 48:25.5, gapping Cendrine Browne (CNST) on the third and final lap for a 8.4 second separation. That is two wins and a second for Stewart-Jones. Zoë Williams (Nakkertokk) was third again, 1:38.2 behind. The shortened course was 14.3km, with one 4.3km lap and two 5km laps.

    Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.) collected his first win of the weekend to earn his trip to World Championships, finishing alone at 57:12.6 on the four lap 19.3km race. Scott Hill (Hardwood) was second at 23.4 seconds behind. Evan Palmer-Charrette out-sprinted the remains of the original six leaders to complete the podium at 1:07.0.

    Mass Start Results, Full Weekend

     

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    IBU World Cup Ruhpolding, Germany 15 k / 12.5 k Mass Start

    Career-best days are good days. That’s the main narrative from US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty 15-kilometer mass start in Ruhpolding, Germany on Sunday.

    Doherty’s previous best in the mass start was a 24th place. In the 30-athlete field, Doherty began in bib-30. In his first two shooting stages, both prone, he skied a single penalty lap in each. As he found his ski-speed groove for his second two laps, marking the third fastest ski split for lap three and the fifth fastest split for lap four, Doherty also made his mark on the shooting range as he shot clean for for both his standing stages.

    Doherty finished in 13th overall which matched his individual career best on the IBU World Cup. Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway won the mass start in a time of 36:43.8 minutes while shooting clean for his first three stages and skiing one penalty lap on his fourth. Doherty’s finishing time was 42.2 seconds behind Bø’s.

    Canada’s Christian Gow also posted a career best IBU World Cup results with an 11th place. Gow skied a single penalty lap after missing a target on his second prone stage. Otherwise, he shot clean to finish 34.3 seconds behind Bø.

    Austria’s Julian Eberhard placed second (+0.6, 0+1+0+1), and France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet was third (+2.8, 0+1+0+0). Teammate Martin Fourcade skied to fourth (+8.6, 0+0+0+1).

    Bø’s win on Sunday marked his 10th win (including relays) this season on the IBU World Cup. He leads the overall points series.

    Men’s Results  

    It was time for a first in the women’s 12.5 k mass start. Franziska Preuss of Germany won the race – an IBU World Cup career first for her — in a time of 32:34 minutes. Preuss shot clean on her way to the win.

    Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold placed second (+0.2, 0+0+0+0). For Tandrevold it was a her first IBU World Cup podium. Paulina Fialkova of Slovakia was third (+15.1, 0+0+0+0).

    US Biathlon’s Clare Egan placed 24th (+1:59.7, 0+0+3+2), teammate Susan Dunklee 25th (+2:12.5 2+1+1+0).

    No other North American women qualified for the mass start.

    Women’s Results

     

     

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  • Saturday Race Rundown: Otepää Classic Sprints and Beyond (Updated 2x)

    Saturday Race Rundown: Otepää Classic Sprints and Beyond (Updated 2x)

    It’s on and it’s over — the World Cup classic sprints in Otepää, Estonia. (Photo: @fiscrosscountry Instagram screenshot)

    FIS World Cup Otepää, Estonia 1.3 k / 1.6 Classic Sprint

    Starting the day’s performance benchmarks off was Stina Nilsson of Sweden with the fastest qualifier in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää on Saturday. She stopped the clock in 3:07.62 minutes.

    The U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Jessie Diggins was the top-qualifying North American in 18th (+5.37). Sadie Bjornsen (USST) qualified 20th (+5.71), and Ida Sargent 27th (+8.38).

    On a course rewarding patience and technical skiing know how, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla won the overall in 3:05:16 minutes. Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva placed second (+1.40), and Maja Dahlqvist of Sweden third (+5.78). Also from Sweden, Jonna Sundling, who fell at around the 1:30 mark in the final, placed fourth (+8.12), with Slovenia’s Katja Visnar fifth (+23.22).

    Nilsson placed second to Falla in the first semi-final, but did not start the final. Nilsson had won the last four World Cup sprints, all in skate, coming into Otepää.

    Bjornsen looked strong in the fifth heat, yet stepping around the right hand turn before the final straight she fell taking out several other skiers. Bjornsen was given a yellow card for obstruction. She ended up 22nd overall. 

    Diggins placed second to Falla in the second heat to advance to the first semi. She was eliminated after finishing in sixth (+3.68). Diggins placed 12th overall. 

    Sargent finished third in the third heat, to place 15th overall.

    U.S. athlete  Rosie Brennan (APU) finished 45th (+15.81).

    Dahria Beatty (CNST) was the only Canadian entered. She placed 44th overall (+15.79)

    Qualification Results | Results 

    Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was the fastest qualifier for the men in the 1.6 k classic sprint with a time of 3:21.99 minutes.

    The young Norwegian seems on form as he swept his heat, semi, and final on his way to the win. Klæbo won the final in 3:20.05 minutes. Alexander Bolshunov of Russia, the only non-Norwegian in the final, was second (+1.51), and Pål Golberg third (+2.53). Rounding out the final three spots in the final were Eirik Brandsdal in fourth (+2.57), Mattis Stenshagen in fifth (+7.69), and Erik Valnes in sixth (+11.99).

    For the U.S., Erik Bjornsen (USST) was the fastest qualifying North American in 23rd (+8.2), Andy Newell (SMS T2) 26th (+8.75).

    Bjornsen was knocked out of the rounds after placing fifth in the second heat. He placed 24th overall. Newell ended up third in the first heat, 2.99 seconds in back of Klæbo. Newell, in his second World Cup sprint of the season, placed 15th in the final standings.

    Kevin Bolger (USST) finished in 41st (13.13), Ben Saxton (SMS T2) 44th (+14.16), and Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) 63rd (+23.04).

    For Canada, Lenny Valjas (CNST) was 43rd (+13.61), and Bob Thompson 51st (+15.96).

    Men’s Qualification Results | Men’ Results

    ***

    The stadium setup for Saturday's interval start classic. (Photo: A. Ian Aitken)
    The stadium setup for Saturday’s interval start classic. (Photo: Ian Aitken)

    Worlds Selections/NorAms/Coupe Québec, Bishop’s University, Québec

    Day two of the NorAm weekend was interval start classic, with very cold conditions delaying the start and simplifying the ski preparations.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST) topped her Friday 2nd place with a clear win in the 10km, finishing in 28:51.6 with the fastest time on all three laps. Cendrine Browne (CNST) was second at 30.8 behind. Zoë Williams (Nakkertok) was third at 1:53.5, just pulling clear of Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH) by 3.1 seconds with a fast final lap.

    In the men’s 15km, Scott Hill (Hardwood) bounced back from a slow start to the season with a well-timed victory to join Stewart-Jones on the World Championships team. Hill was fastest on the last three of four 3.75km laps to win in 36:59.7, 9.0 seconds ahead of a fading Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.). Graham Nishikawa (CPNST), here training for his role as Brian McKeever‘s guide, held onto third at 38.0 seconds, just 3.2 seconds ahead of a fast finishing Dominique Moncion-Groulx (Nakkertok).

    There are two more automatic selections for World Championship available on Sunday in the mass start skate races (20km for women, 30km for men). With cold temperatures and heavy overnight snow predicted, it should be an exciting end to the weekend.

    Classic Results, Full Weekend (including live timing for Sunday)

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    IBU World Cup Ruhpolding, Germany 4 x 6 k Relay

    The teams from France, Norway and Germany claimed the positions at the top of the podium on Saturday in the women’s 4 x 6-kilometer relay in Ruhpolding, Germany, cheered on by over avid 25,000 fans lining the course.

    France with Julia Simon, Anaïs Bescond, Justine Braisaz and Anaïs Chevalier stayed in the top group all race mainly due to the best shooting performance of the day, at times with a lead of over half a minute. On the anchor leg, Chevalier defended her narrow lead through three loops and two shooting stages to the finish line in a time of 1:09:27.7 hours, with no penalty and just four spares. According to an IBU press release, it was their first win since 1994 at this venue with a long tradition on the biathlon competition calendar, which has undergone a slight redesign for this season to add stands and make a downhill section less tricky.

    Behind the French women, Norway with a team comprised of the reactivated veteran Synnøve Solemdal, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Tiril Eckhoff and anchor Marte Olsbu Røiseland was second, with Røiseland narrowing the gap to Chevalier on the final loop from 21 to seconds but not quite catching up to finish 11.5 seconds back (with no penalty and seven spare rounds). The home team from Germany with Vanessa Hinz, Laura Dahlmeier, Franziska Preuss and Denise Herrmann was third, after the fast Herrmann was unable to catch the leaders when she needed all three spares in the final shooting to clear her targets (+23.4, with no penalty and nine spares).

    Over a minute behind the podium finishers, the fourth team crossing the line were the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic relay silver medalists from Sweden around anchor Hanna Öberg (+1:29, with no penalty and nine spares).

    For the North American teams it was a race with many ups and downs.

    Canada began the race with Sarah Beaudry, who moved the team as high as sixth thanks to a clean shooting performance in her standing shooting stage after she had required two spares in prone. She then lost time to the top teams on the track to exchange in 13th position (+54.5 sec). Emma Lunder then managed to bring the team back up to sixth position but she also needed two spares in prone and followed that up with a clean standing stage, tagging off in seventh place right behind Sweden (individually her leg was the fifth-fastest). Megan Bankes kept up with the teams around her on the course and slightly improved to fifth position less than a minute back, but then missed two targets in her standing stage and could not clean with her spares. She skied a single penalty lap (0+1, 1+3). She tagged anchor Rosanna Crawford in 10th position (+2:14), who then herself added a penalty in her prone stage.

    At the site of her podium finish a year ago and coming off a 27th place in the sprint earlier this week, the Canadian team leader then needed two spares in the standing stage and ultimately came to the finish in 12th position (+3:01.6), with two penalties and 13 spare shots for the team.

    For US Biathlon, Clare Egan began the race and recorded a clean prone stage to move the team up all the way to third position coming into the standing shooting stage despite a broken pole. She then missed three targets and ran out of spares and skied two penalty laps.

    That set the team back quite far, exchanging in 19th position (+1:26.6). Susan Dunklee needed four spares in her shooting stages but avoided another penalty (0+1, 0+3) to exchange in 12th position (+1:47.3).

    Rounding out the team after being called back up to the World Cup from the second-tier IBU Cup following solid performances in Duszniki Zdroj, Poland, Joanne Reid only needed one spare in each of her shooting stages (0+1, 0+1) to tag off in 15th position. In her second time anchoring a relay this season, Deedra Irwin – who had recorded her first clean shooting performance in a race in Poland a week ago – then required all her spares to clear her targets in the prone shooting before achieving another clean standing shooting stage. She crossed the line in 16th position, 4:06.0 back, with two penalties and 12 spare shots for the team.

    Races in Ruhpolding conclude on Sunday with mass starts for the women and men. US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty is scheduled to be lone North American starter for the elite men’s field (though Canada’s Christian Gow would be the next one up from a reserve list in case of an illness), while Egan and Dunklee are qualified for the women.

    Results Women’s 4×6-kilometer Relay

     

  • Big Results for Geraghty-Moats, Harvey at Summer GP, Toppidrettsveka

    Big Results for Geraghty-Moats, Harvey at Summer GP, Toppidrettsveka

    Tara Geraghty-Moats winning Sunday’s normal hill/5 k Gundersen at the 2018 Women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix in Oberwiesenthal, Germany. (Photo: Romina Eggert/FIS)

    Two North Americans posted impressive results at nordic events in Germany and Norway over the last week, with Vermont native Tara Geraghty-Moats racing to first overall in the first-ever Women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix and Quebec’s Alex Harvey placing second, fifth and 10th in three races at the Toppidrettsveka rollerski series.

    Geraghty-Moats 1st and 2nd at Inaugural Women’s NoCo Grand Prix

    Brand new to nordic combined as well as the jump hill in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Geraghty-Moats took the inaugural women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix by storm this past weekend, placing first and second in two competitions. That tied her for first place in the overall Grand Prix standings, alongside Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova — the defending champion of last winter’s inaugural women’s Nordic Combined Continental Cup.

    On Sunday, Geraghty-Moats, 25, of USA Nordic and the New York Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF), handily beat Nadymova and the rest of the 10-woman field after starting the 5-kilometer Gundersen rollerski race in second, four seconds behind Germany’s Jenny Nowak. While Nowak had posted the best jump of 96 meters on Oberwiesenthal’s 106-meter “normal” hill, Geraghty-Moats tied for the second-best-scoring jump (94.5 meters), with Austria’s Lisa Hirner (95 meters). From there, Geraghty-Moats dropped Hirner, Nadymova and Nowak on the first of three laps in the rollerski race and went on to finish in 11:04.8. Nowak ultimately placed third, 1:29.2 behind Geraghty-Moats.

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    “I was really satisfied by how my first weekend of being a nordic combined-er went, and I think the patience of waiting to be a nordic combined-er really paid off,” Geraghty-Moats told the International Ski Federation (FIS) after. “I struggled with the jump a little bit the first couple days. I had never jumped this hill before, and I sort of figured it out today so I got to ski a little bit easier than yesterday, but I was also happy that yesterday I was able to have a good fight and ski fast to my potential and end up on the podium.”

    The women’s individual normal hill/5 k Gundersen podium on Saturday at the 2018 Women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix, with Russia’s Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova (c) in first, American Tara Geraghty-Moats (r) in second, and Germany’s Jenny Nowak (l) in third in Oberwiesenthal, Germany. (Photo: FIS/Silke Tegethof)

    On Saturday, the American (who started as a ski jumper, then raced cross-country before taking up biathlon, and finally returned to jumping) placed second to Nadymova, who won the individual 5 k Gundersen in 12:21.4. Geraghty-Moats finished just 3 seconds back after starting the race in fourth, 1:13 minutes behind Nadymova in first. Nowak placed third in that race as well, 50.3 seconds back.

    “It was a dream come true to finally be able to compete in women’s Nordic Combined on an international level,” Geraghty-Moats told FIS on Saturday. “I’m using this weekend to learn the level I have to be at to have success in Nordic Combined. I made some mistakes today and learned a lot but I came away with a good result and having had a huge amount of fun competing with small but strong field.”

    Eleven women competed in Saturday’s normal hill/5 k.

    Results:

    Day 1 (ski jumping | final) 

    Day 2 (ski jumping | final)

    Overall Grand Prix

    Harvey on Toppidrettsveka Podium

    Alex Harvey (l) on the podium with Roman Furger (c) and Simen Hegstad Krüger (r) at the 2018 Toppidrettsveka rollerski festival in Norway last Thursday, Aug. 16. (Photo: Alex Harvey/Instagram)

    At the Toppidrettsveka rollerski festival in Norway, Canada’s Alex Harvey raced to second in the 15 k skiathlon last Thursday in Orkdal, missing out on first by just 0.6 seconds to Switzerland’s Roman Furger, who won in 30:43.3. Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger, the reigning Olympic skiathlon champion, finished third, 1.5 seconds back. In a stacked international field of 125 men, Canada’s Evan Palmer-Charrette placed 75th in that race (+2:14.4), Bob Thompson was 84th (+2:32.7), and Scott Hill 89th (+2:52.5).

    Canada’s Alex Harvey (2) gunning for first in the men’s 15 k skiathlon on Aug. 16 at the Toppidrettsveka rollerski festival in Orkdal, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    Heidi Weng beat her cousin Tiril Udnes Weng by 0.7 seconds in the women’s 10 k skiathlon that day, finishing in 22:52.1. Norway swept the top five of the women’s race, with Anne Kjersti Kalvå reaching the podium in third (+1.3), and national-team members Kathrine Harsem and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen placing fourth (+1.4) and fifth (+1.5), respectively, out of 43 women.

    In the men’s 24 k classic mass start around Aure/Brekka on Friday, Harvey finished fifth, 19 seconds after Krüger, who won in 59:57.5. Norway’s Hans Christer Holund placed second in that race (+2.6), Norway’s Magnus Stensås was third (+13.0), and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna fourth (+17.1). Also for Canada, Palmer-Charrette finished 61sth (+2:30.9), Hill 78th (+4:02.3), Thompson 86th (+5:40.3), and Maks Zechel 88th (+7:01.4) out of 125.

    Heidi Weng repeated in first in the women’s 24 k mass start, finishing in 1:10:02.4 hours, while Tiril Udnes Weng again placed second, 25.4 seconds back, and Jacobsen reached the podium in third (+27.7).

    Later on Friday in Aure, Norway’s Sondre Turvoll Fossli topped the men’s freestyle sprint final ahead of four other Norwegians, including Pål Trøan Aune in second and Jan Thomas Jenssen in third, and Switzerland’s Furger in fifth, while Harvey did not qualify for the heats and ended up 37th overall. Palmer-Charrette was once again 61st in qualification, Hill 107th and Thompson 109th out of 121.

    In the women’s sprint, Norway’s Mathilde Myhrvold won the final in 2:56.54, 1.05 seconds ahead of Slovenia’s Katja Visnar in second. Heidi Weng placed third in the final (+1.97), ahead of Tiril Weng (+2.64) in fourth, another Norwegian Anna Svendsen in fifth (+2.76), and another Slovenian Alenka Cebasek in sixth (+3.73). 

    In the final race of the series, the classic pursuit on Saturday, Harvey started second, 10 seconds behind Furger in first. The Canadian went on to place 10th, 4.2 seconds out of first, in the 15 k race, while Stensås took the win in 37:45.5 after starting seventh. (Furger slipped to 55th and 1:55.5 behind at the finish.) Norway’s Mikael Gunnulfsen rose from eighth to second (+0.7) and France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard made it all the way up to third (+1.7) after starting 15th. 

    Palmer-Charrette finished the pursuit in 59th (+2:04.2), Thompson placed 80th (+2:55.2), Hill 87th (+3:41.5), and Zechel 93rd (+3:48.9) out of 105. 

    Jacobsen ended the weekend as the women’s 12 k mass start winner, after the entire women’s field (of 33) started at the same time. She crossed the line first in 34:20.8, 0.4 seconds ahead of Heidi Weng in second and 1.2 seconds ahead of Kalvaa in third. 

    Results:

    Men’s skiathlon | Women’s skiathlon

    Men’s mass start | Women’s mass start

    Men’s sprint | Women’s sprint

    Men’s pursuit | Women’s mass start

  • Blink Ends with Jam-Packed Friday/Saturday

    Blink Ends with Jam-Packed Friday/Saturday

    Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (1) winning Saturday’s women’s cross-country sprint final on the last day of the 2018 Blink Ski Festival in Sandnes, Norway. (Photo: Blink Ski Festival/Axelar/Arild Aarnes)

    The 2018 Blink Ski Festival continued in full force on Friday and Saturday, with cross-country and biathlon prologues, 10- and 15-kilometer cross-country races and biathlon mass starts all taking place on Friday, followed by sprints on Saturday. 

    Elite racing began in the afternoon with the men’s prologue (no prologue was held for the women), Norway’s Gjøran Holstad Tefre posted the fastest time of 3:12.21. Finishing 1.89 seconds back was another Norwegian, Aleksander Dyrberg Ek, and Great Britain’s Andrew Young claimed the prologue’s final podium spot, finishing 2.27 seconds off the winning time.

    Also in the top 10 were Norway’s Morten Eide Pedersen in fourth (+4.7), Britain’s James Clugnet in fifth (+4.76), France’s Lucas Chanavat in sixth (+5.09), Norway’s Stian Grastveit in seventh (+5.70), France’s Renaud Jay in eighth (+5.75), and Norway’s Sindre Folkvord and Harald Østberg Amundsen in ninth (+6.00) and 10th (+6.03), respectively.

    Canada’s Evan Palmer-Charrette finished 34th (+16.68), Scott Hill placed 39th (+19.37) and Bob Thompson was 40th (+19.54) out of 47 finishers.

    Results: Men’s cross-country prologue

    After the elite men’s prologue, athletes geared up for a men’s and women’s biathlon prologues.

    Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø took the men’s biathlon prologue win in a time of 10:30.2 after two misses (1+1). One second back, it was a tie for second place between another Norwegian, Lars Aasheim Svaland, who had one penalty (0+1), and France’s Antonin Guigonnat, with one miss as well (1+0).

    Men’s biathlon prologue

    Slovenia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina, who took one gold and two silver medals at the 2018 Olympics, won Friday’s women’s prologue with clean shooting and a time of 11:34.6. Just 0.6 seconds behind was Norway’s Emilie Ågheim Kalkenberg, who placed second with perfect 10-for-10 shooting as well. France’s Justine Braisaz claimed third, 10.7 seconds out of first, after missing two targets (0+2).

    Women’s biathlon prologue

    The next event on Friday’s program was the women’s 10 k cross-country mass start, which Norwegian sprint specialist Maiken Caspersen Falla won in 20:39.4. She bested fellow Norwegian Mari Eide by 1.9 seconds, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and Norway’s Kari Øyre Slind followed in third (+3.9) and fourth (+3.9), respectively, with the same time.

    Working their way into the top 10 were Russia’s Elena Soboleva in fifth (+4.9), Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski in sixth (+5.0), Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Ragnhild Haga in seventh (+5.1) and eighth (+5.2), respectively, Austria’s Teresa Stadlober in ninth (+6.6), and Russia’s Natalia Matveeva in 10th (+8.7). Out of 31 women, Nichole Bathe, racing for Great Britain, finished in 23rd (+1:09).

    Women’s cross-country 10 k freestyle mass start

    Sweden’s Hanna Öberg (front) racing to first in the women’s biathlon mass start on Friday the 2018 Blink Ski Festival in Sandnes, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    Friday’s program then moved on to the women’s biathlon mass start. Sweden’s Hanna Öberg won the event in a time of 13:19.4 despite three misses (0+1+2+0). Kuzmina finished second, crossing 2.1 seconds behind the Swede after a penalty in each stage (1+1+1+1). Third place went to another Swede, Mona Brorsson, who crossed 5.9 seconds after Öberg and shot four penalties (2+1+1+0).

    Women’s biathlon mass start

    Norway’s Henrik L’abeé-Lund (r) winning the men’s biathlon mass start on Friday at the 2018 Blink rollerski festival, ahead of his teammate Johannes Thingnes Bø in second in Sandnes, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    Following the women’s biathlon race, the men’s biathlon mass start got underway. Norway’s Henrik L’abeé-Lund emerged as the winner, crossing the line in 17:21.3 after shooting four penalties (1+1+2+0). Exactly three seconds behind him was J.T. Bø in second place with two misses (1+0+1+0). Sealing the all-Norwegian podium was Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, who missed six targets (1+1+2+2) and finished 12.1 seconds after L’abeé-Lund for third.

    Men’s biathlon mass start

    Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov leading the pack of the elite men’s 15-kilometer freestyle cross-country mass start on Friday at the 2018 Blink Ski Festival in Sandnes, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    Friday’s final race turned back to cross-country for the elite men’s 15 k freestyle mass start. Russian skier, Sergey Ustiugov, who was banned from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics, won it in 29:26.0, 2.1 seconds ahead of Norway’s Aleksander Ek, (who had placed second in the prologue to start the day). Italy’s Federico Pellegrino was just another 0.6 seconds back in third (+2.7).

    “I was a little nervous today because I won it last year and I wanted to repeat my success here again today,” Ustiugov told NRK through a translator. “It didn’t go easy, but I did manage to do what I wanted to do, and I would like to thank all my team, Markus [Cramer], and the rest of the team. That was great.”

    The remaining top ten included Norway’s Vebjørn Turtveit in fourth (+2.9), Sindre Bjørnestad Skar in fifth (+3.9), Øystein Pettersen in sixth (+5.4), and Torstein Bu in seventh (+5.8). France’s Adrien Backscheider and Clement Parisse placed eighth (+5.9) and ninth (+6.2) respectively, followed by Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal in tenth (+6.2).

    Racing for Canada, Alex Harvey finished 14th (+7.5).

    Men’s Cross-country 15 k freestyle mass start

    Complete results: Friday

    Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla winning the women’s cross-country sprint on Saturday at the Blink Ski Festival in Sandnes, Norway. It was her second-straight victory after topping Friday’s 10 k freestyle mass start as well. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    Saturday marked the final day of the Blink rollerski festival and included cross-country and biathlon sprints. In the women’s cross-country final, Norway’s Falla picked up her second-straight win, ahead of Russia’s Matveeva in second (+1.6) and Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter in third (+2.4). Norway’s Eide was just off the podium in fourth (+2.9), Norway’s Barbro Kvåle Trømborg placed fifth (+3.7), and another Norwegian, Linn Ravndal, finished 8 seconds back in sixth.

    Falla’s won the final in 3:40.8 after topping her quarterfinal and semifinal as well.

    Women’s cross-country sprint

    The men’s cross-country racing began with a prologue, which Norway’s Vetle Christiansen won in 1:31.92, just three-hundredths of a second ahead of his fellow countryman, Ek. France’s Baptiste Noel placed third in the prologue, 1.76 seconds out of first.

    Men’s cross-country prologue

    Russia’s Gleb Retivykh (second from r) winning the men’s cross-country sprint final on Saturday at the Blink Ski Festival in Sandnes, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    In the heats later in the day, Russia’s Gleb Retivykh came out on top of the final, getting there by placing second in both his quarterfinal and semifinal, then winning the last round by 0.2 seconds over Pellegrino in a time of 3:15.5. Pellegrino had won his quarterfinal but advanced as a lucky loser in fourth out of the second semifinal. The 25-year-old Ek capped off his successful series with another podium, placing third in the final, just 0.3 seconds out of first.

    In a post-race interview with NRK, Retivykh explained this was his first time at Blink.

    “I am very happy,” he said in English. “Today is my first win at Blink, and [it was my] first time here.”

    In a close final, Norway’s Gjøran Tefre and Brandsdal followed in fourth (+0.5) and fifth (+0.7), respectively, Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani was just behind in sixth (+0.8).

    Men’s cross-country sprint

    France’s Justine Braisaz celebrating across the line as she wins the women’s biathlon super sprint on the last day of 2018 Blink Ski Festival on Saturday in Sandnes, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    Biathletes were able to experience head-to-head sprint racing as well (a deviation from the typical biathlon World Cup sprint format, which is individual), in the women’s and men’s biathlon supersprints, which included one prone and one standing shooting stage per heat.

    France’s Braisaz won the women’s final in 7:45.3. She had previously won her quarterfinal (which was a longer distance), then placed seventh in the first semifinal (same distance as final). Norway’s Marte Olsbu placed second in the final (+0.4), and Sweden’s Brorsson returned to the podium in third (+0.9).

    “It was really close at the end, but I am very happy about the weekend here,” Braisaz told NRK on English after. “Everything is perfect, even though the weather is a little bit — how do you say — moody. But it’s OK. And I am really happy to be in Norway and I will make my stay longer after the festival weekend.”

    Women’s biathlon super sprint

    Norway’s Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen winning the men’s biathlon supersprint on Saturday, the last day of the Blink Ski Festival, in Sandnes, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)

    In the men’s biathlon super sprint, Norway’s Christiansen dominated the day, winning his quarterfinal and semifinal before beating J.T. Bø by 2.2 seconds in the men’s final with a time of 12:01.8. France’s Guigonnat completed the podium in third, 8.5 seconds behind Christiansen.

    Men’s biathlon super sprint

    Complete results: Saturday

    ***

    Related: Blink Day 1 | Blink Day 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Live timing

    Complete SuperTour Finals results

  • 2018 Canadian Nationals: 30/50 k Classic Recap

    2018 Canadian Nationals: 30/50 k Classic Recap

    Katherine-Stewart Jones (193) of NTDC Thunder Bay soaks up her win in the women’s 30 k classic mass start on Saturday at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario, just 2.3 seconds ahead of Annika Hicks (AWCA) in second. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    (Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Evan Palmer-Charrette won his second national title last weekend.)

    2018 Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): 30/50 k classic mass starts

    On the final day of racing at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, two National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay athletes topped the podium on their local trails at the Lappe Nordic Centre on Saturday. Katherine Stewart-Jones and Evan Palmer-Charrette won national titles in the women’s 30-kilometer and men’s 50 k classic mass starts, respectively.

    Stewart-Jones, 22, who is also a Canadian National U25 Team member, won the women’s 30 k for her first national title by 2.3 seconds over Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) with a time of 1:33:50.7 hours. NTDC Thunder Bay had two women on the podium with Alannah Maclean finishing third, 10.2 seconds behind her teammate. Stewart-Jones had previously placed second in the freestyle sprint last Wednesday at nationals.

    “Am I happy or am I happy????” Stewart-Jones, 22, wrote on Instagram following her win “Beyond stoked to finally get a National Champs Title in the 30km”

    Stewart-Jones also started the week with a win in the classic team sprint with Nakkertok club teammate Zoë Williams on March 10.

    Also in the top 10 of Saturday’s 30 k, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) raced to fourth (+18.3), Frédérique Vézina of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) placed fifth (+19.2), American Caitlin Gregg finished sixth (+1:25.5), Sadie White (NTDC Thunder Bay) was seventh (+2:48.3), Williams (Nakkertok) eighth (+3:40.4), Laurence Dumais (AWCA) ninth (+4:30.4), and Katie Weaver (Hollyburn) 10th (+6:47.7).

    Jack Carlyle (l) of the AWCA and Ryan Jackson (81) of BXC leading the men’s field in Saturday’s 50 k classic mass start on the last day of 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    In the men’s 50 k, Palmer-Charrette, 23, who grew up racing at Lappe Nordic, tallied his second-straight podium (after placing third in the skate sprint) with a win in 2:16:44.1. The national title was his second after Palmer-Charrette was the top Canadian in last year’s classic sprint at nationals in Canmore. On Saturday, he finished 9.8 seconds ahead of Scott Hill of Barrie Cross Country (BXC) in second place, and BXC had two on the podium with Ryan Jackson in third (+14.6).

    The top three separated from the rest of the pack, with Julian Smith (NTDC Thunder Bay) finishing 2:40.1 back in fourth, Michael Somppi (AWCA) following in fifth (+2:45.2), then Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) in seventh (+2:57.2), Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) in seventh (+3:13.6), Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) in eighth (+3:20.6), Jack Carlyle (AWCA) in ninth (+3:21.9) and Jess Cockney (AWCA/Canadian World Cup Team) in 10th (+5:20.5).

    Results

    See also: Canadian nationals classic team sprints + interval starts| Skate pursuits + sprints

  • 2018 Canadian Nationals: Skate Pursuits and Sprints

    2018 Canadian Nationals: Skate Pursuits and Sprints

    Jess Cockney (396) after winning the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals, ahead of Ty Godfrey (l), Michael Somppi (r) and Evan Palmer-Charrette (second from r) in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Freestyle pursuits and sprints

    Ski Nationals continued Tuesday and Wednesday at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, with 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits (based on Sunday’s 5/10 k classic interval starts) followed by sprints.

    Jess Cockney (396) leading the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit on Tuesday at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He went on to win the pursuit as well as the freestyle sprint the next day. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    On Tuesday, Jess Cockney of the Canadian World Cup Team and Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) raced to first in the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit, up from sixth after the 10 k classic. His cumulative time for the two races was 1:04:06.7 hours, just 1.2 seconds ahead of Ty Godfrey of Team R.A.D. in second. (Godfrey previously placed ninth in the 10 k classic.) Michael Somppi, who grew up skiing with Lappe Nordic and now trains with the AWCA, completed the podium in third, 2 seconds behind Cockney, after placing 10th in the classic race.

    Just behind Somppi, another local skier Evan Palmer-Charrette, of Lappe Nordic and the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, placed fourth in the pursuit (+2.8). Antoine Cyr and Alexis Dumas, both of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH), finished together in fifth (+11.5) and sixth (+11.6), respectively, ahead of Knute Johnsgaard (World Cup Team) in seventh (+13.4), Scott Hill of Barrie Cross Country (BXC) in eighth (+16.3), Reed Godfrey (Team R.A.D.) in ninth (+31.8), and Ryan Jackson (BXC) in 10th (+38.9).

    The fastest 15 k skate time of the day was clocked by Somppi in 36:54.5. Ty Godfrey had the second fastest time of day, just 0.2 seconds back, while Cockney’s freestyle time ranked third fastest (+4.9).

    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Rocky Mountain Racers) racing to second overall (first Canadian) in the women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit on Tuesday for her second national title of the week at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    American Caitlin Gregg, of Central Cross Country (CXC), Team Gregg and Loppet Nordic Racing, won the women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit by more than a minute in 43:12.4, after placing second in the 5 k classic. The winner of Sunday’s classic race, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) scored her second-straight title as the first Canadian in the pursuit, placing second overall, 1:03.4 behind Gregg. Annika Hicks (AWCA) was the second Canadian in third overall (+1:16.3), up from fifth in the classic race.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay/National U25 Team) placed fourth in the pursuit (+1:18.3), Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH) fifth (+1:24.0), Alannah Maclean (NTDC Thunder Bay) sixth (+1:40.8), Maya MacIsaac-Jones (RMR/National U25 Team) seventh (+2:07.8), Lisle Compton (NTDC Thunder Bay) eighth (+2:14.4), Laura Leclair (CNEPH) ninth (+2:19), and Annika Richardson (NTDC Thunder Bay) 10th (+2:19.6).

    Gregg clocked the fastest 10 k skate time in 27:51.6, while Vézina was second fastest on the day, 1:06.5 back. Hicks had the third-fastest time, 1:07.3 back from Gregg.

    On Wednesday, Cockney racked up his second-straight national title with a victory in the 1.4 k freestyle sprint final. Cockney edged Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) by 0.83 seconds for the win in 2:39.87. Just three-hundredths of a second behind Shields, Palmer-Charrette reached the podium in third (+0.86), Somppi followed in fourth (+2.14), Julian Smith (NTDC Thunder Bay/National U25 Team) finished fifth (+4.3) and Sebastien Boehmler-Dandurand (Stefan Kuhn HP Team) placed sixth (+11.81).

    Shields won the qualifier to start the day in 2:44.54, while Cockney was the second-fastest men’s qualifier, 1.39 seconds off Shields’s time. Shields went on to win his quarterfinal and place second in the first semifinal, while Cockney was second to Smith in both the fourth quarterfinal and second semifinal.

    Maya MacIsaac-Jones (l) and Katherine Stewart-Jones (r) go head to head for the win in the women’s freestyle sprint final on Wednesday at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. MacIsaac-Jones won it by 0.05 seconds. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    MacIsaac-Jones won the women’s skate-sprint final in 3:06:68, five-hundredths of a second ahead of Stewart-Jones in second. In a race for third, Maclean took it (+4.82), ahead of Gregg in fourth (+5.01). Hicks placed fifth (+7.22) and Zoë Williams (Nakkertok) was sixth (+9.12).

    MacIsaac-Jones topped the women’s qualifier by 5.78 seconds in 3:12.87. Mathilde Petitjean of Club Nordique Mont Sainte-Anne (C.N.M.S.A.) qualified second, and Maclean was 6.42 seconds back in third.

    MacIsaac-Jones then won the first quarterfinal and placed second to Stewart-Jones in the first semifinal. Stewart-Jones finished second to Bouffard-Nesbitt in the second quarterfinal, and Maclean won the second semifinal over Gregg, after finishing second to Gregg in the fifth quarterfinal.

    Nationals conclude with 30/50 k classic mass starts on Saturday.

    Audio livestream

    Full race schedule

    Photos

    Results:

    Pursuit | Pursuit time of day

    Sprint heats | Sprint qualifier

     

  • 2018 Canadian Nationals Weekend Recap: Days 1 and 2

    2018 Canadian Nationals Weekend Recap: Days 1 and 2

    Patrick Stewart-Jones (l), skiing for his club team Nakkertok, and Scott Hill (r) of Barrie Cross Country (BXC) going head to head in the men’s classic team sprint on Saturday at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nakkertok won and BXC placed second. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Team sprints + 5/10 k classic 

    Canada’s 2018 Ski Nationals opened this past weekend at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with classic team sprints on Saturday followed by 5- and 10-kilometer classic interval starts on Sunday.

    Nakkertok topped the podium in both the open men’s and women’s team sprints. In the men’s final, Nakkertok’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx and Patrick Stewart-Jones won by 1.95 seconds over Barrie Cross Country (BXC) in 14:50.79. BXC’s Ryan Jackson and Scott Hill teamed up for second place, and Skibec’s Alexis Morin and Antoine Brand raced to third (+2.57).

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (22), skiing for her club team Nakkertok, while leading Annika Richardson (Hollyburn Ski Club) and Mathilde Petitjean (r) of C.N.M.S.A. during the women’s classic team sprint at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    The Stewart-Jones family was also a big winner on Saturday, with Nakkertok’s Zoë Williams and Katherine Stewart-Jones (Patrick’s sister) racing to first in the women’s final in 13:04.72. They finished 2.37 seconds ahead of Katie Weaver and Annika Richardson of the Hollyburn Ski Club in second place, and Marie Corriveau and Mathilde Petitjean of Club Nordique Mont-Sainte-Anne (C.N.M.S.A.) raced to third (+7.42).

    On Day 2 and the first official day of Canadian Ski Nationals, Hill (BXC) took his second-straight win of the weekend, topping the men’s 10 k classic with a time of 26:45.1 for his first senior national title. He finished 7.2 seconds faster than Alexis Dumas, of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) in second, and an early race leader, Knute Johnsgaard of the Canadian World Cup Team, placed third (+12.0)

    Johnsgaard clocked the fastest split at the race’s halfway point, while Hill’s 5 k time was almost 10 seconds slower. But over the final 5 k, Hill’s lap time was nearly 22 seconds faster than Johnsgaard’s. Dumas skied a consistent race, with the fourth-fastest first lap and second-fastest second lap.

    Knute Johnsgaard (Canadian World Cup Team) racing to third in the men’s 10 k classic on Sunday at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    Jackson (BXC) finished fourth (+14.7), and Jess Cockney of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and Canadian World Cup Team placed fifth (+22.2). Leading the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay on its home trails was Evan Palmer-Charrette in sixth (+24.8), and Lappe Nordic’s Michael Somppi (AWCA) placed seventh (+29.1). Gareth Williams of Telemark Nordic and the Canadian U25 Team finished eighth (+39.5), American Brian Gregg (CXC/Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing) was ninth (+44.7), and Jack Carlyle (AWCA) 10th (+49.5).

    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) collected her first senior national title with a 13.3-second victory in the women’s 5 k classic. She finished in 15:07.5, ahead of American Caitlin Gregg (CXC/Team Gregg/LNR) in second, while Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay) was the second Canadian and third overall (+17.9).

    NTDC Thunder Bay had two in the top four with Alannah Maclean in fourth (+19.8). Annika Hicks (AWCA) followed in fifth (+22.2), Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH) was sixth (+30.8), Sophie Carrier-Laforte (Skinouk) seventh (+33.0), Maya MacIsaac-Jones (RMR/Canadian U25 Team) eighth (+37.4), Laura Leclair (CNEPH) ninth (+58.1), and Williams (Nakkertok) 10th (+1:07.2).

    Nationals continue Tuesday with 10/15 k freestyle pursuits, followed by skate sprints on Wednesday and 30/50 k classic mass starts on Saturday.

    Audio livestream

    Full race schedule

    Photos

    Results:

    Day 1: Classic team sprint

    Day 2: 5/10 k classic

     

    Spectators during the classic team sprint at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
  • Sunday Rundown: Gatineau, Hakuba & Planica

    Sunday Rundown: Gatineau, Hakuba & Planica

    Rosie Frankowski (APU) racing to a 2-second win in the women’s 10 k classic pursuit on Sunday, the final day of 2018 Eastern Canadian Championships in Gatineau, Quebec. (Photo: Rob Smith)

    NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships (Gatineau, Quebec): 10/15 k classic pursuits

    Rosie Frankowski defended her lead and tallied her second-straight win on Sunday, the final day of Eastern Canadian Championships, both a NorAm and a SuperTour. Meanwhile, David Norris overcame a 10-second starting deficit to make it all Alaska Pacific University (APU) atop the podium in the classic pursuits.

    Frankowski started the women’s 10 k pursuit 47 seconds clear of her APU teammate Becca Rorabaugh in second and held Rorabaugh off by 2 seconds at the finish, crossing the line first in 1:00:32.6 hours on a warmer day around 0 degrees Celsius with heavy snow in Gatineau. Kaitlynn Miller of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) was the third American on the podium, racing up from seventh to third, 21.3 seconds behind Frankowski.

    Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Rocky Mountain Racers) led the Canadians in fourth (+3:09.2), up from sixth at the start, and Frédérique Vézina, of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH), followed in fifth (+3:15.2), after starting fourth.

    Another 4.6 seconds back was Liz Guiney (CGRP) in sixth (+3:19.8). Felicia Gesior (CXC Team) finished seventh (+4:05.6), Corey Stock (Bridger Ski Foundation) placed eighth (+4:05.8), Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) was ninth (+4:40.8), and Alannah Maclean of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay finished 10th (+5:25.9).

    Tad Elliott (13) leads Brian Gregg (17) and Jack Hegman (11) up a climb during the men’s 15 k classic pursuit on Sunday at 2018 Eastern Canadian Championships in Gatineau, Quebec. Gregg went on to edge Elliott in a photo finish for third and Hegman followed in fifth. (Photo: Rob Smith)

    In the men’s 15 k, Norris started second and caught leader Jack Hegman, of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) early then raced alone to the victory in 1:19.26, while Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) followed 1:17.8 minutes later in second. Lustgarten started the race in sixth and Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing/CXC) started seventh, with Gregg edging Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) by less than a tenth of a second in a photo finish for third (+1:38.5). Elliott had started third.

    Hegman finished fifth (+1:42.6), his Sun Valley teammate Kevin Bolger was next across the line in sixth (+1:59.1), Adam Martin (CGRP) finished seventh (+2:01.2), Rogan Brown (SVSEF) was eighth (+2:02.9), Scott Hill (Barrie Cross Country) was the top Canadian in ninths (+2:22.5), and Jack Carlyle (AWCA) finished 10th (+2:44.2).

    Results

    ***

    Nordic Combined World Cup (Hakuba, Japan): Large hill/10 k Gundersen

    In the final nordic combined World Cup competition before the Olympics, Norway’s Jan Schmid came from 1:14 minutes behind at the start of Sunday’s 10 k to win the individual large hill/10 k event by 6.6 seconds in 25:36.5.

    Schmid started the race in seventh, based on his competition jump, 1:14 behind Estonia’s Kristjan Ilves in first. Ilves had jumped to first and started the race 13 seconds ahead of Japan’s Yuto Nakamura in second, but while Nakamura dropped to 18th (+2:21.2) at the finish, Schmid moved all the way up to first with the fourth-fastest course time.

    Japan’s Akito Watabe, who won Saturday’s large hill/10 k competition, took the final spot on the podium after a photo finish with the Czech Republic’s Tomas Portyk. They finished 11.1 and 11.2 seconds behind Schmid in third and fourth, respectively.

    American Adam Loomis achieved his best individual result in three years, placing 24th (+3:03.4), after jumping to 30th and starting 3:20 out of first. Loomis skied the eighth-fastest course time.

    His USA Nordic teammate Ben Berend placed 31st (+4:28.4) after ranking 28th in the jump.

    Results: Jumping | Final

    ***

    Nordic Combined Continental Cup (Planica, Slovenia): Saturday and Sunday

    Meanwhile on the Nordic Combined Continental Cup, Americans Bryan and Taylor Fletcher reached the podium on both Saturday and Sunday in Planica, Slovenia.

    Bryan won back-to-back individual large hill/10 k Gundersen starts, while Taylor placed second on Saturday and third on Sunday.

    On Saturday, Bryan jumped to third on the 139-meter large hill and started the 10 k race 22 seconds behind Germany’s Anton Schlüter in first. Taylor jumped to 14th and started 1:35 minutes out of first and posted the fastest course time in the 10 k to finish second to his older brother, 59.4 seconds back.

    Bryan skied the third-fastest 10 k to take first in 26:24.1 minutes. About a minute behind Taylor, Austria’s Martin Fritz placed third (+1:58.8). Schlüter ended up 15th (+3:51.5).

    Also for the U.S., Jasper Good raced from 26th in the jump to eighth overall (+3:08) with the fifth-fastest course time. Grant Andrews did not finish after posting the 38th-ranked jump.

    Canada’s Nathaniel Mah placed 28th (+5:41.5) after starting 27th based on his jump.

    On Sunday, Fritz jumped to first and finished between the Fletcher brothers in second place, 39.7 seconds behind Bryan, who repeated in first.

    Bryan had jumped to second and started the 10 k just 9 seconds back. He skied the fourth-fastest course time en route to the win in 25:01.6.

    Taylor’s jump put him in 15th and 1:40 back at the start of Sunday’s race, and he passed 12 competitors to claim third (+1:25.0) with the second-fastest course time.

    Good finished 17th (+3:12), up from 23rd in the jump, with the ninth-fastest 10 k time, and Andrews placed 22nd (+3:38.2), up from 24th.

    Mah finished 34th (+5:38.7) after jumping to 21st.

    Results: 

    Saturday: Jumping | Final

    Sunday: Jumping | Final

  • Sunday Rundown: Seefeld, Goms, Ridnaun, Craftsbury

    Sunday Rundown: Seefeld, Goms, Ridnaun, Craftsbury

    US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey (l) and Susan Dunklee after teaming up for bronze in the single mixed relay at 2018 IBU Open European Championships on Sunday in Ridnaun, Italy. (Photo: Manzoni/NordicFocus)

    IBU Open European Championships (Ridnaun-Val Ridanna, Italy): Single mixed & mixed relays

    Susan Dunklee and Lowell Bailey teamed up for the final day of the 2018 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Open European Championships in Ridnaun, Italy, and raced to a bronze medal in the single mixed relay.

    The American duo, both of which earned individual medals at last year’s IBU World Championships, finished just 9.1 seconds out of first, which went to Norway’s Thelka Brun-Lie and Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen. The Norwegians won in 35:39.6 with zero penalties and six spares. They took the lead after Brun-Lie’s second leg, where she cleaned both stages without spares.

    France placed second, 8.6 seconds back, with Julia Simon and Emilien Jacquelin, who combined for no penalties and 11 spares. They led the first half of the race, but slipped to second behind Norway on Simon’s second leg.

    Dunklee put the Americans off in second on her first leg, which she cleaned with a spare in each stage, then they slipped one place to third on Bailey’s first leg, where he cleaned as well and used three spares. In all, they used 10 spares and avoided the penalty loop, and finished half a second out of second place.

    “Over Christmas, we trained a little bit with the French athletes, including Jacquelin,” Bailey said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “So I know that he has quite a fast finish, and I thought I am kind of an old man here, I should maybe try to go harder on the first part of the lap. But he stayed with me all the time and had me in the end.”

    “It was a good opportunity to tune up the race shape, build some confidence and find that sharp feeling heading into the Olympics,” Dunklee told US Biathlon. “The single mixed relay is one of my favorite race formats and today was a blast!”

    Canada’s Sarah Beaudry and Carsen Campbell placed eighth of 24 teams in the single mixed relay, finishing 1:03.6 out of first with just eight spares and zero penalties. In 11th after the first leg, they moved into eighth on Campbell’s first leg, which he cleaned with one spare. Beaudry then cleaned her second leg without any spares, and Campbell anchored them to eighth.

    The U.S. entered a team in the mixed relay that followed, with Chloe Levins, Deedra Irwin, Paul Schommer, and Alex Howe placing 17th (+5:55.5) of 19 teams with no penalties and 12 spares.

    Ukraine won the mixed relay to conclude the championships, with Yuliia Zhuravok, Iryna Varvynets, Artem Pryma, and Dmytro Pidruchnyi combining for zero penalties and six spares and finishing in 1:11:40.1.

    Russia placed second (+11.7) with Victoria Slivko, Anastasia Zagoruiko, Evgeniy Garanichev, and Alexander Loginov combining for zero penalties and nine spares.

    Norway followed in third (+33.2) with Emilie Ågheim Kalkenberg, Kaia Wøien Nicolaisen, Håvard Gutuboe Bogetveit, and Fredrik Gjesbakk combing for no penalties and just four spares.

    Results: Single mixed relay | Mixed relay

    ***

    U.S. SuperTour (Craftsbury, Vermont): 5/10 k freestyle

    Two Alaska Pacific University (APU) athletes topped the podium on Sunday at the SuperTour in Craftsbury, Vermont, with David Norris winning the men’s 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in 21:54.9 and Becca Rorabaugh topping the women’s 5 k freestyle in 12:06.4.

    Norris won the men’s race by 6 seconds over Canada’s Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) and Kevin Bolger of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) placed third (+15.8). Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) was the third American in fourth overall (+23.7), and three Canadians took fifth through seventh with Michael Somppi (Lappe Nordic) in fifth (+27.9), Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay) in sixth (+37.5) and Scott Hill (Barrie Cross Country) in seventh (+37.6), ahead of Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/LNR/CXC) in eighth (+39.4), Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) in ninth (+44.3) and Jack Hegman in 10th (+50.4).

    Rorabaugh won the women’s race by just 2.2 seconds over her APU teammate Rosie Frankowski in second, and Erika Flowers of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team placed third (+4.6). Two Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) skiers finished fourth and fifth, with Kaitlynn Miller in fourth (+12.1) and Liz Guiney in fifth (+22.5), Kelsey Phinney (SVSEF) was sixth (+25.8), and Canadians Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Rocky Mountain Racers) seventh (+26.4) and Frederique Vezina (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) eighth (+36.0). Corey Stock, of the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) placed ninth (+39.9), and Felicia Geisor (CXC Team) was 10th (+44.4).

    On Saturday, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center hosted its 37th annual Craftsbury Marathon, with Nils Koons winning the 48 k men’s race in 2:28:51.0 hours and Hannah Dreissigacker winning the 48 k women’s race in 3:01.48.7.

    Results: Men’s 10 k | Women’s 5 k 

    Marathon (non-SuperTour) results

    ***

     

    Hannah Halvorsen of the U.S. Ski Team and APU on the start line in Ulrichen, Switzerland, after finishing fifth in the sprint qualifier. (FIS screencap)

    FIS Cross Country World Junior Championships (Ulrichen, Switzerland): Freestyle sprints

    Full report

    World Junior Championships kicked off today with freestyle sprints in Ulrichen, Switzerland. Moa Lundgren of Sweden claimed with women’s title by 1.89 seconds over Kristine Stavås Skistad of Norway in the final, with Sweden’s Frida Karlsson finishing third (+1.89).

    Hannah Halvorsen of the United States qualified in fifth place before skiing to second in her quarterfinal heat. Halvorsen hovered around third or fourth place through much of her semifinal and was unable to snipe any spots in the finishing straight, ending up fourth in the heat and eighth on the day.

    Fellow Americans Margaret Gellert and Sofia Shomento also made the quarterfinals, finishing 18th and 23rd, and Canada’s Hannah Mehain wound up 29th on the day.

    The new men’s junior world champion is Tom Mancini of France, who nipped Norway’s Jørgen Lippert by just 0.10 seconds to take the win. Valerie Grond gave the Swiss crowd a thrill by making it all the way to the final and taking home bronze, despite qualifying in just 21st position. The Swiss junior narrowly edged France’s Vincent Buiatti for the final step on the podium.

    Canada’s Graham Ritchie finished second in his quarterfinal after qualifying in 28th position, earning an automatic spot in the semifinals. There he finished sixth (+9.30 behind Mancini), winding up 12th on the day. Teammate Antoine Cyr also made the quarterfinals where he had an impressive crash, slinging off the trail and into the infield, finishing 30th on the day. For the U.S., Gus Schumacher was the lone qualifier for the heats. He finished fourth in his quarterfinal and was just 0.22 seconds away from a “lucky loser” spot in the semifinals. Schumacher finished 19th on the day.

    In the junior women’s race, Hannah Rudd of the United States finished 35th in qualification, +18.15. For Canada, Annika Richardson finished 52nd (+24.09), Catherine Reed-Metayer 56th (+28.25), and Alexandra Racine 69th (+37.27).

    In the junior men’s sprint, Canada’s Reed Godfrey finished a tough 31st, just 0.21 seconds out of making the quarterfinals. Etienne Hebert rounded out the Canadian finishers in 36th place (+11.81) in the qualifier. Canyon Tobin was 41st in qualification for the U.S. (+13.46), followed by Karl Schulz in 54th (+16.90) and Luke Jager in 60th (+18.15).

    Results: men’s qualifier | women’s qualifier | men’s final | women’s final

    ***

    FIS Nordic Combined World Cup (Seefeld, Austria): Individual normal hill/15 k

    Japan’s Akito Watabe after winning the 2018 Seefeld Triple Nordic Combined World Cup. He is the only athlete besides Germany’s Eric Frenzel to win the event. (Photo: FIS Nordic Combined)

    On the final day of the Seefeld Triple, Japan’s Akito Watabe completed his sweep of the three-day weekend and Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber reached the podium for the third-straight day, placing second. Germany’s Fabian Rießle placed third for his second podium in the last two days.

    Watabe jumped to first on the normal hill and started the 15 k Gundersen 48 seconds ahead of Riiber in second. He went on to win the race by 1:14.9 minutes in 34:58.6, becoming the only man besides Germany’s Eric Frenzel to win the Seefeld Triple in its five-year history.

    After jumping to fifth, Rießle won a photo finish for third (+1:57.9), edging Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger by less than a tenth of a second. Geiger moved up from ninth in the jump to fourth overall (+1:57.9).

    Norway’s Jørgen Graabak followed in fifth (+2:02.4), Frenzel placed sixth (+2:07.4), Norway’s Jan Schmid was seventh (+2:09.8), Finland’s Eero Hirvonen eighth (+2:13.5), Norway’s Espen Andersen ninth (+2:28.0), and Austria’s Mario Seidl 10th (+2:42.1) out of 28 finishers.

    No Americans contested the final day of the Triple, the last World Cup before the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

    Results: Jumping | Final

    ***

    Jessie Diggins of the U.S. Ski Team (center) celebrates after winning the 10 k mass start freestyle in Seefeld, Austria, over Heidi Weng (left) and Ragnhild Haga of Norway. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

    FIS Cross Country World Cup (Seefeld, Austria): 10/15 k mass start freestyle

    Women’s report

    Men’s report

    In the final World Cup race before the 2018 Olympics, Jessie Diggins achieved the ultimate goal to give herself the utmost confidence heading into PyeongChang — winning the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle mass start at the World Cup in Seefeld, Austria, on Sunday.

    The win was her first of the season and fourth individual victory of her career. Diggins, a 26-year-old U.S. Ski Team member, pulled it off by attacking on a long climb and leaving Norway’s Heidi Weng, Ragnhild Haga and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg chasing. While Diggins was several seconds ahead over the top and all alone on the long descent that followed, Weng and Haga worked to close the gap — and nearly did in the finishing stretch. But Diggins held them off, winning by 0.7 seconds over Weng in second place and 1 second ahead of Haga in third, and threw her fists down in celebration as she crossed the line first in 23:08.5 minutes.

    “I just put my head down and it wasn’t pretty, but I just hammered,” Diggins told the International Ski Federation (FIS) in a televised post-race interview.

    She was the only non-Norwegian in the top five, with Østberg in fourth (+8.7) and Marit Bjørgen in fifth (+16.7). Austria’s Teresa Stadlober placed sixth (+16.9), Norway’s Kari Øyre Slind was seventh (+19.1), and American Sadie Bjornsen placed eighth (+20.5), ahead of Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal in ninth (+30.3).

    The U.S. had three in the top 15 with Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team) in 14th (+48.5), and two more women in the top 30, with Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) in 23rd (+1:00.7) and Liz Stephen (USST) in 29th (+1:18.2). Rosie Brennan (USST) finished 53rd (+2:26.9).

    Emily Nishikawa led the Canadians in 35th (+1:36.5), followed closely by teammate Cendrine Browne in 37th (+1:36.6). Dahria Beatty finished 45th (+1:58.9).

    Women’s Results

    Dario Cologna of Switzerland (center) won the men’s 15 k skate mass start in Seefeld, Austria, over Alex Harvey of Canada (left) and Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway (right). (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

    The Olympics are nearing and so Switzerland’s Olympic legend Dario Cologna is ramping up: after winning the Tour de Ski, he took another win in the 15 k mass start skate in Seefeld, Austria, on Sunday.

    With much of the field staying relatively close together until the finish, Cologna nabbed the win by 1.4 seconds over Canada’s Alex Harvey, who took his second podium of the season in addition to also finishing third in the overall Tour de Ski.

    Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby was third (+2.9), then teammate Didrik Tønseth in fourth (+5.9) and France’s Maurice Manificat in sixth (+7.5).

    The U.S. Ski Team’s Erik Bjornsen had a breakthrough day finishing ninth (+9.3), followed by Simi Hamilton in 12th (+12.4). Behind them, Scott Patterson placed 27th (+23.4), then Patrick Caldwell 49th (+1:26.2), Ben Lustgarten 55th (+1:42.7), and Tyler Kornfield 77th (+3:00.0).

    Canada’s Devon Kershaw and Graeme Killick finished 30th (+26.5) and 31st (+27.4), respectively. Len Valjas placed 58th (+1:53.1), Knute Johnsgaard 82nd (+3:23.1), Bob Thompson 87th (+4:27.5), and Julien Locke 92nd (+4:56.9).

    Men’s Results

  • Western Canadian Champs: Notes and Quotes

    Western Canadian Champs: Notes and Quotes

    Alberta World Cup Academy's Annika Hicks leads Zina Kocher (Foothills) and Laurence Dumais (AWCA) in Saturday's 10 k classic. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
    Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) leads Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic) and Laurence Dumais (AWCA) in the women’s 10 k classic mass start on Saturday, Jan. 20 at the NorAm Western Canadian Championships in Red Deer, Alberta. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    The NorAm series moved west to Red Deer, Alberta, for Western Canadian Championships last week from Friday, Jan. 19 to Sunday, Jan. 21, with freestyle sprints, classic mass starts and relays at the River Bend Recreation Area trails.

    Each year, the NorAm circuit features both ‘Westerns’ and ‘Easterns’, which are intended to be regional championships so that the younger athletes have the opportunity to experience high-level racing closer to home.

    Easterns has been hosted by Nakkertok for 10 of the last 11 seasons. As the venue is within reasonable driving distance of 12 million Canadians, Eastern Canadian Championships has grown dramatically and is often the largest cross-country skiing Continental Cup event in North America with over 700 racers annually.

    On the other hand, Westerns visits different venues each year. With only 11.2 million Canadians living in the three Western time zones (spanning British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories), travel is always a limiting factor and the fields are much smaller. There were 403 finishers in Saturday’s classic event.

    While this year’s Westerns marked Red Deer Nordic’s first time hosting a NorAm, the club has a rich history in biathlon. Red Deer is also the hometown of retired biathlete Zina Kocher, who transitioned to cross-country skiing this season and was the NorAm series leader at the start of the weekend.

    2018 Western Canadian Championships rundowns:

    Friday: Freestyle sprints

    Saturday: Classic Mass Start

    Sunday: Relays

    Complete results

    Here are some quotes from the top finishers at the three-day Western Championships:

    Freestyle Sprints

    “In the final I took the lead from the beginning, was challenged by Zina [Kocher] in the last 200m but was able to come through in the end.”

    — Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Canadian National Ski Team/Rocky Mountain Racers), won qualifier and A-final

    “[It] didn’t go exactly as I had planned in my head, I got too excited coming into the last downhill and went side by side to Olivia when I maybe should have stayed behind. I’m not a very good sprinter to the line, I feel like I’m going fast & giving it all but the last 100m are definitely not my strong point 😜”

    — Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic), 2nd in qualifier and A-final

    “With only 2 heats it was a bit strange too…I have found that I improve as the heats progress. Unfortunately we just didn’t have many women out there this weekend competing.”

    — Kocher, on her fourth cross-country sprint race

    “I had a big focus towards the qualifying and I was stronger today than other days in Canada this year. I was happy to ski the way I planned in the heats, the course was very twisty and hard to pass so leading was important from the start.”

    — Jess Cockney (Canadian World Cup Team), qualified 2nd and won the A-final. He’s eyeing the sprints at the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics and will finish his preparation in Canmore

    “Starting position was super important. Jess skied well and is pretty hard to beat in the finish. I had actually intended to race how Jess raced it  so it was kinda weird to watch someone else race the strategy I was thinking of.”

    — Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.), qualified 1st and finished 2nd in A-final 

    Classic Mass Starts

    “The classic race was a lot of fun, it was exciting for everyone to have a mass start with the open, junior women, and junior girls. I skied in 3rd or 4th for the first two laps and then unintentionally found myself in the lead starting the last lap. That was not my plan but at that point no one else would take the lead, so I skied in front until the final 100m with Annika on my tails and she out-skied me at the end. It was a good fight.” 

    — Bouffard-Nesbitt, 2nd place

    “Olivia, Annika & I broke away from the pack fairly early on… (not sure when, maybe around the 1st lap it was only the 3 of us). I felt good especially in double pole sections. Maybe my best 10k classic thus far … being that it was my 3rd 10k classic race. Still working on the running herringbone sprints, which is where I unfortunately lost Olivia & Annika middle of the last lap. That technique is tricky to grasp!”

    — Kocher, 3rd place 

    Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) leads Russell Kennedy during the men’s 15 k classic mass start at Western Canadian Championships in Red Deer, Alberta. Shields went on to win by 9 seconds over Kennedy. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    “We had a huge advantage with my skis and took full advantage of them. I felt great and was able to put in a monster move of the final climb.”

    — Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic), 1st

    “I’m really proud of my classic race since I applied my own kick wax! The Caledonia coach, Graeme Moore, is a Red Deer native and SkiGo tech rep, did a great job with testing and took we took a slightly different route than other teams chosing what types of grip wax to use. I ended up going out on a mix of four different brands of grip wax. For glide I was on all SkiGo so I fufilled my role as SkiGo rep that way.”

    — Shields

    “I was pretty happy with my classic race. Was feeling a little flat since I was sick for so long leading up to it but was happy with how my fitness has held together. It was a good day with a pretty fun trail. I pushed kinda early to break the group down a little. Three of us ended up at the front and I lead a little to much on the 3rd lap but held in for a second place!”

    — Kennedy

    “I skied the start of the classic race the way I wanted but made some tactical errors at the end that left me with not enough juice in the last k. I tried to make a break on the last lap from Andy and Russell but I put too much into it and when I couldn’t drop them I had nothing left for when the next attack came.”

    — Scott Hill (BXC), 3rd

    Relays

    “I’m thrilled that relays were added, despite the fact that I won’t be taking part this weekend. I think that one relay per season is a great addition because in the past, Canadians only got to race relays at World Juniors/ U23s or senior Championships.”

    — Bouffard-Nesbitt

    “Relays are great! We don’t get to do enough of them. A fun event that’s a little more low key. They always create interesting race situations.”

    — Shields

    “Its awesome. It’s a good chance for the younger athletes to learn from the older and for teams that don’t usually work together to work together. Plus I think it is good to do 5km every now and then as they are super hard and really good intensity!”

    — Kennedy

    “I really like the addition of a relay on the NorAm. I know that some of the older athletes who are racing a lot and are focused on scoring NorAm points choose to sit the relay out but still having prize money provides a nice incentive. I think having a relay for the younger categories though is really positive and I saw an energy and enthusiasm in the chalet yesterday for the race that you don’t see before an individual race. I think one relay per season is great for the senior categories but I think more would be great for the younger categories.”

    — Hill

    Red Deer in General

    The start of the Red Deer school loppet in 2000. From left to right, Kocher (no hat), Graham Vanderwater (Alberta team), Kit Richmond (red hat, RMR, future NCAA winner), and Drew Goldsack (future Olympian, too fast to catch his face!). (Photo: Kocher family)
    The start of the Red Deer school loppet in 2000. From left to right: Kocher (no hat), Graham Vanderwater (Alberta team), Kit Richmond (red hat, RMR, future NCAA champion), and Drew Goldsack (future Olympian, already too fast to catch his face!). (Photo: Zina Kocher)

    “[I] had a lot of fun out there and was really great to end my career right where I began. Haven’t raced on these trails since I was 17, so it feels really special. My dad also brought my grandma out to watch me & it’s the first time she’s ever seen me race so that was very special as well. Lots of faces too that I’ve reconnected with today. [I] did a short session with Red Deer Nordic yesterday afternoon, great to be able to give back and provide a little bit of insight. I thoroughly enjoy being able to do this.”

    — Kocher, after Friday’s sprint

    “I also thought the race course was really fun. … There was very little snow in Red Deer, but the race organisers and volunteers still produced a great race course for us. I was really impressed. The volunteers were all very enthusiastic, the day before the distance race I came across a crew of eight or nine volunteers with shovels and two volunteers driving piles of snow around the entire course covering any bare or rocky spots.”

    — Bouffard-Nesbitt

    “Red Deer has been great! I’ve been wearing two hats this weekend: I’m helping Caledonia Nordic with waxing and obviously trying to race too. It been a lot of early mornings out testing and busy evenings prepping skis so have been managing my energy as best I can.”

    — Shields, who doubles as the SkiGo rep for Canada

    Easterns vs. Westerns

    “I think Easterns are a pretty special event, garnering equal or greater racer turnout than Nationals. I don’t think any other competition will be able to rival Easterns, but it would be nice if Westerns drew a few more senior athletes than it did this year. I think Westerns was a big success for the junior categories.”

    — Bouffard-Nesbitt, originally from Morin Heights, Quebec, and currently lives in Canmore

    “It’s nice to have the variety of race formats offered by Westerns and Easterns. It’s too bad there’s no more 30km at Easterns. It was one of my favorite races of the year.”

    — Shields

    “Westerns just can’t compete with the number of skiers that compete at easterns but I think its still an important race for those skiers out west that don’t make the trip to easterns. Having it later in the season might help with more athletes from the east going out.”

    — Hill, originally from Toronto

    Highlights

    “Memory lane on the Riverbend tracks. Really enjoyed the new changes that have been made, a lot of great work has been done by the Red Deer crew. Was a great skate ski track for today’s relay – great flow & steep uphills. … Awesome to0 that my grandma was able to escape from the hospital & watch me compete in the skate sprints!”

    — Kocher

    “It was fun to fight out the heats with Jess [Cockney], he is an excellent tactician and I think I learn a lot from him every time we race.”

    — Kennedy

    “We are positive and we all work well together. We also had some amazing training camps together so I am sure that helped!”

    — Kennedy, on whether becoming a guide to Brian McKeever has made him faster. Kennedy and Graham Nishikawa will share guiding duties for McKeever at the PyeongChang Paralympics and have both been prominent on the NorAm podium this season

    “I was in and out of Red Deer pretty quick so I didn’t get to see too much but racing in a new place is always fun and I got drive around a big truck which was awesome.”

    — Hill

    Skiing doesn't start with the Olympics or end when you retire. Kye Kocher (blond hair) shows his sister Zina how it is done in the Red Deer school loppet. (Photo: Kocher family)
    Skiing doesn’t start or end with the Olympics. Kye Kocher (blond hair) shows his sister Zina how it is done in the Red Deer school loppet. (Photo: Zina Kocher)
  • Sunday Rundown: Planica, Chaux-Neuve, Rena, Red Deer

    Sunday Rundown: Planica, Chaux-Neuve, Rena, Red Deer

    Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski after winning her first non-stage World Cup on Sunday in the women’s 10 k classic in Planica, Slovenia. She bested Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla’s time by 3.6 seconds. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)

    FIS Cross Country World Cup (Planica, Slovenia): 10/15 k classic

    Women’s report

    Men’s report

    Just when it looked like one of those Charlotte-Kalla days, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski swooped in and topped the Swede’s time by 3.6 seconds in the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday for her first-career outright World Cup win.

    Outright meaning non-stage; Pärmäkoski has two World Cup wins to her name for setting the fastest time of day in 2016 pursuit races.

    But Sunday’s 10 k in Slovenia saw her rising to the challenge and besting Charlotte Kalla’s time of 27:12.3, which was at least 39 seconds faster than the first 57 starters. Kalla had started 32nd and beat the previous top time set by Swedish U23 skier Ebba Andersson (bib 28) by 48.6 seconds.

    Austria’s Teresa Stadlober started later in bib 56 and clocked the second-fastest time to Kalla, 39 seconds back.

    But it was Pärmäkoski in bib 58 who beat them all. Even Norway’s Heidi Weng, who started 60th, couldn’t come close, as she finished 33.5 seconds off Pärmäkoski’s winning time for third place. That put Stadlober in fourth and Andersson in fifth at the end of the day.

    Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen placed sixth (+49.4), Norway’s Kari Øyre Slind took seventh (+49.5), Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (who’s more of a marathon skier these days) placed eighth (+1:02.1), Norway’s Kathrine Rolsted Harsem (who placed second in Saturday’s classic sprint) finished ninth (+1:03.2), and American Jessie Diggins was 10th (+1:05.4).

    Another American, Caitlin Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), broke through with her second-best individual World Cup result in 20th (+1:45.2). (Last year, she finished seventh in the pre-Olympic PyeongChang World Cup 15 k skiathlon in a notably small field.)

    Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team) followed in 23rd (+1:50.4), and her teammates Sophie Caldwell placed 31st (+2:17.2), Liz Stephen 35th (+2:34.9), and Ida Sargent 37th (+2:37.5).

    For the second-straight weekend, no Canadian women competed.

    The World Cup men’s 15 k classic podium on Sunday in Planica, Slovenia, with Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin (c) in first, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (l) in second, and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)

    In the men’s 15 k classic, Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin tallied his second win of the season and first in a race against Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo on Sunday, winning by 13.2 seconds over Klæbo in 36:54.7.

    Poltoranin, 30, started 44th and a minute behind the 21-year-old Klæbo. When Klæbo finished, he bumped Russia’s Ivan Kirillov, also 21, out of the leader’s chair by 43.3 seconds. Then Poltoranin finished 13.2 seconds faster, but Klæbo held onto second when Sweden’s 60th starter, Calle Halfvarsson, finished third (+42.8). It was Halfvarsson’s second podium of the season after placing third in the classic sprint at the November World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland. In Saturday’s classic sprint in Slovenia, Halfvarsson qualified second but crashed out of the quarterfinals to finish the day in 30th overall.

    Norway’s Emil Iversen started 66th and ended up fourth (+54.7) and Kirillov scored his first World Cup top 10 in fifth (+56.5). Russia had four in the top 10 with Stanislav Volzhentsev in sixth (+57.8), Andrey Larkov in eighth (+1:02.2) and Andrey Sobakarev in ninth (+1:03.4). Norway’s Mattis Stenshagen finished seventh (+1:00.8) and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen took 10th (+1:10.1).

    Scott Patterson (U.S. Ski Team) was the top North American in 43rd (+2:56.2), Ben Lustgarten (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) finished 46th (+3:04.9) and Tyler Kornfield (Alaska Pacific University) was 57th (+4:03.7). Andy Newell did not finish.

    Canada’s Devon Kershaw returned to the circuit and placed 44th (+2:57.1), Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) was 64th (+5:05.0), and Dominique Moncion-Groulx (Alberta World Cup Academy) was 70th (+6:11.7).

    Results: Women| Men

    ***

    Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova outsprinting Japan’s Ayane Miyazaki at the finish for the win at the inaugural women’s Nordic Combined Continental Cup competition on Saturday in Rena, Norway. (Photo: FIS/Romina Eggert)

    FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup (Rena, Norway): First-ever women’s competitions

    Fourteen women, including American Gabriella Armstrong, made history this weekend by competing in the first women’s Nordic Combined Continental Cup in Rena, Norway (after the scheduled opener in Jan. 6-7 in Otepää, Estonia, was canceled), with back-to-back days of individual large hill/5-kilometer Gundersen start races.

    On Saturday, Russia’s Stefaniya Nadymova took the win in 16:26.9, just 0.6 seconds ahead of Japan’s Ayane Miyazki in second. Germany’s Jenny Nowak joined them on the podium in third, 16.6 seconds out of first. Armstrong finished 12th (+6:24).

    Nadymova, 23, had kicked off the event by jumping to first in the provisional round, which was used for the jumping results, and began the 5 k with a 10-second head start on Nowak in second place. Miyazaki jumped to third and started 14 seconds back. Armstrong jumped to 14th and started 4:08 out of first.

    On Sunday, 15-year-old Miyazaki took the win in 16:23.2, swapping places with Nadymova, who finished second, 11.7 seconds back. Nowak, also 15, repeated in third, but finished over a minute and 21 seconds back out of first.

    Miyazaki had jumped to first place earlier in the day and started the 5 k with a 20-second cushion to Nadymova in second. Nowak jumped to third and started 1:08 minutes back.

    Armstrong, 19, of the New York Ski Education Foundation, jumped to 11th and finished 11th, 4:26.1 after Miyazaki.

    Several U.S. Nordic Combined men also competed in Rena, with Taylor Fletcher placing fourth in Saturday’s individual large hill/10 k, 2.7 seconds behind Austria’s Thomas Joebstl in first. Fletcher had skied up from 25th and 2:17 back after the jump with the second-fastest course time.

    Also for the U.S., Adam Loomis placed 33rd (+2:30.7) after jumping to 45th with the 12th-fastest course time. Grant Andrews finished 41st (+3:28.7), and Jared Schumate 43rd (+4:10.1).

    Fletcher reached the podium in Sunday’s individual large hill/10 k in third behind two Austrians. After jumping to 19th, he skied the fourth-fastest course time to finish third, 3.7 seconds behind Dominik Terzer in first and 2.7 seconds behind Martin Fritz in second.

    Loomis improved to 29th (+1:40.9), up from 35th in the jump, and Andrews finished 37th (+2:36.4) and Shumate 40th (+2:57.9).

    Results:

    Saturday: Women | Men

    Sunday: Women | Men

    ***

    The men’s large hill/4 x 5 k team event podium on Sunday at the Nordic Combined World Cup in Chaux-Neuve, France, with Norway (c) in first, Germany (l) in second, and Finland (r) in third. (Photo: FIS/NordicFocus)

    FIS Nordic Combined World Cup (Chaux-Neuve, France): Saturday & Sunday

    Four American men competed at the Nordic Combined World Cup this weekend in Chaux-Neuve, France, with three of them racing in Saturday’s individual large hill/10 k Gundersen and all four racing Sunday’s large hill/4 x 5 k team event.

    Norway’s Jan Schmid was the big winner this weekend, racking up an individual win on Saturday and a team victory on Sunday. He won Saturday’s competition after jumping to fourth and starting 27 seconds behind jump leader Akito Watabe of Japan. Schmid worked his way up to first in the 10 k with the third-fastest course time, crossing the line 1.4 seconds ahead of Watabe in 23:32.7.

    Watabe finished second and Finland’s Ilkka Herola placed third (+21.5), just ahead of Austria’s Lukas Klapfer in fourth (+21.8).

    Ben Loomis led USA Nordic in 37th (+2:49), after jumping to 37th, Stephen Schumann finished 45th (+5:17.0) and Ben Berend 46th (+5:22.2).

    On Sunday, Schmid teamed up with Espen Andersen, Jarl Magnus Riiber and Jørgen Graabak to win the 4 x 5 k team event in 47:22.5 by 13.1 seconds. Germany followed in second, with Eric Frenzel, Fabian Rießle, Johannes Rydzek, and Vinzenz Geiger, and Finland placed third (+20.5) with Leevi Mutru, Arttu Maekiaho, Herola, and Eero Hirvonen.

    Norway had led after the jump and started the relay 1:03 minutes ahead of Finland in second. France jumped to third and ended up fourth (+47.4), after being passed by Germany, which had started the relay in fourth.

    Japan placed fifth (+2:50.9), Italy sixth (+3:59.9), Austria seventh (+4:06.8), Poland eighth (+5:22.1), Estonia ninth (+5:52.1), Russia 10th (+6:41.2), and the U.S. (with Schumann, Loomis, Berend, and Jasper Good) 11th (+6:52.4).

    Results: Saturday| Sunday

    ***

    Western Canadian Championships (Red Deer, Alberta): Relays

    Nine men’s teams and six women’s squads contested the open relays on the last day of the NorAm Western Canadian Championships on Sunday in Red Deer, with Ontario’s Team “O” (Scott Hill, Michael Somppi and Andy Shields) winning the men’s 3 x 5 k and Alberta 1 (Annika Hicks, Emma Camicioli and Zina Kocher) winning the women’s 3 x 5 k.

    For Shields and Hicks, it was their second win of the weekend after they won their respective classic mass starts on Saturday.

    Team “O” posted a 19.9-second win over B.C. Storm (Remi Drolet, Tallon Noble and Greg Kilroy), finishing first in 36:22.6. Alberta 5.1 (Sebastien Boehmler-Dandurand, Sam Hendry and Russell Kennedy) placed third (+52.3).

    In the women’s relay, Alberta 1 beat out B.C. Fast, Furious & Freakin’ Awesome (Katie Weaver, Michaela McLean and Kaia Andal) by 2 minutes and 37.8 seconds, winning in 43:17.2. Alberta had two teams on the podium with the Kit Kats (Ember Large, Molly Jane Strum, and Sara McLean) in third (+4:25.8).

    Results

  • Saturday Rundown: Planica and Red Deer

    Saturday Rundown: Planica and Red Deer

    Annika Hicks in the yellow NorAm leader’s bib leads Zina Kocher (52), Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (56) and Laurence Dumais (62) in the women’s 10 k classic mass start at Western Canadian Championships on Saturday in Red Deer, Alberta. Hicks went on to win by 2.5 seconds over Bouffard-Nesbitt. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    Western Canadian Championships (Red Deer, Alberta): 10/15 k classic mass starts

    On Day 2 of the NorAm Western Canadian Championships in Red Deer, Andy Shields of Lappe Nordic won the men’s 15-kilometer classic mass start and Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) topped the women’s 10 k classic mass start.

    Andy Shields (1) leads Russell Kennedy during the men’s 15 k classic mass start at Western Canadian Championships on Saturday in Red Deer, Alberta. Shields went on to win by 9 seconds over Kennedy. (Photo: Doug Stephen)

    Shields won the open men’s race by 9.4 seconds in 40:14.4, while Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.) placed second for the second-straight day. Scott Hill, of Barrie Cross Country (BXC), reached the podium in third, 14 seconds out of first.

    Friday’s freestyle sprint winner, Jess Cockney (Canadian World Cup Team) placed fourth (+48.5), Michael Somppi (AWCA) followed in fifth (+49.4), and Jack Carlyle (AWCA) was sixth (+52.4). Just 0.1 seconds after Carlyle, Remi Drolet (Black Jack) was the top junior in seventh overall (+52.5), Sam Hendry (Team R.A.D.) was the second junior in eighth (+52.9), Patrick Stewart-Jones (AWCA) finished ninth (+55.0), and Antoine Hebert (AWCA) 10th (+55.2).

    The open women’s race was closer in the race for first place, with Hicks capturing her first NorAm win in 28:51.0, 2.5 seconds ahead of Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (Rocky Mountain Racers) in second. All three women that reached the podium in Friday’s sprint returned to it on Saturday, with Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic) placing third (+23.8). (On Friday, Bouffard-Nesbitt won ahead of Kocher in second and Hicks in third.)

    Laurence Dumais (AWCA) finished fourth on Saturday (+58.4), Kaia Andal (Caledonia Nordic) was the top junior in fifth overall (+1:07.6), Molly Miller (Black Jack) finished sixth (+1:08), Alana Brittin (Revelstoke Nordic) seventh (+1:24.4), Amanda Thompson (Whitehorse Ski Club) eighth (+1:26.6), Paiga Latta (Sovereign Lake Nordic) ninth (+1:48.6), and Beth Granstrom (Revelstoke Nordic) 10th (+1:50.3).

    Western Canadian Championships conclude Sunday with freestyle relays (women’s 3 x 3.75 k and men’s 3 x 5 k).

    Results

    ***

    FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Planica, Slovenia): Classic Sprints

    The men’s classic sprint podium at the World Cup in Planica, Slovenia, on Saturday, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klaebo (c) in first and his teammate Emil Iversen (l) in second and Sweden’s Teodor Peterson (r) in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

    Women’s report

    Men’s report

    Stina Nilsson and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won the classic sprints against the backdrop o the Julian Alps in Planica, Slovenia, retaining leadership of their respective Sprint Cup standings.

    In the women’s race, Nilsson outgunned Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway in the final uphill, and then pulled away in the finishing straight. Kathrine Harsem of Norway, who had won the qualifier, also pulled past Falla, claiming second place and the first individual World Cup podium of her career. Harsem crossed the line 1.27 seconds behind Nilsson, and Falla another 0.54 seconds back. After skiing near the front at the beginning of the final the U.S. Ski Team’s Jessie Diggins placed fourth, +3.81. Sweden’s Anna Dyvik was fifth, +4.45, and Norway’s Heidi Weng sixth.

    U.S. sprinter Sophie Caldwell finished the day in ninth after placing fifth in her semifinal heat. Teammates Ida Sargent and Sadie Bjornsen didn’t make it out of the quarterfinals; Bjornsen was caught up when Germany’s Sandra Ringwald crashed, and as a result finished a distant fifth in her heat for 21st overall. Sargent finished 23rd.

    Julia Kern qualified in 43rd (+14.28), Rosie Brennan 49th (+15.87), and Caitlin Patterson 53rd (+17.56). No Canadian women raced.

    In the men’s final, Klæbo simply pulled away from the field, as he had done in most heats all day since winning the qualifier by 2.75 seconds. Emil Iversen was the closest to staying with him; after Klæbo eased up at the finish, his Norwegian teammate crossed the line just 0.64 seconds back. Sweden’s Teodor Peterson claimed third, +8.14, teammate Oskar Svensson fourth, +11.8, Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal fifth, +19.77, and Russia’s Gleb Retivykh sixth, +27.08.

    For the U.S. both Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell placed fourth in their quarterfinals, after qualifying 16th and 23rd, respectively. They ended the day in 19th and 20th.

    A large contingent of U.S. men competed, with the Alaska Pacific University duo of Logan Hanneman and Tyler Kornfield narrowly missed advancing to the heats, finishing 35th (+13.55) and 38th (+13.96), respectively. Teammate Reese Hanneman was 51st in the qualifier (+17.99) and Craftsbury GRP’s Ben Lustgarten 59th (+19.41).

    A Canadian delegation also raced, with Julien Locke leading the way in 62nd (+21.26), Dominique Moncion-Groulx 65th (+22.70), Bob Thompson 66th (+24.48), and Antoine Briand 70th (+27.20).

    Results: women | men

  • Wednesday Rundown: Ruhpolding IBU World Cup; MSA NorAm Trials

    Wednesday Rundown: Ruhpolding IBU World Cup; MSA NorAm Trials

    France’s Martin Fourcade after winning the men’s 20 k individual at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany, by more than a minute on Wednesday. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)

    IBU World Cup (Ruhpolding, Germany): Men’s 20 k individual

    For France’s Martin Fourcade, the difference between a miss on the last shooting stage of the men’s 20-kilometer individual International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup on Wednesday versus perfect shooting wouldn’t have ultimately changed his result in Ruhpolding.

    Despite the one-minute penalty, which was tagged onto his total time after his lone miss of the day, Fourcade still won by a minute. The Czech Republic’s Ondřej Moravec, who started 2 1/2 minutes ahead of him in bib 18 (while Fourcade wore bib 23), had successfully cleaned every stage, shooting 20-for-20, and initially crossed the finish line first — about a minute and 23 seconds ahead of former race leader Simon Eder of Austria.

    But Moravec’s moment in first was fleeting as Fourcade burst into the stadium, not yet letting off the gas, seconds after Moravec finished. Fourcade took the win in 44:27.9, 1:01 ahead of Moravec in second. To indicate how fast Fourcade’s last loop was, it’s worth noting that he was 30 seconds ahead of Moravec with 4 k to go. On that final 4 k loop, he doubled his time ahead of second place.

    Fourcade’s win came four days after his last race in Oberhof, Germany, the 12.5 k pursuit, which he also won.

    “We are in a biathlon routine now,” he said, according to an IBU press release. “It was hard to find strong motivation with not much recovery or training this week. … Today I wanted to beat my record of podiums in a row. Today was my 14th [individual podium, including last season] in a row and I am really proud of this. I am very happy with my competition as well. Ruhpolding is place that I really love and I am happy that I continued my success here.”

    Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø achieved his eighth-straight podium in third, 1:06.3 behind Fourcade with a single miss on the last stage as well (0+0+0+1).

    “I heard the speaker, so I knew Martin had missed,” recalled Bø, who started behind Fourcade in bib 29. “I knew if I could shoot clean, there was a small chance I could beat him. I tried and missed. That was my tactic: to go for the win, not save the podium.”

    He left the range for the last time 48.3 seconds back from Fourcade in first.

    Michal Krcmar (l) and Ondřej Moravec (r) after reaching the flower ceremony in fifth and second, respectively, on Wednesday at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)

    Germany’s Roman Rees shot clean and placed fourth (+1:19.1) for his first-career World Cup top 10, and the Czech Republic had two in the top five with Michal Krcmar in fifth (+1:36.6) for his best result of this season.

    For Moravec, second place marked his season best as well, after finishing outside the top 10 in previous races this season.

    “This podium is really important for me,” he told the IBU. “My first trimester was really bad; my shape was not good especially for the shooting. I also missed a lot of the summer training so did not have the best preparation … I am very please at how I was able to focus and have success in this race.”

    Austria’s Dominik Landertinger followed in sixth (+2:21.9) with one penalty and Eder ended up seventh (+2:23.8) with one miss as well.

    While the one-minute penalty per miss did not faze Fourcade, it led several North Americans to drop out of top-20 contention, particularly Tim Burke (US Biathlon), who had been in 16th after cleaning the third shooting stage. Burke had cleaned his first stage then missed one on the first standing, but was back in the top 20 with a clean third stage. On the final standing, he missed his first two shots, causing him to look up for a moment to refocus. He cleaned the last three, but still ended up with two additional minutes of penalties that put him 36th at the finish, 4:35.0 out of first (0+1+0+2).

    Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) racing to 31st to lead his team in the men’s 20 k individual on Wednesday at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)

    Sean Doherty led the U.S. men in 31st after missing two targets between the first prone and first standing stages. Ranked 76th after the second stage, he recovered to 53rd after a clean third stage and then 32nd after hitting all five targets on his last stage (1+1+0+0). With two penalties, Doherty finished the race 4:13.6 back in 31st.

    “I am happy with the race today,” Doherty said, according to a US Biathlon press release. “I left some room for improvement on the range. It was a big step in the right direction from last week. We had very fast conditions on the course today and our waxing staff did a great job as usual.”

    All three U.S. starters finished in the top 40, with Lowell Bailey in 37th (+4:36.4) with three misses (0+2+0+1).

    Biathlon Canada was led by Christian Gow in 34th (+4:30.7), for his career-best in a 20 k individual race. After starting in bib 2, he cleaned his first and third stages to put himself in 32nd with one stage to go, within 28 seconds of the top 20. But a miss on his last standing put Gow in 39th leaving the range for the last time, and he ended up 34th at the finish (0+1+0+1).

    “My shooting was just OK today,” Gow wrote in an email. “I would have liked to hit one more for sure and then I would have been completely satisfied with the race.  I felt more nervous than normal in the range, and my two misses were a direct result of being a bit hesitant on the shooting mat.

    “I am pretty happy with today overall,” he added. “I think this is the best skiing I’ve had in an Individual race and my best placing as well.  I do wish I could have one or two shots back, but overall I am happy.”

    Also for Canada, his older brother Scott Gow finished 55th (+5:13.2) with three penalties (0+1+1+1), Brendan Green placed 78th (+6:53.7) with four misses (1+0+2+1), and Macx Davies was 91st (+8:02.4) with five penalties (1+1+3+0), out of 107 finishers.

    The Gow brothers and Green raced Sunday in the men’s 4 x 7.5 k in Oberhof, where they placed 10th.

    “Honestly, I have been feeling pretty tired after the 3 days of racing in a row last weekend,” Christian wrote. “Our travel wasn’t too bad, but it still didn’t feel like much of a rest day.”

    The Ruhpolding World Cup continues Thursday with the women’s 15 k individual (starting at 8:30 a.m. EST on the Olympic Channel). Another men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay will follow on Friday, then the women’s 4 x 6 k relay on Saturday, and the men’s and women’s mass starts on Sunday.

    Results

    ***

    NorAm Trials (Mont Sainte-Anne, Québec): Classic interval starts

    The women’s 10 k classic podium on Wednesday at the NorAm trials in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, with Cendrine Browne (1) in first, Katherine Stewart-Jones (2) in second, and Anne-Marie Comeau (3) in third. Dahria Beatty (l) placed fourth. (Photo: Cross Country Canada/Instagram)

    The NorAm trials at Mont Sainte-Anne (MSA), Québec, concluded Wednesday with the 10- and 15-kilometer classic interval starts. On the line were NorAm points, U23 and World Championships invitations, and for the women, what may well be the last Olympic spot on the Canadian team.

    The action started with the men’s 15 k classic, which Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) won in 39.07.8 minutes to punch his ticket to U23 World Championships later this month in Goms, Switzerland. He won the race ahead of Scott Hill of Barrie Cross Country (BXC) in second, who skied a fast final lap to come within 6.9 seconds of first.

    Canadian Para-Nordic teammates Graham Nishikawa and Brian McKeever finished third (+30.0) and fourth (+37.4), respectively, with Nishikawa as McKeever’s guide in Paralympic events having the edge in the interval-start race the two skied on their own (Nishikawa started 64th and McKeever 55th).

    According to Nishikawa, the two have been entering NorAm events that fit into their preparation for the PyeongChang Paralympics. Nishikawa wrote a quick email on his way to the airport on Wednesday.

    “Happy with my week overall in MSA. Shape is good. Skis were good. Will keep improving into Korea for Paralympics,” he wrote after his second distance podium of the week.

    In the women’s 10 k classic, Cendrine Browne (Canadian National U25 Team/CNEPH) continued her strong showing at trials with her second victory and fourth top-four result, taking the win in 29:47.0.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones, of the U25 Team and National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, and Anne-Marie Comeau (Université Laval) were virtually tied for second after the first lap, but Stewart-Jones held the speed to take second, 39.2 seconds behind Browne and 24.3 seconds ahead of Comeau in third.

    About 16 seconds later, Maya MacIsaac-Jones, of the U25 Team and Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR), finished fourth (+1:21.0) ahead of Dahria Beatty, of the Canadian World Cup Team and Alberta World Cup Academy, in fifth (+1:26.6).

    The selection criteria are complex, but a quick calculation suggests that Comeau, who placed second to Browne in Monday’s skiathlon, gets the provisional women’s distance spot for the PyeongChang Olympics (since Browne already established herself as the sprint leader), and Stewart-Jones, who was fifth in the skiathlon, gets the U23 Worlds berth. Stay tuned for updates and official selections.

    The junior men’s 10 k classic podium on Wednesday at the NorAm trials in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, with Antoine Cyr (c) in first, Félix Longpré (2) in second and Étienne Hébert (3) in third. (Photo: Cross Country Canada/Instagram)

    CNEPH’s Antoine Cyr took his third win of the week in the junior men’s 10 k, finishing in 25:57.3, well ahead of local Félix Longpré (MSA) in second (+48.2) and Étienne Hébert (AWCA) in third (+55.6).

    In the junior women’s 5 k, Hannah Mehain (Sovereign Lake Nordic/National Junior Team) took the win in 15:22.7, just 2.7 seconds ahead of skiathlon winner Natalie Hynes (Whitehorse Ski Club/National Junior Team) and 15.0 seconds ahead of Tuesday’s skate sprint winner Annika Richardson (NTDC Thunder Bay/National Junior Team) in third.

    Results: 5/10/15 k classic | Complete trials results

  • Monday Rundown: U.S. Nationals; MSA NorAm Trials

    Monday Rundown: U.S. Nationals; MSA NorAm Trials

    Left to right: Tyler Kornfield (APU), Reese Hanneman (APU) and Ben Saxton (SMS) the top three Americans in the men’s 1.6 k classic sprint final on Monday, the last day of 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.

    U.S. Cross Country Championships (Anchorage, Alaska): Classic sprint

    Women’s report

    Men’s report

    Caitlin Patterson did it. With a classic-sprint win on Monday, she successfully capped off an undefeated 2018 U.S. Cross Country Championships, as the top American woman in all four races over the past week in Anchorage, Alaska.

    Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, qualified seventh then won the women’s 1.5-kilometer final by more than 2 seconds in 3:39.58 minutes. Finland’s Jasmi Joensuu, a junior at the University of Denver (DU), won the qualifier and ultimately finished second in the final, 2.36 seconds behind Patterson.

    Craftsbury once again had two on the podium with Kaitlynn Miller placing third overall (+3.9) as the second American. Becca Rorabaugh, of Alaska Pacific University (APU), was the top American in the qualifier in second overall, then placed fourth in the final (+9.92) and reached the U.S. podium in third.

    Petra Hyncicova, a University of Colorado Boulder (CU) senior from the Czech Republic, placed fifth overall (+10.03), and Lydia Blanchet, a Dartmouth College U23 skier, finished sixth (+11.21) and was the fourth American woman.

    Joensuu, 21, of Kuortane, Finland, started the day by winning the qualifier in 3:41.4, while Rorabaugh followed in second, 1.31 seconds back. Hyncicova qualified third (+1.85), CU’s Hedda Bångman (who won Sunday’s 20 k classic) qualified fourth (+2.92), and Miller qualified fifth (+2.93). Anne Hart of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team clocked the sixth-fastest qualifying time (+3.88), and Patterson followed in seventh (+4.77).

    From there, Patterson won both her quarterfinal and semifinal, besting Miller and Joensuu in the latter by 0.66 seconds and 2.63 seconds, respectively. Blanchet placed fourth in that same semifinal (+5.15) and advanced to the final as a lucky loser with a fast-enough time, along with Joensuu (Patterson and Miller automatically advanced in first and second).

    With her 4-for-4 record at 2018 nationals, Patterson is the most successful woman at U.S. Cross Country Championships since U.S. Ski Team member Jessie Diggins was the top American in all four races at 2012 nationals in Rumford, Maine.

    In the men’s classic sprint final, Reese Hanneman (APU) captured his second title in as many sprints this week (after winning the freestyle sprint on Friday). He won the qualifying round by 2.84 seconds in 3:21.93, and later the final by a 0.2 seconds in 3:20.62. Kornfield placed second, and Ben Saxton (SMS Elite Team) rounded out the podium in third (+4.78).

    Logan Hanneman, the winner of Friday’s freestyle-sprint qualifier, finished second to his older brother Reese in Monday’s classic-sprint qualifier, then went on to reach the final and place fourth overall (+5.42). Kevin Bolger (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) placed fifth (+5.52), and Zak Ketterson (Northern Michigan University) was sixth (+6.83).

    Results:

    Women’s qualifier | Women’s final

    Men’s qualifier | Men’s final

    ***

    NorAm Trials (Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec): 15/30 k skiathlons

    The women’s 15 k skiathlon podium on Monday at NorAm trials at Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, with Cendrine Browne (c) of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) and Canadian U25 Team in first, Anne-Marie Comeau (l) of Laval University in second, and Dahria Beatty (Alberta World Cup Academy/Canadian World Cup Team) in third. (Photo: Cross Country Canada/Instagram)

    Cendrine Browne won the women’s 15-kilometre skiathlon in 43:01.9 minutes on Monday at the Mont Sainte-Anne (MSA) ski trails to put an exclamation point on her presumptive selection for the PyeongChang Olympics. Browne, of the Centre National d’Entraînement Pierre Harvey (CNEPH)/Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre, which is based in nearby Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, broke away with Laval University’s Anne-Marie Comeau during the classic leg to take a 20-second lead that she held to the finish.

    Comeau faded slightly to take second, 11.9 seconds back, qualifying for U23’s and putting her name in the hat for the upcoming 2018 Olympics. Either Comeau or the winner of Wednesday’s classic interval start should take that potential Olympic berth as Canada’s top female distance skier not already qualified. Browne has theoretically earned a spot as the top women’s sprinter, besides Dahria Beatty, who won the sprint and already met Canada’s Olympic qualifying criteria.

    “It now has to go before the selection committee,” Cross Country Canada’s High Performance Director Thomas Holland wrote in an email on Friday.

    After trials races were shuffled around due to extreme cold, with temperatures near -20 Celsius on Sunday at MSA, it warmed up to a balmy -8 degrees Celsius (17 Fahrenheit) by mid-afternoon on Monday. Both the women’s and men’s skiathlons were held, which not only served as one of two distance races for Olympic selection, but for Junior and U23 World Championships as well.

    In the race for third place, Beatty outsprinted a group of four to take the final podium spot, 19.9 seconds behind Browne and 0.3 seconds ahead of their fellow Canadian National Team member Maya MacIsaac-Jones, of Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) and U25 Team. Just 0.2 seconds out of fourth, Katherine Stewart-Jones, of the National Training Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay and national U25 Team, placed fifth (+20.4) and CNEPH’s Laura Leclair was another second back in sixth (+21.4).

    Almost 55 seconds passed before the seventh-place finisher came across the line, which was Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic) skiing alone (+1:15.8). Another 49 seconds later, Jaqueline Mourao of Brazil’s national team placed eighth (+2:04.9), ahead of Zoë Williams (Carleton University) in ninth (+2:11.3), and Andrea Dupont (RMR) in 10th (+2:11.5).

    In the junior women’s 10 k skiathlon, Whitehorse’s Natalie Hynes won in 30:19.8 to punch her ticket to Junior Worlds in Goms, Switzerland, from Jan. 28-Feb. 3. India McIsaac (RMR) finished 0.7 seconds back in second and Orford’s Alexandra Racine completed the podium in third (+32.8).

    The men’s 30 k skiathlon podium at NorAm trials at Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, on Sunday, with Knute Johnsgaard (c) of Canada’s World Cup Team in first, Graham Nishikawa (r) of the Canadian Para-Nordic Team in second and Gareth Williams (Telemark Nordic/Canadian U25 Team) in third. (Photo: Cross Country Canada/Instagram)

    On the men’s side, Canadian World Cup Team member Knute Johnsgaard, who met qualifying criteria for PyeongChang last season, shook off a slow start to the World Cup season with a win in the NorAm trials men’s 30 k skiathlon, finishing in 1:13:30.9.

    Graham Nishikawa, who’s already destined for the PyeongChang Paralympics as a guide on the Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team, finished 1 second back for second place. The 34-year-old Nishikawa edged out first-year senior national-team member Gareth Williams, 20, of Telemark Nordic and the national U25 Team, by 0.5 seconds. Williams was the top U23 athlete to qualify for this year’s U23 World Championships.

    The top 6 finished within 41 seconds of the podium, with Jack Carlyle (AWCA) in fourth (+5.8), Philippe Boucher (CNEPH) in fifth (+13.9), and Scott Hill (BXC) in sixth (+40.7). World Cup Team member Len Valjas led the next group across the line in seventh (+1:28.6), followed by Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) in eighth (+1:29.4), Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) in ninth (+1:35.5), and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (CNEPH) in 10th (+1:35.7)

    CNEPH’s Antoine Cyr won the junior mens 15 k skiathlon in 50:13.1 to earn a spot at Junior Worlds. Félix Longpré, of the local M.S.A. ski club, finished second (+15.7) and Thomas Manktelow was third (+49.0), just ahead of his Alberta World Cup Academy teammate Étienne Hébert in fourth (+49.3).

    After Sunday’s racing was postponed due to temperatures well below the legal race limit, the remaining trials schedule includes freestyle sprints on Tuesday (for Junior and U23 World Championships qualifying purposes only), and classic interval starts on Wednesday.

    Results

  • Rossland NorAm Rewind: Notes & Quotes

    Rossland NorAm Rewind: Notes & Quotes

    The men’s freestyle sprint A-final finish at the Rossland NorAm on Dec. 16, with Julien Locke (r) outlunging Evan Palmer-Charrettee (l) at the line. (Photo: Kai Symington-Kruss)

    It’s been a week or two since the last NorAm of Canada’s Continental Cup series (10 days to be precise), but without further ado, here are the quotes from the winners and top finishers.

    To recap, the American husband-and-wife combo Brian and Caitlin Gregg came to Rossland, British Columbia, and dominated the three-day mini tour, with Caitlin winning all three races (a 5-kilometer classic, freestyle sprint and 10 k freestyle pursuit) and Brian winning the two distance races (10 k classic and 15 k freestyle pursuit). Canadian National U25 Team member Julien Locke won the men’s sprint on his home trails at the Black Jack Ski Club.

    The women’s podium after the 10 k freestyle pursuit on Dec. 17, the last day of the Rossland NorAm mini tour, with Caitlin Gregg (c) in first, Zina Kocher (second from r) in second, Annika Hicks (third from l) in third, Andrea Dupont (second from l) in fourth, Lisle Compton (far l) in fifth, and Frederique Vezina (r) in sixth. (Photo: Brian Gregg)

    “I absolutely loved racing in Canada these past few weeks,” Caitlin, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, wrote in an email after her second weekend of racing north of the border. (The NorAm season opened at Sovereign Lake near Vernon, B.C., on Dec. 9-10.)

    “My favorite part about the races this weekend in Rossland were the incredible race courses and race organization,” she continued. “The 5k loop is the toughest in North America!”

    “I wish that we had the whole Super Tour field here racing since the Black Jack Ski Club puts on such a fantastic race,” Brian wrote. “The courses in Rossland are World Cup level and some of the most difficult we race all year. … With Rossland just 4.5 hours from Silver Star we picked that as our most competitive local race.  Caitlin and I both felt we needed some more racing in preparation for US Nationals in January.”

    While the races were held on the Black Jack trails some 3,800 feet above sea level, Brian explained that he and Caitlin stayed around 1,300 feet “for a bit better recovery in prep for US nationals.”

    They received race support from the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay.

    “We have had several training camps with the Thunder Bay team and athletes and it was really great of them to provide the infrastructure for our success this weekend,” Brian wrote. “We were really hoping that Caitlin or any of the other top [U.S.] domestic women could be racing in Toblach this weekend on the World Cup. I was sad to see that we only started 5 athletes of our quota of 7.”

    While their results in the Rossland NorAm don’t count toward their overall SuperTour ranking, Caitlin has so far recorded four podiums this season, with a third-place finish in the Sovereign Lake 10 k freestyle (which counted as a SuperTour). Additionally, she won the skate-sprint qualifier at the SuperTour opener in West Yellowstone, Montana, and went on to finish fifth after a crash in the final. Brian has a total of three wins this season, with a victory in the West Yellowstone SuperTour 15 k classic mass start.

    “I am really happy with my skiing so far this season,” Caitlin wrote. “My goal is to make the 2018 Olympics and be at my peak for the 10k skate at the games.”

    But enough about the Americans, let’s hear from the Canadians who finished near the top of the field in Rossland:

    After the women’s 5 k and men’s 10 k classic interval starts on Dec. 15:

    Ty Godfrey (Canmore Nordic/Team R.A.D.) racing to sixth in the men’s 10 k classic at the Rossland NorAm on Dec. 15. (Photo: Kai Symington-Kruss)
    • Scott Hill (Team Barrie Cross Country (BXC)), 2nd place (first Canadian):

    “I thought I paced the classic race well on a tough course here in Rossland with starting conservative despite it only being a 10k. … Conditions are really good here with just below 0 temperatures but some fresh snow during the classic race made things tricky for the techs but I thought my guys gave me what I needed to race my race.”

    • Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay), 3rd place:

    “I focused on starting strong and had a great first lap, then just couldn’t hold the pace quite well enough to stay in 2nd. Trying to make consistent lap times a focus while still starting strong at what I feel will be a top time.”

    • Annika Hicks (Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy), 2nd place (first Canadian):

    “My classic skiing is feeling especially strong which is a big confidence booster going into Trials at MSA [Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Jan. 6-10] because those races are so classic heavy!”

    • Hannah Mehain (Sovereign Lake Nordic/Canadian National Junior Team), 6th overall, top junior woman:

    “I knew it was going to be short because it is only 5km so I decided to go hard out of the start. The course was tough with several long uphill sections so I made little markers on course in my warmup where I would refocus and notch it up. I found they definitely helped. It was easy to become distracted and forget about pushing hard. Before my race, I talked to Kajsa Heyes about the course as she finished before I started and she said that you can punch up the climbs no problem so I trusted her and did just that in my race. I was thankful for grippy wax as there are a lot of hills and it would be tiring to herringbone them all.”

    • Zina Kocher (Foothills Nordic), 12th overall:

    “Being that it was really my first 5k classic race since I was a kid, I should be easy on myself! I still see so many areas on which to improve, mostly with technique. But I want more and know there is another gear untapped inside of me with classic. I focused on being calm and smooth today and I felt much smoother with my technique than the last classic race which is a step in the right direction.”

     

    After the freestyle sprints on Dec. 16:

    • Julien Locke (Black Jack/Canadian National U25 Team), 1st:

    “It was amazing to race at home today. It’s such a thrill to put on a show for all of the locals, many of whom have been volunteering since I first started racing Kootenay Cups. The Black Jack club is so supportive and they have done a great job putting on the races. The atmosphere on the course was fantastic, so much energy out there.  I’ve been feeling the travel and previous 4 weeks of racing, and the cheering squads certainly gave me a boost.”

    [He started his season on the World Cup and returned to Canada earlier that week.]

    “I returned to North America on Monday evening [Dec. 11] and it took a while to get the body moving this morning. I was lacking tempo in the qualifier but started to get some snap back through the heats. The final was fun, a reasonably fast pace the whole way. The TBay guys were on a mission to take control up the first climb. I snuck by going over the top and stayed at the front up the 2nd climb, through the twists and into the finish. Evan [Palmer-Charrette] carried a lot of speed out of the last decent and put in a good sprint. It was fun to put in a stretch for the line. It was a close one!”

    • Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay), 2nd:

    “I played it the way I wanted to through all the heats. With the gradual incline on the finishing stretch the finish line snuck up on me and I made a last second attempt at a lunge but otherwise I executed quite well. I considered not starting the sprint and even more so after a rough qualifier but my mom made the trip down to Rossland and arrived before the heats so I figured I couldn’t sit out, so all things considered it was a solid day.”

    [Palmer-Charrette finished 23rd in the qualifier.]

    Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing) racing to her second-straight win at the NorAm in Rossland, B.C., with a victory in the skate-sprint final ahead of Andrea Dupont (101) and Zina Kocher (r). (Photo: Kai Symington-Kruss)
    • Zina Kocher, 3rd:

    “Feel stoked! Totally surprised myself as sprinting is not really my forte. And my 3rd skate sprint race ever. … [I]  gave it everything I had from the start, but I’m almost always last out so I have just learned in biathlon mass starts to use that to my advantage to find the holes/spaces in the group & then move up. I had really great skis today and fully used that to my advantage with the gradual downhill, pushing hard into it & free skating to propel myself into a better position for the next uphill, & before the S turn downhill. I had a bit of a mishap in the 1st heat, getting too close to [Caitlin] in the last corner and tripping on her pole. Got up quick & kept fighting… luckily our heat was fast & I moved on. I think I was just in disbelief each time I moved on, was totally enjoying myself and just kept fighting.

    “Also would like to point out, that this podium sweep were all the old timers. And I was the youngest 😉 Go masters.” 

    [Kocher is 35. Gregg, 37, won the final and Andrea Dupont, also 37, placed second.]

     

    After the 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Dec. 17:

    (Note: The rundown linked to above was written based on the pursuit’s “time of day”, or individual stage results, rather than overall mini-tour results. The following referenced results reflect overall pursuit/mini-tour finish.)

    The men’s podium after the 15 k freestyle pursuit on Dec. 17, the last day of the Rossland NorAm mini tour, with Brian Gregg (c) in first, Andy Shields (second from r) in second, Bob Thompson (second from l) in third, Evan Palmer-Charrette (r) in fourth, and Jack Carlyle (l) in fifth. (Photo: Brian Gregg)
    • Brian Gregg, 1st:

    “We [Caitlin and I] entered the final day as the rabbits for the rest of the field.  It is odd to feel that the others are just a few meters behind, but also a great exercise in remaining focused on your own race. I focused on racing as a time trial with a conservative start and the goal of negative splitting each lap.  Andy and Bob closed the gap pretty well in the first lap but a strong final 10km allowed me to get the time back.

    “Our greatest success of the weekend came on day 1 in the classic race. We put a big focus this year on our classic skiing with some on snow training camps in May in Iceland/Norway and August/September in New Zealand and it is great to see that showing on the results page.  It also helped that our skis were amazing.”

    • Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic), 2nd:

    “Scott Hill started just over 10s ahead of me and Bob Thompson started around 20 seconds ahead so I had a couple ‘steps’ to climb and launch off of. I caught Scott in the first km and dropped him before the end of the first lap and caught Bob partway through the second lap. Bob and I tried to chase down Brian Gregg but ended up losing time to him. I found a tonne of pace somehow in the last km and a bit and was able to break away from Bob before the finish. … Usually my pace change in distance races is just awful, but it was quite good on Sunday which is a good sign of fitness.”

    “I had a heavy November of training and I think this weekend was a sign I’ve finally digested the training load. I’ll keep training casual over the holidays so I can hopefully be fresh and ready to go at trials.”

    • Bob Thompson, 3rd: 

    “Pursuit was a solid race. The hunt was on for Brian and after a great first lap Andy [Shields] caught me and we did our best to work together but Brian was just a bit too strong for us and skied away with the overall and the best time of day. … This pursuit was one of the first that I have been one of the top starters and had to chase for top positions while fighting to stay ahead of all those chase groups. Definitely my favourite part of racing this weekend.”

    • Evan Palmer-Charrette, 4th:

    “The pursuit was really fun, I love chasing in a pack with a big group of guys. I did not feel great off the start and my confidence was not very high but by the end of the 2nd lap I started to feel like I was getting into a race gear and finished strong.

    “I started to find a race gear the past two days but overall period one has been a struggle coming into it after be being quite sick. That being said I think I haven’t burnt my brightest match of the season and have as good of a shot as anyone. I would like to have strong races in both the sprint and distances races in Quebec, but with the sprint being the only race with an Olympic birth that will be the main focus of the event for me.”

    • Jack Carlyle (AWCA), 5th: 

    “My strategy was to catch as many people that started just in front of me as I possible early on in the first lap. There was a strong contingent of skiers that started just head of me and I wanted to get up to them as quickly as possible, just to make sure I didn’t loose a strong ride. Once I got settled in a pack the plan was to let the race come to me and let it unfold until the last few kilometers, then I would make moves to fight for positions to the finish. I thought that if I could have a good day, being top 5 in the tour was an achievable goal.

    “It was a really fun race. There was a healthy exchange of lead sharing in the pack I was in, with the pace been pushed most of the time. On the first lap a large pack formed and we all skied together for most of the race, building the pace as the race went on. Seemed as though as the race went on the pack got smaller and smaller, until EPC and I were the last two chasing down the top three skier in front of us (Brian G, Andy S, and Bob T). With about 1.5km to go, Evan and I started playing a little bit of cat and mouse, thinking about the tactics for the finish. Pace slowed down, and you could tell we both had plans to try to out sprint the other in the last stretch. Smart on his part as he was second, and almost first the day before in the sprint and [I] couldn’t even sniff the semis that day. We both gaver at the finish and as you can predict, EPC came across the line in 4th and I in 5th.”

    [Carlyle finished eighth in the 10 k classic to start the mini tour]

    “Going into this past weekend I was really focused on the Classic 10km on the Friday. This was the race I put the most attention on going into the weekend. I knew that I was skating well and I [wanted to] do the same in Classic. The two distance days were the races I knew I had the best chance to reach the podium. Having a strong performance in classic early in the season was important for me going forward. After the race in Silver Star, I knew that I was in a good place physically and mentally to potentially have a strong performance in the Tour weekend.”

    • Scott Hill, 8th: 

    “Sunday was a rough one for me. There was a fast group behind me that formed in the pursuit start and they swallowed me up quickly. I stayed with the group for most of the rest of the race but I didn’t have the legs to stay with the attacks when they happened on the last lap. This past week and weekend were my chance to try some things to get an idea of what’s working for me right now to come up with the best lead up to the Olympic trials in a few weeks. With one good race and one that didn’t really work out I am confident in what I need to do to be in good shape in a few weeks.”

    • Julien Locke, 10th:

    “After spending the past month racing on the WC, the focus for this weekend was to perform at home, and continue to put in good race efforts ahead of the January selection events. … This is the first year I have raced 5 weeks in a row before Christmas. I am looking forward to a focused training block between now and New Years. I’ll be training at home as we have lots of snow at home and excellent conditions at Black Jack, perfect for good preparation.”

    • Antoine Cyr (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre), 15th overall, 2nd junior:

    “I am super happy with the shape right now. I had a phenomenal start to the season and I have been racing over my expectation, World Juniors trials and Olympic trials are in two weeks so hopefully the shape is still there when I race in Mont-Saint-Anne.”

    “With my second place junior on Friday and the win in the sprint I was well placed for the overall mini tour. In the pursuit I was starting really close to 3 of my teammates so the plan was to stick with them as long as possible and protect my second place in the overall [NorAm standings]. I had a good race with all the top seniors in Canada and I was able to protect my place in the [overall standings].”

    • Zina Kocher, 2nd (first Canadian), former Canadian national-team biathlete:

    “I attacked from the beginning and tried to maintain the pace till the finish.  … Wasn’t sure what to expect with the Pursuit format without the shooting aspect and how that would end up. As in, how can I make up enough time to move up — I felt very behind 1st place starting 2:27 back. I just focused on giving it everything I had & going for it. … Pursuits in biathlon are maybe more exciting & huge possible ups or downs in the results than xc BUT it it is nice to just put my head down and giver ;)”

    “Feeling really great about this weekend. Ski speed felt like it picked up this weekend compared to last & that was the goal. Classic is coming along, learning every day and things are going in the right direction. … I wanted my fitness level to be good, not at it’s best but good & have strong skate finishes.”

    • Annika Hicks, 3rd:

    “The races in Rossland went really well. My plan for the first period of racing was to keep building throughout the month, so to have a couple podiums this weekend was great. … I love racing in Rossland, The distance courses are really challenging and ski really nicely. Conditions were great; the tracks weren’t too soft and the temperature was prefect for racing.”

    • Hannah Mehain, 14th overall and 2nd junior (who won the junior women’s skate sprint):

    “My favorite part of the weekend was the sprint. Before my sprint race, the announcer mentioned how Jessie Diggins made a major breakthrough at Rossland in the sprint races 7 years ago. She won the qualifier by 5 seconds in the senior women category and she was only 17 years old. She ended up taking gold overall that day (I believe, fact check me on this one). This inspired me. I decided I was going to make a breakthrough that day too. And I did.”

  • Friday Rundown: Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

    Friday Rundown: Annecy, St. Ulrich, Rossland (Updated)

    Tim Burke (US Biathlon) racing to 10th in the men’s 10 k sprint at the IBU World Cup on Friday in Annecy, France. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)

    IBU World Cup (Annecy, France): Men’s 10 k sprint

    (Note: This rundown has been updated to include quotes from US Biathlon’s Tim Burke and Sean Doherty.)

    Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø racked up his third-straight individual win of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup season on Friday (and fourth non-relay win of 2017/2018), topping the men’s 10-kilometer sprint in Annecy, France. And he did so in head-turning fashion, beating French superstar Martin Fourcade, the race’s runner-up, by 21.1 seconds on Fourcade’s home turf.

    Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø racing to his third-straight win of the season on Friday in the IBU World Cup men’s sprint in Annecy, France. (Photo: IBU/biathlonworld)

    On a pristine day in Annecy, Bø started 24th and consistently clocked the fastest times throughout the race. He cleaned prone, then standing, and finished 41.8 seconds faster than Germany’s Simon Schempp, the race leader until that point who also shot clean (0+0).

    Fourcade started 31st and shot a flawless 10-for-10 as well, yet trailed Bø from start to finish. After prone, Fourcade was 8.3 seconds back in second. After standing, he was 14.7 seconds out of first with one loop to go. Bø skied the fastest course time on every loop to remain out of reach, and also shot faster than Fourcade, who clocked the second-fastest overall course time.

    Ultimately, the 24-year-old Bø crossed the finish line with the fastest time of 22:16.9 minutes, Fourcade was second and France’s 26-year-old Antonin Guigonnat achieved his first World Cup podium in third (+34.7) with clean shooting. In fact, the top-four finishers all shot clean, with Schempp in fourth and the third Frenchman in the top five, Simon Desthieux in fifth (+45.7).

    Guigonnat’s previous best World Cup result was 24th in a 20 k individual in 2015 in Oslo, Norway.

    France’s Antonin Guigonnat placed third in Friday’s IBU World Cup men’s 10 k sprint for his first podium and first top 20 of his World Cup career. (Photo: Glen Crawford)

    “It seems unreal to be here besides two monsters like these guys,” Guigonnat told the IBU, according to a press release. “After standing I was informed I had 7 seconds on Schempp and at that moment I trusted myself to hold that gap. I always trust in myself to be able to do something great like today.”

    Fourcade, who has either placed second or third behind Bø in three consecutive races, was not excited about second place.

    “Never cool, because I expected to win,” Fourcade said in an English interview with German broadcaster ZDF. “… But when you find someone better you just have to congratulate him and wait for the next chance. For now, with zero mistakes Johannes is not beatable. I will take the Christmas break to work on my shape, and expect to have a better shape in January to try and challenge him, because for now in the three last competitions I didn’t challenge him enough. I want to be faster, but he is good, he is really good.”

    “That’s good words from the World Cup leader,” Bø replied to ZDF in English. “… Every victory I had this season Martin has been right behind me, so I just have to continue being at 100 percent. I always have to think about myself, and then afterwards we will see if I am in front or second, but it has been a good start.”

    Only one man in the top 11 didn’t shoot clean: Russia’s Anton Shipulin in sixth (+54.9), who missed one in prone (1+0), but made up for it with the sixth-fastest overall course time and fifth-fastest overall shooting time.

    US Biathlon’s Tim Burke achieved his first top 10 in two seasons, placing 10th, 1:08.2 behind Bø with clean shooting.

    “I feel like I executed the perfect race for the shape I am in right now,” Burke wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “I know I am not in top form right now so this was about the best I could do considering that.

    “I have worked a ton on my shooting in the past year and I know that I’ve reached a higher level in training than ever before. It was nice to be able to show some of those improvements today,” he continued. “It feels great to be back in the top ten. Last season I was only racing in about half of the races and I had a top finish of 11th.  But I have to say that I am more pleased with how I executed the race today than the actual result.”

    In a US Biathlon press release, Burke noted that “perfect shooting conditions and a fast track” made for a tight race, as he had expected. “This was a good confidence boost for me heading into the holiday break,” he said.

    Sean Doherty (US Biathlon) racing to 17th for the second-straight individual IBU World Cup race on Friday in the men’s 10 k sprint in Annecy, France. (Photo: US Biathlon/NordicFocus)

    Also for US Biathlon, Sean Doherty placed 17th (+1:20.2), also with 10-for-10 shooting, for the second-straight individual race to tie his season best from last week’s pursuit in Hochfilzen, Austria.

    “I feel I executed a great race plan today,” Doherty wrote in an email. “The sprint is all attack right from the start, and this aggressive racing demands that you are on every transition from the first 100 meters. I carried this mentality through the range and the last lap.”

    After starting in bib 7 and cleaning the first shooting stage, Doherty took the race lead by 22 seconds.

    “Prone was solid and I was happy to execute my plan on the range, had no idea I was leading, just keep the pedal down for another lap,” he wrote. “Being an early bib you can’t look too hard at the place number on the split times. … Coming into standing I just reminded myself of the same focus points I have been working on since May. Focusing on those fundamentals really helps block out any extraneous thoughts that might want to sneak into your mind.”

    Scott Gow (Biathlon Canada) after placing 16th in the IBU World Cup men’s sprint on Friday in Annecy, France. (Photo: Glen Crawford)

    Biathlon Canada’s Scott Gow notched his second top 16 of the season to put himself at the top of the list for Olympic team selection, based on Biathlon Canada’s “Priority 2” criteria. Gow started near the back of the field in bib 99 and ended up 16th (+1:13.5) with clean shooting.

    “I’m very happy with another top 16,” Gow wrote in an email. “This result has solidified my priority 2 Olympic criteria which is a big relief. I’m also happy with my performances so far this early in the season. I’m normally a slow starter so it’s a good sign that I’m hitting good results before Christmas. I just hope I can make it last…”

    “Conditions were rock solid today,” Gow explained. “The fresh snow we got overnight mixed with the wet snow and created a very hard glaze. It was hard to hold a solid edge and the downhills were squirrelly. There was zero wind all day today, so range conditions were perfect.”

    His younger brother Christian Gow tallied Canada’s second-result in 30th (+1:44.2), also with clean shooting. He was one of 19 men (out of 103 finishers) that hit every target on Friday.

    A total of four Americans qualified for Saturday’s pursuit, with Lowell Bailey placing 35th (+1:49.5) with a prone penalty (1+0), and Leif Nordgren finishing 56th (+2:18.1) with one prone miss as well (1+0). Paul Schommer placed 85th (+3:19.3) to miss the top 60 required for the pursuit.

    “… It was a strong Nations Cup points day for the team as a whole,” Doherty noted.

    Canada’s Brendan Green and Nathan Smith did not qualify for the pursuit, after Green finished 86th (+3:21.0) with five penalties (3+2) and Smith was 91st (+3:36.4) with two misses (0+2).

    The women’s and men’s pursuits will be held Saturday in Annecy, with the women’s 10 k race starting at 5:45 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and the men’s 12.5 k at 8:45 a.m. EST.

    “It’s always chaotic with a lot of action during pursuits and I’ll try to filter all of that out,” Scott Gow wrote. “As for skiing, there’s a lot of transition areas where I think a lot of time can be made.”

    Results| Men’s pursuit start list

    ***

    OPA Cup (St. Ulrich, Austria): Freestyle sprints

    The women’s 1.2 k freestyle sprint podium at Friday’s Alpen Cup in St. Ulrich, Austria, with two U.S. Ski Team members in the top three: Sophie Caldwell (c) in first, Ida Sargent (r) in third, and Russia’s Natalia Matveeva (l) in second. (Photo: Sophie Caldwell/Instagram)

    With this weekend’s World Cup races in Toblach, Italy, being solely distance events, five U.S. Ski Team (USST) sprinters ventured to St. Ulrich, Austria, to compete in the Alpen Cup (also known as OPA Cup) skate sprints on Friday.

    Longtime couple Sophie Caldwell and Simi Hamilton came away with wins, with Caldwell winning the women’s 1.2 k freestyle sprint final ahead of Russia’s Natalia Matveeva in second and Caldwell’s USST teammate Ida Sargent in third. Another World Cup regular, Switzerland’s Laurien van der Graaff placed fourth, while Germany’s U23 World Championships classic sprint silver medalist Antonia Fräbel finished fifth. Italy’s Greta Laurent was sixth, Germany’s Hanna Kolb seventh, Austria’s Lisa Unterweger eighth, and Julia Kern (USST) ninth.

    In the men’s 1.4 k, Hamilton took the win in a photo finish, just ahead of USST teammate Andy Newell in second and Switzerland’s Gianluca Cologna in third. France’s Jean Tiberghien placed fourth and Russia’s Gleb Retivykh finished fifth.

    “#OPA men’s sprint was a nail-biter,” U.S. Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb wrote on Instagram with a finish-line photo on Friday. “Super close race for @simihamilton, @andynewellskier and @gianlucacologna. Well-run race by the OC in St Ulrich…

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BcuedeHDyxy/?hl=en&taken-by=matt.d.whitcomb

    Earlier in the day, Caldwell won the qualifier by 2.82 seconds over Matveeva with a top time of 2:27.85. Sargent qualified sixth, 4.6 seconds behind Caldwell, and Kern qualified ninth (+5.54). Canadian-born Swiss skier Heidi Widmer qualified 11th (+6.66) and went on to place 14th overall.

    In the men’s qualifier, Newell clocked the fastest time in 2:47.93. Retivykh was 2.01 seconds back in second, and Hamilton qualified third (+3.26).

    Two more days of OPA Cup racing remain in St. Ulrich, with the 5/15 k classic individual starts on Saturday and 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday, according to the International Ski Federation (FIS) events calendar.

    Final results: Women | Men

    Women’s qualifier| Men’s qualifier

    ***

    NorAm Mini Tour (Rossland, B.C.): Classic Interval Start)

    Winner Brian Gregg (LNR/Team Gregg) flanked by second place Scott Hill (r, BXC) and Bob Thompson (l, NTDC TBay) (Photo: Kai Symington-Kruss)
    The NorAm men’s 10 k classic podium on Friday in Rossland, B.C., with Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing) in first, Scott Hill (r) of BXC in second  and Bob Thompson (l) of NTDC Thunder Bay in third. (Photo: Kai Symington-Kruss)

    The NorAm series continued this weekend with the Black Jack Ski Club hosting the first Canadian mini-tour of the season.

    Racing started Friday with classic interval start races, with 10 kilometres and two laps for the men, and 5 k and one lap for the women.

    Brian Gregg, representing Loppet Nordic Racing (LNR) and Team Gregg, dominated in 29:34.0 minutes, for his second win of the season after topping the 15 k classic mass start in West Yellowstone. Team BXC’s Scott Hill followed 28.2 seconds back in second. Last weekend’s sprint winner Bob Thompson, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, notched his second podium of the season in third (+39.4).

    Fresh off the World Cup, Canadian national team sprinters Jess Cockney (World Cup Team) and Julien Locke (U25 Team) finished seventh and 13th, respectively.

    Caitlin Gregg (Loppet Nordic Racing/Team Gregg) on her way to victory. (Photo: Kai Symington-Kruss)
    Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing) on her way to a win in the NorAm women’s 5 k classic on Friday in Rossland, B.C. (Photo: Mark Richards)

    It was a big day for Team Gregg with Brian’s wife Caitlin Gregg winning the women’s 5 k in 16:08.0. Annika Hicks, of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA), finished 46.8 seconds back in second, while Sophie Carrier-Laforte of the Centre National d’Excellence Pierre Harvey/Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) narrowly edged out a group of women to take third (+1:16.1).

    The Rossland NorAm continues with freestyle sprints on Saturday, followed by 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday.

    Results

    CNEPH's Sophie Carrier-Laforte charging the downhill on her way to third place. (Photo: Kai Syminton-Kruss)
    Sophie Carrier-Laforte charging the downhill on her way to third place in the NorAm women’s 5 k classic on Friday in Rossland, B.C. (Photo: Mark Richards)
  • Ammar Gets Coveted Gold at Canadian Nationals in 30 k Classic; Babikov Tops Sandau in 50 k

    Ammar Gets Coveted Gold at Canadian Nationals in 30 k Classic; Babikov Tops Sandau in 50 k

    The senior women's 30 k classic mass start on the last day of Canadian Nationals last Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
    The senior women’s 30 k classic mass start on the last day of Canadian Nationals last Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

    CORNER BROOK, Newfoundland — The last day of Canadian Nationals started bright and early last Saturday with the senior men’s competition at 9 a.m. The men raced 50 kilometers, women and junior men 30 k and junior women  20 k, all classic mass starts.

    With skiers already having completed three other individual races this week,  some doing four with the team relay, the distance race is not only a good indicator of endurance and race fitness, but also a test of who has recovered the best throughout the week.

    Newfoundland came through with some pretty exciting weather for the final race. Blowing snow was the name of the game for most of the morning at Blow Me Down Trails and made for interesting conditions for the competitors.

    Senior Men

    Fighting through the snow, the senior men stayed in a pretty big pack for the first two-thirds of the race until Ivan Babikov, of the Canadian World Cup Team, pulled ahead to win the 50 k by 41.5 seconds in 2:19:32.3.

    Ivan Babikov, of the Canadian World Cup Team, leads fellow Olympian Graeme Killick (AWCA/NST) and others in the senior men's 50 k classic mass start on the last day of Canadian Nationals last Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
    Ivan Babikov, of the Canadian World Cup Team, leads fellow Olympian Graeme Killick (AWCA/NST) and others in the senior men’s 50 k classic mass start on the last day of Canadian Nationals last Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

    Runner-up Kevin Sandau of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and Canadian Senior Development Team (NST) talked about the race and about his experience at nationals this year.

    Kevin Sandau (2nd)

    – What was your race plan going into the 50 k? Stick with the pack? Push the pace and string things out?

    “I didn’t want to have a relaxed and passive pace for much of the 50 k. Sometimes 50’s just aren’t hard enough until the last 10 t0 15 k, so they end bunching up quite a bit, and it can get frustrating and sketchy skiing with a big pack like that. I took my turns in the front, kept the pace high. When Ivan attacked on the second last lap a group of three of us tried to pull him back, but well he sort of crushed it that lap and put some big time into us.”

    – Looks like you had a pretty good week of racing. How do you feel about your performance this year at nationals?

    “Best nationals for me by far. I was actually most nervous about the team sprint and defending Foothills Nordic’s gold-medal streak in that race. Also it was the first time I did the sprint race since maybe 2009 at nationals and I managed to sneak into the A-final, so I was pretty excited about that.”

    – How many nationals podiums do your currently have to your name? How many titles?

    “Seven podiums including two team-sprints titles. The [individual] national-champ title still eludes me, but I did grab this years overall title so pretty pumped for that.”

    – I hear you are racing at the Alberta Cup Sharkfest. Safe to say this was your main focus for the season? 

    “Pretty much the biggest focus. You’re only as good as your last race, right? And I figure it will be some good motivation to ski on the weekend.”

    Men’s 50 k Classic Top 10

    1. Ivan Babikov (Canadian World Cup Team) 2:19:32.3
    2. Kevin Sandau (AWCA/NST) +41.5
    3. Graham Nishikawa (NST/Para-Nordic Team) +52.7
    4. Andy Shields (NDC Thunder Bay/NST) +54.4
    5. Graeme Killick (AWCA-NST) +1:29.4
    6. Knute Johnsgaard (Yukon Elite) +1:52.4
    7. Colin Abbott (Yukon Elite) +1:54
    8. Frédéric Touchette (Laval) +2:15.6
    9. Michael Somppi (AWCA/NST) +4:09.5
    10. Colin Ferrie (Black Jack) +4:12.5

    Senior Women

    The senior women’s race played out quite differently. Amanda Ammar (Team Ninja) broke the pack early on, with only Emily Nishikawa (AWCA/NST) being able to match her.

    The women's 30 k classic podium at Canadian Nationals on Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. (Photo: Cross Country Canada) http://www.cccski.com/Media/Haywood-Race-Report/Haywood-RACE-Report--Ivan-Babikov-and-Amanda-Ammar.aspx#.UzH_XNxH3FI
    The women’s 30 k classic podium at Canadian Nationals on Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, with winner Amanda Ammar (third from left), runner-up Emily Nishikawa (second from l) and Japan’s Chisa Obayashi in third (third from r). (Photo: Cross Country Canada)

    These two skiers worked together, opening up a big gap over third-place skier Chisa Obayashi (Madshus Japan), until Ammar pulled ahead in the last lap to take the win with by 54 seconds over Nishikawa.

    Amanda Ammar (1st)

    – You really broke the field pretty early on. Was that your game plan before or did you decide during the race that you felt great and you’d just go for it?

    “Winning the nationals 30 k was a goal of mine all year, but obviously not the most important. Olympics was first. Breaking the field was always in the back of my head, but you can only make that decision really on the day of … you need to gauge your energy and that day I felt awesome in my warmup, so it was an easy game plan. As a distance skier, I absolutely hate tactics, and would love to have the luxury of always just blasting off the start.”

    – You’ve put down some really solid races at these nationals. Do you think that your experience at the Olympics put you in a good place for nationals or do you think that you went into these races pretty fatigued?

    “The Olympics was physically and mentally exhausting. Leading up to the Olympics was stressful for me with the appeals, Brittany [Webster] and I had a horrible travel schedule, and then while traveling to Sochi the airline company broke most of my skis. So I wasn’t in the best headspace. That being said, the Olympic course was one of the most challenging that I have ever raced on. After completing all of my events, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and confidence. I knew if I could start and finish a race on that grueling of a course, then it would be an absolute piece of cake on any other course.

    “When I got home from the Olympics I was pretty toast. I had no desire to go to nationals, but I  knew that once I got there that my frame of mind would change, and that I would have fun no matter what. So did I have energy going into nationals? No, but does anybody, really? It’s a long season, especially an Olympic season. We are all tired, and I feel that every athlete is in the same boat.”

    – Any thoughts about your nationals races this year? The 30 k was your first national title, correct?

    “I couldn’t be more excited about my results at nationals this year. A Ninja winning the nationals aggregate? So stoked! This is the first time I have ever medalled as a senior, and I managed to get top 5 in every race! In 2012, I was nine minutes and 30 seconds behind in the 30 k classic event, so that is just one example of how far I’ve come in three years. These results mean so much to me in that I’ve always wanted to be a positive role model for the young women coming up in sport.

    “These last three years I’ve done it my way, no carding, no national/development team, no rules! Chris [Butler] and I made the training plan, and worked together with other athletes in the bow valley. We kept it sublimely simple.”

    Women’s 30 k Classic Top 10

    1. Amanda Ammar (Team Ninja) 1:32:23
    2. Emily Nishikawa (AWCA/NST) +54.5
    3. Chisa Obayashi (Madshus Japan) +4:51.6
    4. Brittany Webster (MitoCanada) +5:36.1
    5. Alysson Marshall (AWCA/NST) +5:39.9
    6. Erin Tribe (NDC Thunder Bay/Lakehead) +5:43.3
    7. *Anne-Marie Comeau (CNEPH/NST) +5:56.2
    8. Heidi Widmer (AWCA/NST) +7:56
    9. Kendra Murray (Carleton) +7:56.4
    10. Marlis Kromm (AWCA) +12:37.7

    *Top junior

    Junior Men

    The junior men's 30 k classic mass start on the last day of Canadian Nationals last Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
    The junior men’s 30 k classic mass start on the last day of Canadian Nationals last Saturday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

    In the junior men’s 30 k, NDC Thunder Bay ruled the roost once again, sweeping the podium. Pulling off his third national title this season, Scott Hill raced to a nearly two-minute win over the rest of the field. His NDC teammates also on the National Junior Team, Evan Palmer-Charrette and Ben Wilkinson-Zan followed in second and third, respectively.

    Junior Men’s 30 k Classic Top 10

    1. Scott Hill (NDC Thunder Bay/NST) 1:23:10.7
    2. Evan Palmer-Charrette (NDC Thunder Bay/NST) +1:51
    3. Benjamin Wilkinson-Zan (NDC Thunder Bay/NST) +2:29.1
    4. Alexis Dumas (QCST) +3:12.0
    5. Colin Foley (CVTC) +3:32.8
    6. Julien Lamoureux (QCST/Cégep Édouard-Montpetit) +4:32.6
    7. Conor Thompson (QCST/Cégep Édouard-Montpetit) +5:04.9
    8. Nicholas Pigeon (Skinouk) +5:05.4
    9. Gavin Shields (Lappe) +5:45.2
    10. David Askwith (Georgian Bay) +7:32.2

    Junior Women

    Much like in the senior women’s race, the junior women spread out early on. This made for a mentally challenging race as most of the competitors pushed through the pain alone for much of the 20 k distance.

    Upsetting this trend, the top three, Dahria Beatty (AWCA/NST), Katherine Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok/NST) and Annah Hanthorn of the Yukon Territory Ski Team, worked together for much of the race setting up a comfortable lead on the others. On the third of four laps, Beatty and Stewart-Jones slowly pulled away from Hanthorn and the last lap became a two-skier battle. Beatty pulled away on the hills of the final lap to take her second national title of the week by 16.5 seconds.

    Junior Women’s 20 k Classic Top 10

    1. Dahria Beatty (AWCA/NST) 1:08:12
    2. Katherine Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok/NST) +16.5
    3. Annah Hanthorn (YTST) +46.3
    4. Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH/NST) +2:45.2
    5. Sophie Carrier-Laforte (QCST) +3:03.7
    6. Jennifer Jackson (NDC Thunder Bay/NST) +3:12.6
    7. Emilie Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok) +3:18.9
    8. Sarah Beaudry (Caledonia) +4:00.9
    9. Maya Macisaac-Jones (CNEPH/NST) +6:02.4
    10. Ember Large (Edmonton) +6:47.5

     

    Complete results: Zone4.ca

    For aggregate national titles from the week: Cross Country Canada

    Ivan Babikov and Amanda Ammar, winners of the 50 and 30 k classic mass starts at 2014 Canadian Nationals (Photo: Cross Country Canada) http://www.cccski.com/Media/Haywood-Race-Report/Haywood-RACE-Report--Ivan-Babikov-and-Amanda-Ammar.aspx#.UzH_XNxH3FI
    Ivan Babikov and Amanda Ammar, winners of the 50 and 30 k classic mass starts at 2014 Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. (Photo: Cross Country Canada)

    ***

  • Gaiazova, Graham Nishikawa Finally Champions in Canadian Nationals Skate Sprints

    Gaiazova, Graham Nishikawa Finally Champions in Canadian Nationals Skate Sprints

    Dasha Gaiazova leads Canadian World Cup teammate Perianne Jones in the senior women's 1.4 k freestyle sprint A-final at 2014 Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
    Dasha Gaiazova (l) leads Canadian World Cup teammate Perianne Jones in the senior women’s 1.4 k freestyle sprint A-final at 2014 Canadian Nationals on Thursday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

    CORNER BROOK, Newfoundland — One the second-to-last day of Canadian Nationals racing in Corner Brook Newfoundland, Thursday saw the nation’s best line up behind the starting wand for the freestyle sprint qualifiers — and later on, the sprint heats.

    The groomers tilled the course overnight, which, combined with the relatively mild temperatures of -7 degrees Celsius in the early morning warming up to around zero for the heats, to led to a fast course.

    Olympian Amanda Ammar of Team Ninja in Canmore, Alberta, described the course as having “a lot of flat sections and gradual downhills so you really have to push the free-skate,” she said after the qualifier. “The couple uphills on the course are steep and pretty soft — you can get bogged down if you’re not careful. It’s a good course for someone who skis powerful with longer glides.”

    Qualifier results

    Senior Women

    The senior women's freestyle-sprint podium at 2014 Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. (Photo: Cross Country Canada) http://www.cccski.com/Media/Haywood-Race-Report/Haywood-RACE-Report--Dasha-Gaiazova-and-Graham-Nis.aspx#.UyxDzdxH2FI
    The senior women’s freestyle-sprint podium at 2014 Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, with winner Dasha Gaiazova (third from l), Perianne Jones in second (second from l), and Alysson Marshall in third (third from r). (Photo: Cross Country Canada) 

    First off the line for the heats were the women, starting around noon. World Cup Team members Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova dominated the day, winning their 1.4 k quarterfinals and semifinals. The two skiers fought it out in the A-final, with Gaiazova leading most of the sprint and ultimately taking the victory for her first win of the week.

    Jones came up beside her in the finish lanes, but didn’t quite have enough for the top spot and placed second. Alysson Marshall, of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and National Development Team (NST), skied in third for most of the final and finished on the podium.

    Gaiazova was unavailable for post-race comments, but this reporter was able to interview the silver medalist.

    Perianne Jones (2nd)

    1. How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats? 

    “I changed up my tactics a bit because I was slower off the start in the semi. Drafting on the downhill mid-course seemed to work pretty well in the semi so I waited for the downhill to move towards the front in my final too.”

    2. Did your travels home from Europe have much of an effect on your race today? 

    “I got back to Canmore about a week ago from Drammen, [Norway,] so I had some time to rest before coming out here. I don’t think the travel affected the racing too much.”

    3. Some athletes like to listen to music to get them pumped up before a race. Is music part of your pre-race plan?  

    “I don’t really listen to music very much in my race prep. I just go out there and ski the course and stay relaxed.”

    Senior Women’s A-final

    1. Dasha Gaiazova (Canadian World Cup Team)
    2. Perianne Jones (WCT)
    3. Alysson Marshall (AWCA/NST)
    4. Erin Tribe (NDC Thunder Bay)
    5. Amanda Ammar (Team Ninja)
    6. Heidi Widmer (AWCA/NST)

    Senior Men

    Knute Johnsgaard (Yukon Elite Squad) leads Graham Nishikawa and Patrick Stewart-Jones in the A-final of the men's 1.6 k freestyle sprint at Canadian Nationals on Thursday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
    Knute Johnsgaard (Yukon Elite Squad) leads Graham Nishikawa (second from r) and Patrick Stewart-Jones (in black) in the A-final of the men’s 1.6 k freestyle sprint at Canadian Nationals on Thursday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

    After qualifying in fourth in the men’s 1.6 k prelim, Graham Nishikawa made it through to the semifinals as lucky loser out of the quarterfinal heats.

    Having just returned from Sochi, Russia, where he helped guide Paralympian Brian McKeever to three gold medals, Nishikawa overcame jet lag and advanced out of the semi to the final, where he notched his first senior national title. The podium was rounded out by Knute Johnsgaard of the Yukon Elite Squad in second, and Patrick Stewart-Jones (AWCA/NST) in third, both U23 skiers.

    Graham Nishikawa (1st)

    1. How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats?

    “I really didn’t feel ready to go in the quarters, fighting jet lag, and I came in fourth in that heat. I was walking back to the car to get the keys and found out I made lucky loser.  … In the semi and the final I just went right to the front each time since there wasn’t much space to pass on the course.”

    2. Did your recent trip back from Europe effect you much today? 

    “I got in at 2:20 a.m. the day of the 15k [on Tuesday]. I wasn’t as worried racing right off the flight but today, two days later, I thought it’d be tough. I just went out there to have fun today and enjoy the racing.”

    3. Is this your first national sprint title? How many titles do you currently have to your name? 

    “I’ve got a number of junior titles but this is actually my first senior national title. I have a lot of silver and bronze medals at home.”

    Senior Men’s A-final

    1. Graham Nishikawa (AWCA/NST/Para-Nordic Ski Team)
    2. Knute Johnsgaard (YES)
    3. Patrick Stewart-Jones (AWCA/NST)
    4. Raphaël Couturier (CNEPH/NST)
    5. Kevin Sandau (AWCA/NST)
    6. Andy Shields (NDC Thunder Bay)

    Junior Women

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok) pulls away from the pack in the junior women's A-final on Thursday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. She went on to win the freestyle sprint for her third national title.
    Katherine Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok) pulls away from the pack in the junior women’s A-final on Thursday in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. She went on to win the freestyle sprint for her third national title.

    The junior women’s heats were quite the battle. With not much room to pass on the 1.4 k course and a particularly technical downhill at the end, many skiers ran into trouble getting tripped up or boxed in.

    Jennifer Jackson, of NDC Thunder Bay and the National Junior Team (NST), won the qualifier, and Sophie Carrier-Laforte, of the Quebec Ski Team, who qualified second, moved up through the quarterfinals and both won their  semifinals.

    However, Katherine Stewart-Jones (AWCA/NST) was the one who avoided trouble and pushed the pace in the A-final, taking the lead on a tricky downhill corner to cross the line with a comfortable lead ahead of second.

    Katherine Stewart-Jones (1st)

    1. How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats?

    “In the quarter and semifinals I took the lead for a lot of the race but I found people were catching me on the downhills. In the final I made my move later on, moving into the lead on the last downhill corner.”

    2. At what point in the race did you know you had the win?

    “I was pretty sure I had it when I moved into first on the last downhill, as long as I managed to stay on my feet.”

    3. How many national titles do you now have to your name?

    “I’ve won three titles, not including a couple where I came second to a Norwegian at [2012] Quebec Nationals. This is my first sprint title!”

    Junior Women’s A-final

    1. Katherine Stewart-Jones (AWCA/NST)
    2. Maya Macisaac-Jones (CNEPH/NST)
    3. Dahria Beatty (AWCA/NST)
    4. Anne-Marie Comeau (CNEPH/NST)
    5. Jennifer Jackson (NDC Thunder Bay/NST)
    6. Sophie Carrier-Laforte (QCST)

    Junior Men

    Colin Foley (front) duels Evan to the finish. Charrette won for his first title of the week at Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
    Colin Foley (r) duels Evan Palmer-Charrette to the finish of Thursday’s skate sprint. Palmer-Charrette won the A-final for his first title of the week at Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

    NDC Thunder Bay continued its dominance of the junior men’s category. Instead of Scott Hill, who’s already won two individual races this week, taking gold in the sprint, Evan Palmer-Charrette — the 15 k skate runner-up — notched another gold for Thunder Bay in the 1.6 k sprint. Colin Foley of the Callaghan Valley Training Centre took second, after winning both his quarter and semifinals, and Hill placed third.

    Since we spoke to Palmer-Charrette after Tuesday’s race and Hill on Sunday, here are some comments from Thursday’s runner-up Colin Foley.

    Colin Foley (2nd)

    1. How did the race play out for you from a tactical perspective? Did your race plan change very much through the heats?

    “In the quarterfinal I wanted to conserve my energy so I didn’t lead any of it except for the final stretch. In the semi’s I wanted to make it to the final without risking anything and I was feeling good so I lead off the start and took it fast all the way around. The final I really just tried to make sure I was in the top three coming to the steep climb about halfway through the course. After that it was just about giving everything I had left.”

    2. Is this your first national sprint podium? How many podiums do you currently have to your name?

    “Before this nationals I only had one podium, it came last year with a silver in the 10 k skate. So yes this is my first podium in the sprint. In the past my distance skiing has been much better so I’m very happy to get on a sprint podium.”

    3. Do you have a favourite song to get you in the mood on race day?

    “I don’t like to listen to music very close to my race, but I’ll often listen to it if I have a long time until I start. In that case it would definitely consist of some of The Black Keys.”

    Junior Men’s A-final

    1. Evan Palmer-Charrette (NDC Thunder Bay/NST)
    2. Colin Foley (CVTC)
    3. Scott Hill (NDC Thunder Bay/NST)
    4. Nicholas Pigeon (Skinouk)
    5. Gavin Shields (Lappe)
    6. Angus Foster (Big Thunder)

     Complete results

    Junior men's freestyle-sprint podium at 2014 Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. (Photo: Cross Country Canada)
    Junior men’s freestyle-sprint podium at 2014 Canadian Nationals in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. (Photo: Cross Country Canada)

    ***

    About the Author: A Canadian cross-country ski racer with the Alberta World Cup Academy, Zeke spends most of his time in Canmore, Alberta, but calls Cantley, Quebec, his home. He thinks that you can learn a lot about a person from their goals — his is to ski really fast on the Winter Olympic race course in 2018. Unfortunately he is not competing at 2014 Canadian Nationals on account of an injury. Check out his blog: zekewilliams1.blogspot.ca.