From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
2019 Lahti, Finland’s World Cup classic team sprint podium. From left to right, Norway I in second, Sweden I in first, and Sweden II in third. (Photo: @fiscrosscountry Instagram screenshot)
FIS World Cup Lahti, Finland Classic Team Sprint
Sunday in Lahti, Finland the women raced a 6 x 1.4-kilometer classic team sprint. U.S. fans saw their hopes for a podium snuffed out in the two semi-finals that determined the 10 teams advancing to the finals.
In the first team sprint semi, the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell placed sixth overall and did not advance. Sargent and Caldwell, constituting team USA I, were 10.78 seconds off the winning time of Sweden II’s Evelina Settlin and Hannah Falk, who won the first semifinal in 18:36.74 minutes.
In the second semi, USA II’s Kelsey Phinney (SMS T2) and Julia Kern (USST D-Team) raced to seventh (+1:06.32). Norway I’s Tiril Udnes Weng and Maiken Caspersen Falla marked the fastest time of 18:31.09 minutes.
In the women’s final, Sweden I’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Maja Dahlqvist won in 18:24.96 minutes. Weng and Falla took second (+1.84), Sweden II’s Settlin and Falk placed third (+3.55).
2019 Lahti, Finland’s World Cup classic team sprint podium. From left to right, Norway II in second, Norway I in first, and Finland I in third. (Photo: fis-ski.com screenshot)
The men raced a 6 x 1.6 k classic team sprint in Lahti. Both U.S. teams entered raced in the second semi with neither placing well enough to advance. The second semi was won by Russia I’s Artem Maltsev and Gleb Retivykh in 19:31.22 minutes.
In that semi-final, USA II’s Kevin Bolger and Logan Hanneman placed sixth (+6.60), USA I’s Simi Hamilton and Erik Bjornsen were seventh (+16.05).
USA II placed 12th overall, USA I 14th in the final standings.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Emil Iversen of Norway won the first semi in 19:22.32 minutes.
Norway I’s tandem won the final in 18:57.19 followed closely by Norway II’s Sindre Bjørnestad Skar and Eirik Brandsdal in second (+0.65). It was a photo finish for second and third, as Finland I’s Iivo Niskanen and Ristomatti Hakola finished 0.71 seconds back to take the third podium spot.
Western Canadian Championships, Telemark, Kelowna B.C., Relays
Westerns wrapped up with club relays on a day where the thermometer flirted with cancellation before rising to -17C at 9am (that is 2 Fahrenheit, for residents of Liberia, Myanmar, and the USA).
The relay event is intended to help build club spirit in a less competitive environment. In practice, many skiers just find two friends they want to ski with. Despite the cold, 105 teams competed today.
In the open men category, the ‘BC Lost Boys’ team won easily, with Rémi Drolet, Gareth Williams, and Julien Locke finishing the 15km in 38:00.9. Drolet and Locke are teammates at Black Jack while Williams is a Telemark local. All three are national team members.
Julien Locke leads Rémi Drolet and Sam Hendry in Saturday’s mass start classic. The relay used the same 5km loop. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
‘Alberta 1’ placed second, at 1:47.1 back, with Thomas Manktelow (), Michael MacIsaac-Jones (AWCA), and Sam Hendry (Team R.A.D.) ‘BC Power, Speed, and Grace’ was third, with Tallon Noble (Strathcona), Michael Murdoch (Whistler), and Ian Williams (Telemark) at 2:26.8.
The open women used the same 5km loop as the men (and the same as on Saturday). ‘BC Supernovas’ won in 47:25.7, with BC team members Paige Latta (Sovereign Lake), Elizabeth Elliot (AWCA), and Benita Peiffer (Whistler). ‘BC Avalanche’ took second at 1:33.4 with Katie Weaver (RMR), Gina Cinelli (Revelstoke), and Beth Granstrom (AWCA). ‘Just the Ladies – No Nick’ was just 3.5 seconds behind 2nd place with Claire Grall-Johnson (AWCA), Amanda Thompson (AWCA), and Hannah Jirousek (AWCA) representing Yukon/Ontario.
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
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).
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.
Evan Palmer-Charrette (41) leads the elite men’s 11.25 k mass start at the Canada 150 Rollerski Race on Saturday, July 1, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Right behind him, Brian Gregg (44) and Angus Foster (46) follow. (Photo: Christian Hollmann)
Editor’s note: Evan Palmer-Charrette, a 23-year-old member of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, agreed to write a recap of the inaugural Canada 150 Rollerski Race, the first Cross Country Canada (CCC) sanctioned rollerski race in Thunder Bay, Ontario, well before he won the race. By no fault of his own, Palmer-Charrette ended up being both the author of and a subject in the following article, and his teammate Annika Richardson provided a post-race video interview with him. Richardson finished second in the women’s race.
***
THUNDER BAY, Ontario — On Canada Day this past Saturday, July 1, a historic holiday for Canada as a nation, NTDC Thunder Bay in conjunction with the Lakehead Superior Nordic Association, Big Thunder Nordic Ski Club and Lappe Nordic, made history of its own, hosting a Cross Country Canada (CCC) sanctioned rollerski for the first time in downtown Thunder Bay. It was the second time a sanctioned (tier-two, non-FIS) rollerski race had been held in Canada, following last year’s Challenge Volvo 2016 in Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, Quebec.
Sadie White racing in the Canada 150 Rollerski Race on July 1 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Kevin Schlyter)
Saturday’s event, dubbed the Canada 150 Rollerski Race, drew more than 40 of Canada’s top development skiers and Americans Caitlin and Brian Gregg to showcase rollerski racing as part of the city’s Canada Day festivities. The day began with both men and women racing 1.5-kilometer time-trial sprint qualifiers on a two-lap, 750-meter course.
Evan Palmer-Charrette qualified first in a time of 3:03.71 minutes, followed by Julian Smith in second (+3.64) and Jack Carlyle in third (+5.05).
In the women’s qualifier, Caitlin Gregg won the qualifier by more than nine seconds in 3:28.21. Annika Richardson was second overall (+9.35) and top Canadian qualifier, followed by Sadie White in third (+11.51).
The forecast for the day called for thunderstorms, and while some rain led into the qualifier, the sun came out for most of the distance races. All of the women raced together over a 9 k distance, whereas the men were broken up into four groups racing either 4.5, 6, 9, or 11.25 k based on their qualifier results. The distance races were held on the same course as the sprint, which circled a city block and included an out-and-back for an additional climb and descent.
The elite races offered cash prizes for the top five men and women ($500, $300, $200, $75, and $25, respectively), as well as the top three in the men’s and women’s qualifier ($150, $100 and $50, respectively). Each race featured three primes scattered throughout the course, which rewarded the first to reach them with cash ($100 at the second prime) and prizes from local businesses.
Mia Serratore (35) leads Caitlin Gregg (31), Annika Richardson (32), Katherine Stewart-Jones (34), and others in the women’s 9 k “Canada 150 Rollerski Race”, the first-ever sanctioned rollerski race held July 1 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Anna Buske)
Given her qualifying result and impressive resume, Gregg established herself as the race favorite for the women’s 9 k race. The first prime was on Lap 4, which was when Gregg made her move and broke away from the field, which gave her a sizable gap for the remainder of the race. She won in 23:25.9, more than a minute ahead of anyone else.
“I’ve been working on my starts so I try to get out fast, which was a lot of fun when you have a big pack like that in a mass start,” Gregg explained. “And then I just tried to relax for the first couple of laps. … I felt strong and was able to push through the whole race, which was nice for having a race effort this time of year.”
After Gregg’s move dismantled the pack, Richardson raced to second (+1:01.1) as the top Canadian finisher.
“After attempting to bridge it [the gap] with Sadie, it was all about skiing smoothly and holding second until the end,” she said.
Canadian national-team member Katherine Stewart-Jones rounded out the podium in third (+1:56.9). Only four women finished the race, with White placing fourth (+2:07.7).
Michael Somppi leads Brian Gregg (second from l) and Evan Palmer-Charrette (second from r) during the “Canada 150” downtown rollerski race, the first-ever CCC-sanctioned rollerski race in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on July 1. (Photo: Kevin Schlyter)
The elite men’s 11.25 k race played out quite differently with 10 of the 13 starters finishing within 17 seconds of one another. Yet similarly to the women’s race, the pace picked up going onto the fourth lap with a prime and a prize on the line. Angus Foster outsprinted teammate and fellow Thunder Bay native Palmer-Charrette to take the first prime and a prize to go along with it.
After Brian Gregg was first to the second prime, Michael Somppi took the third and final prime on the 12th of 15 laps and made a decisive move to try and break away from the pack. However, with just over two laps to go, Palmer-Charrette reeled him back in and finished first in 25:20.2. Gregg followed just 0.2 seconds later for second overall and Carlyle crossed 0.3 seconds later for third place. Less than 4 seconds out of first, Somppi finished sixth (+3.8), behind Dominique Moncion-Groulx in fourth (+1.7) and Andy Shields in fifth (+2.0).
The men’s 6 k race was hit by the worst weather of the day, as a looming storm cloud opened up during it. Thomas Manktelow of the Albert World Cup Academy (AWCA) won the first prime and went on to win the race as well.
Thomas Manktelow (l) and Levi Nadlersmith (r) racing to first and second, respectively, in the men’s 6 k race at the Canada 150 Rollerski Race in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Kevin Schlyter)
“I was a little worried about some of the corners in the wet, but managed to get away without any crashes,” Manktelow said. “The mass start was super-fun and went pretty well, and the entire event was well-run.”
Larkin Wasmuth won the men’s 9 k race and Aleksi Luoma topped the men’ 4.5 k.
The field was quite strong with the likes of 2014 U.S. Olympian Brian Gregg and several athletes from national training centres across Canada.
“It was so much fun to compete in a sanctioned roller ski race in North America,” Gregg wrote in an email. “NTDC and Thunder Bay did a fantastic job running the event especially with the added challenge of a few rain showers throughout the day. I can’t wait for the next rollerski race, the Canada 150 race has set the bar high.”
Evan Palmer-Charrtee (41) holds off Brian Gregg (44) and others, including Dominique Moncion-Groulx (53) and Andy Shields (49), for first place in the elite men’s 11.25 k “Canada 150 Rollerski Race” on July 1 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Kevin Schlyter)
Graeme Killick (r) and Andy Shields (l) pushing to the finish in a race for first place in the men’s 50 k freestyle mass start at Canadian Ski Nationals on Saturday in Canmore, Alberta. Killick took it by 0.22 seconds. (Photo Peggy Hung)
2017 Canadian Ski Nationals (Canmore, Alberta): 30/50 k freestyle mass start
On the final day of racing at 2017 Canadian Ski Nationals, the men’s 50-kilometre freestyle mass start came down to a two-way battle for first and the women’s 30 k win went to the champion of two other individual races this week — Emily Nishikawa — on Saturday at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Graeme Killick, of the Canadian World Cup Team, outlasted Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) by 0.22 seconds at the line to win his first national title at that distance in 1:56:40.21. Shields placed second and Michael Somppi (NTDC Thunder Bay) finished another 6.28 seconds back in third.
“I’m super happy to get a 50 k win. That’s something that’s been a big goal of mine,” Killick, 28, told FasterSkier during an in-person interview. “I didn’t feel so good coming into this week, so I’m just really happy that it worked out today.”
Last year at nationals in Whitehorse, Yukon, he finished second to teammate Alex Harvey in the 50 k classic mass start.
“I don’t think I’ve ever beaten Andy in a sprint. He’s got some speed,” Killick said on Saturday. “I knew it was my only shot. I tried attacking a couple of times and never really had the energy to go away with it, so I just decided to sit in and see what happened. Luckily, Shields had a good attack on the last climb and he pulled us away from third place. It was just between us on the finish. I wasn’t counting on myself in the sprint, for sure.”
Emily Nishikawa (Canadian World Cup Team) celebrating her decisive victory in the women’s 30 k freestyle mass start at Canadian Ski Nationals on Saturday in Canmore, Alberta. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
The defending champion from last year’s 30 k classic mass start in her hometown of Whitehorse, Nishikawa (World Cup Team) rocketed to a 47.5-second victory over retired biathlete Zina Kocher in Saturday’s 30 k skate. She crossed the finish line first in 1:21:50.2 for her third victory in as many races she’s competed in at this year’s nationals.
“I had three good races this week,” Nishikawa, 27, told FasterSkier. “It was a tough end to the season, but nice to finish on a positive note here. It is incredible to win all three.”
According to a Cross Country Canada (CCC) press release, Nishikawa controlled the pace throughout Saturday’s race with Kocher before accelerating over the last three kilometres.
“Zina was really strong and we were taking turns leading and pushing each other,” Nishikawa said. “Canmore is one of the toughest places to race. The hills are relentless and it suits my skiing. I attacked on the wall of the last lap, which is the toughest part of the course. I was trying to save some energy before that. I just went for it, and didn’t look back.”
While Kocher finished 47.5 seconds back in second, Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH) followed in third (+2:29.81).
“The 30 kilometre is the hardest race all week. It is so tough,” Nishikawa said. “It is such a sense of accomplishment just to cross the line let alone to win, so it feels amazing.”
In the junior men’s 30 k, Gareth Williams (Junior National Ski Team/Telemark Nordic) won by 1 1/2 minutes in 1:23:19.10. Philippe Boucher (Junior NST/CNEPH) placed second (+1:30.98) and Thomas Manktelow (AWCA) reached the podium in third (+3:25.44).
“It was a great experience to learn from the best in the country in Quebec,” Williams told CCC. “It is a big step to get to the next level. It will be a lot of work, but I’m willing to take it on and see how the next couple of years go. I’m really happy with the results here [in Canmore]. It was a really good week.”
Annika Richardson (Junior NST/NTDC Thunder Bay) racked up her second-straight title of the week, after winning Wednesday’s junior sprint, with the women’s 20 k skate victory in 1:04:36.92 on Saturday. Richardson finished 52.09 seconds ahead of her NTDC teammate Lisle Compton in second, and Zoë Williams (Junior NST/Nakkertok) placed third (+1:12.45).
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