Sunday Rundown: Gatineau, Hakuba & Planica

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).

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

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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

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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