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U.S. XC SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN SATURDAY IN RUMFORD
RUMFORD, Maine (Dec. 31) — Olympians and aspiring Olympians battling for national titles will be first and foremost starting Saturday at the 2004 Chevrolet U.S. Cross Country Championships at Black Mountain, but U.S. coaches also will be filling berths at the Under-23 World Championships, the World Junior Championships and an important juniors trip overseas.
A near-record field is expected as the championships return to Rumford and the Chisholm Ski Club for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in 12 seasons, U.S. Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner said. Two-time Olympian Carl Swenson (Boulder, CO), who won three more titles a year ago, will be looking to add to the eight he's won in his career.
The title events begin Saturday with classic technique races and continue until Jan. 11 with five days of racing. The schedule:
Jan. 3 (Saturday) — Classic technique: men's 30K, women's 15K
Jan. 5 (Monday) — CL: men's 10K, women's 5K
Jan. 7 (Wednesday) — Freestyle: men's 10K, women's 5K
Jan. 8 (Thursday) — FR: 1K sprints
Jan. 9 (Friday) — “Ski with the Best Day” with U.S. Ski Team athletes skiing with the public and holding an informal autograph session
Jan. 11 (Sunday) — CL: men's 50K, women's 30K
The second Under-23 World Championships will draw an international field to Soldier Hollow Feb. 11-15. In addition, coaches will select a J1 team for the annual Scandinavian Cup trip in late January to Estonia; the trip is partially underwritten by a $10,000 grant from the National Cross-Country Ski Education Foundation.
In addition, Bodensteiner said Kris Freeman (Andover, NH), who won two U.S. titles a year ago in Rumford and has posted the best U.S. cross country results since 1984, would skip the championships and return to the World Cup.
“For one thing, Kris' absence means we'll have a new 30K and 10K classic champion. Maybe his brother Justin, who was second in each race last season, will keep the title in the family,” he said. “But we all understand Kris' focus this season is success on the World Cup tour, not doing well at nationals. He's the first American ever in the Red Group [the top 30 skiers] and he's looking to move up and get on a podium [i.e., a top-3 finish] this season. We certainly wish him all the best.”
Freeman leaves Saturday to prepare for a Jan. 10 race in Estonia. The rest of the U.S. Ski Team will head to Europe for World Cup racing after the U.S. championships conclude.
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