Kris Freeman and Kikkan Randall are now two for two in Sprint races this year. Both skiers repeated their Fairbanks wins today in Anchorage. Today's race was a classic sprint, held at the base of Alyeska Ski Resort on man-made snow because the Anchorage trails do not have sufficient coverage yet. Thanks go out to the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage and the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center for making these races happen at all.
Freeman, not usually known for his sprint results, showed dominating form on a course that was well-suited for him. The course was basically an extremely demanding 3 minute climb followed by a screaming S-turn downhill to the finish. This was not a race for tactics or last minute kicks – it was all about hammering up the hill. Freeman showed that he can hammer up the hills better than anyone in North America, especially in classic technique. I skied with Kris on his warm-down after his victory, and he said that this course was perfectly suited for him: “I couldn't design a better sprint course for me.” Freeman's US Ski Team mates Torin Koos and Andrew Newell took second and third , while Chris Cook (Atomic) was fourth in the final.
In the women's race, Kikkan Randall (APUNSC) also dominated. Racing in front of a hometown crowd, she battled up the hill in the final alongside Karin Camenisch (Rossignol) and Wendy Wagner (Atomic). Wendy fell off the pace about halfway up, and Kikkan was able to gap Karin by the top. Burke Mtn. Academy skier Liz Stephen was fourth in the final.
Because of the long climb, most of the races lacked drama. There were a few spills on the fast and tricky downhill, including Adam Verrier in the quarterfinals. Verrier was leading Andy Newell at the time. Newell himself fell in the final, when he was solidly in third place. Newell broke a pole in his crash and had to fight to the finish line to beat out Cook who was closing in fast with his glide from the downhill.
Tomorrow's race will be a 5K/10K free technique race on a slightly extended version of the same loop. Freeman says that the guy to look out for tomorrow is Andrew Johnson. Johnson did not race today, so he is fresh. He also possesses a “very smooth” V1 stride that will be put to good use on the long hill.
Full Results and pictures coming later.
Women:
1) Kikkan Randall
2) Karen Camenisch
3) Wendy Wagner
4) Liz Stephen
5) Alison Crocker
6) Kate Pearson
6) Tazlina Mannix
8) Rachael Steer
Men:
1) Kris Freeman
2) Torin Koos
3) Andrew Newel
4) Chris Cook
5) Colin Roger
6) Justin Easter
7) Eli Enman
8) Zach Violett
Prelim Results:
Place Bib First Last Sex Class Club Time 1 2 Kikkan Randall F Senior APUNSC/APUNSC/APUNSC 04:33.3 2 3 Karin Camenisch F Senior Rossignol/BSF 04:47.1 3 7 Tazlina Mannix F OJ APUNSC/Alaska Pacifi 04:57.4 4 19 Shayla Swanson F Senior BSF 05:00.8 5 14 Alison Crocker F Senior Dartmouth 05:01.0 6 21 Liz Stephen F OJ Burke Mountain Acade 05:02.8 7 15 Kate Pearson F Senior Rossignol//Alaska Wi 05:06.3 8 26 Morgan Arritola F OJ Sun Valley 05:07.5 9 4 Erin Hood F Senior APUNSC 05:07.9 10 5 kate whitcomb F Senior MWSC / FSx 05:08.5 11 44 kelly milligan F M3 torbjorn sport//the 05:10.2 12 1 Wendy Wagner F M1 Atomic 05:10.6 13 12 Caitlin Compton F Senior Subaru Factory Team/ 05:13.1 14 9 Aubrey Smith F Senior Atomic 05:13.3 15 6 Hilary Patzer F Senior Rossignol 05:15.3 16 52 Rachel Steer F Senior AK Winter Stars//AK 05:17.4 17 18 Abigail Larson F Senior Subaru Factory Team 05:19.7 18 25 Nicole DeYong F Senior UAA 05:19.9 19 8 Laura valaas F Senior Whitman College 05:20.4 20 46 Amy Glen F J2 West/Steller/Alaska 05:22.4 21 51 Kristina Strandberg F M1 Subaru Factory Team 05:24.5 22 10 Ida Sargent F J1 Burke Mountain Acade 05:24.6 23 36 Brittany Greer F OJ UAA 05:28.5 24 37 Jaime Bronga F J2 ANR/East High/NSAA 05:31.4 25 16 Krista Rader F Senior UAA 05:32.2 26 23 Ky Eiben F J1 Service High School/ 05:32.7 27 33 Hanna Johnson F J1 alaska winter stars/ 05:33.7 28 20 Corey Coogan F Senior Alpina 05:38.1 29 48 Caitlin Patterson F J2 AWS/South Anchorage 05:40.2 30 17 Carolyn Treacy F Senior 05:41.0 31 27 Aleta Phelps F OJ Alaska Pacific Unive 05:43.0 32 28 Kristina Smith F Senior UAA Nordic Ski Team/ 05:49.2 33 30 Alice Nelson F OJ Burke Mtn. Academy/B 05:51.7 34 13 Kasandra Rice F Senior UAA 05:53.7 35 40 Rachelle Kanady F J1 AK Winter Stars / We 05:55.1 36 11 Anna McLoon F Senior Atomic/ Go!Training 05:55.2 37 49 Heidi Rogers F J2 Alaska Winter Stars/ 06:08.7 38 31 Lauren Fritz F J1 Eagle River/APUNSC 06:09.0 39 47 Alison Butler F J2 AK Winter Stars 06:09.8 40 22 Camilla Brinchmann F Senior Alpina/Madshus 06:13.1 41 45 Megan Ryan F J2 Service/Alaska Winte 06:23.8 42 50 Sarah Tegeler F J1 ERNTC 06:38.0 24 Tara Sheahan F M4 Fischer Select 29 Elizabeth Habermann F OJ University of Alaska 32 Julia Coulter F OJ University of Alaska 34 Janna Widness F J1 Alaska Winter Stars/ 35 Johanna Turunen F Senior University of Alaska 38 Tamra Kornfield F Senior University of Alaska 39 Diane Tremblay F M2 Atomic 41 Krynn Finstad F Senior University of Alaska 42 Judy Klautt F M4 43 Laurel Renkert F J1 Place Bib Name Name Sex Class Time 1 62 Torin Koos M Senior USST 03:50.8 2 72 Kris Freeman M Senior USST 03:52.8 3 61 Andrew Newell M Senior USST 03:55.7 4 63 Chris Cook M Senior Atomic//Sun Valley 03:57.2 5 80 Andrew Hunter M Senior APUNSC 03:59.9 6 85 Justin Easter M Senior Subaru Factory Team/ 04:02.7 7 91 Zachary Violett M Senior FSx 04:03.8 8 113 Brent Knight M Senior UAA 04:05.7 9 67 colin rodgers M Senior MWSC/ FSx//MWSC/ FSx 04:06.9 10 64 Chad Giese M Senior Subaru Factory Team 04:07.4 11 68 Kevin Hochtl M Senior Team Rossignol/Vail 04:08.6 12 94 Eli Enman M Senior Rossignol 04:09.0 13 81 Brayton Osgood M Senior MWSC/Alpina-Madshus 04:09.5 14 89 Adam Verrier M M2 Atomic Team/GNBC/NSA 04:10.1 15 65 Steve Scott M Senior Maine Winter Sports 04:10.4 16 95 Justin Freeman M Senior Fischer/Salomon 04:10.8 17 82 Marshall Greene M Senior Alpina/Madshus//XC O 04:12.4 18 99 Patrick Johnson M J1 Alaska Winter Stars/ 04:12.6 19 71 Colin Mahood M Senior XC-Oregon 04:13.4 20 118 Kjetil Hagtvedt Dammen M Senior UAA 04:14.0 21 70 Anders Haugen M Senior TorbjornSport/Fische 04:14.1 22 84 casey ward M Senior Alpina//Aspen Valley 04:14.5 23 66 Leif Zimmermann M Senior BSF/Alpina Racing 04:16.4 24 110 Eric Packer M J2 Alaska Winter Stars/ 04:16.8 25 101 Benjamin Sonntag M Senior UAA 04:17.6 26 97 Jackson Harris M OJ Sun Valley 04:20.2 27 116 Jens Johansson M M2 MWSC 04:21.0 28 104 Owen Hanley M Senior Team Rossignol 04:21.8 29 106 Brian Gregg M Senior UAA 04:23.0 30 103 Jan Spurkland M Senior XC Oregon//XC Oregon 04:25.4 31 124 Eric Strabel M Senior UAA 04:25.4 32 100 Paul Schauer M Senior UAA 04:27.6 33 77 Robert Whitney M Senior Subaru Factory Team 04:29.3 34 112 Zachary Wetherell M OJ Burke Mtn. Academy 04:37.0 35 119 Tyler Kornfield M J2 Service High/AK Wint 04:38.8 36 121 Benji Uffenbeck M Senior 04:40.0 37 107 Steven Buklis M J1 Alaska Winter Stars/ 04:40.5 38 88 Max Treinen M J1 West Anchorage High 04:43.5 39 79 Erik Jacobson M Senior XC Oregon/Fischer 04:43.7 40 102 Ryan McClure M Senior AK Winter Stars 04:45.2 41 98 Lex Treinen M J2 West High/AWS 04:47.2 42 115 Andrew Dougherty M J2 Alaska Winter Stars/ 04:48.0 43 96 Casey Fagerquist M Senior UAA 04:49.1 44 128 Lukas Stutzer M J1 Alaska WInter Stars/ 04:50.2 45 117 Cole Talbot M J2 AK Winter Stars/Serv 04:57.7 46 125 Chris Wood M M1 Alaska Winter Stars 05:03.3 47 127 William Ross M J1 Alaska Winter Stars/ 05:04.3 48 111 Colin Singleton M J1 ERNTC 05:06.5 49 122 Eric Ryan M J3 AWS/Goldenview/AK Wi 05:07.0 50 109 Drew Cason M OJ West High 05:09.3 51 120 Seth Downs M M2 APUNSC 05:11.5 52 150 Nick Treinen M J2 Romig Middle School/ 05:22.9 53 129 Scott Patterson M J3 Alaska Winter Stars 05:31.5 54 114 Chester Fehrmann M Senior APUNSC 05:35.2 55 123 Brian Kirchner M J1 South High/AK Winter 06:31.2 69 Andrew Johnson M Senior USST 73 David Chamberlain M M1 Atomic 74 David Stewart M Senior FSx/XC Oregon//XC Or 75 tom keefe M Senior MWSC//MWSC 76 Tim Woodbury M Senior XC Oregon/Rossignol/ 78 Mark Iverson M Senior Montana State Univer 83 Tyson Flaharty M Senior University of Alaska 86 Nate Berry M OJ Montana State Univer 87 Bart Dengel M Senior University of Alaska 90 Anders Gillis M OJ NSCF / West Valley H 92 Nathan Schultz M M1 FSx//Boulder Nordic 93 Lucas Pletcher M OJ Sun Valley 105 Marius Korthauer M Senior UAF 108 Jonas Tetlie M Senior University of Alaska
