Six North-American skiers in the FIS Cross-Country Sprint Red Group

FasterSkierDecember 12, 2005

Six North-American skiers in the FIS Cross-Country Sprint Red Group for the next calendar period!

Based on the excellent North American results from the World Cup Sprint races at Sovereign Lakes in Vernon, BC this past weekend, three Canadian Women and three US Men are now in the top 30 Sprint Cup standing (previously called the Red Group) for the upcoming Period II of the FIS Cross-Country calendar (Dec 30 – Jan 22).

Men's Sprint Cup Standing:
19. Andrew Newell
22. Chris Cook
25. Torin Koos

Women's Sprint Cup Standing:
3. Beckie Scott
9. Sara Renner
17. Chandra Crawford

This means a lot to both US and Canada in terms of financial support on the FIS World Cup circuit – support for travel and also free accommodation for these skiers for the January World Cup races in Nove Mesto, Otepaa and Oberstorf during the month of January.

Before the FIS World Cup Distance races in Canmore, Alberta this coming weekend – Interval start skate 10 (women) & 15 km (men), Mass-start classic 15 (women) & 30 km (men) – Beckie Scott is ranked number 7, Sara Renner number 15 in the overall women's FIS World Cup standing, and Carl Swenson number 30 in the men's overall FIS World Cup standing.

This is unprecedented for North-American skiers since the early 1980's, and a great step forward for North-American status in the FIS World Cup.

Sovereign Lake Nordic Club and Cross Country Canada put on a great show and event this past Saturday and Sunday. The early season consistent snow conditions at Sovereign Lake showed the participating European teams and the live-TV World Cup audience in Europe that this continent is able to host early-season events as well as provide for great training conditions. All the participating teams were praising the organizers and the snow-conditions, which provided for great skiing and training at 1600 – 1700 meter altitude.

Up to 4000 spectators surrounded the stadium and courses for the events at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, and FIS – the International Ski Federation – was very pleased with the atmosphere and level of organization of the events.

Next weekend's events at the Canmore Nordic Centre – on the re-aligned and new competition trails at the 1988 Olympic venue – will give Cross Country Canada, the Government of Alberta and the Foothill & Canmore Nordic Clubs an opportunity to continue to showcase the sport of Cross-Country. Canadian TV stations (including CBC) will show 8 hours of television time from these two weekends' events, and the success of the local Canmore heroes Beckie Scott and Sara Renner will hopefully also continue this upcoming Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at the home of the Canadian National Cross Country team.

FasterSkier

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