Telemark SuperTour: Naryshkina Pounds Out Another Sprint Win

Natasha Naryshkina continued to dominate the Mid-west SuperTour circuit with a win in today's classic sprint race at the Telemark resort in Cable, Wisconsin. Telemark is famous for being the start of the North America's largest annual ski race, the American Birkebeiner. But today it was pure power that mattered in a much faster race.

Competition in the women's race was significantly less than in the men's, with only 11 women racing, however there were plenty of top skiers present. Naryshkina led the individual qualifying round with a time of 2:51 on a longer, hilly course that favored all-around distance skiers more than most sprint courses.

The top 8 from the qualifying round went straight into semifinals. The four to advance to the A-Final were Naryshkina, Erin Hood of Anchorage's APUNSC, Canadian racer Shayla Swanson of x-c.com, and FSx racer Kate Whitcomb of the Maine Winter Sports Center.

All four skiers stayed close for most of the way around the loop, but it was Naryshkina who got out front early on and stayed there, pounding out an intense diagonal stride up both major climbs and a fierce double pole into the finish. Erin Hood was the closest to Naryshkina, pushing from behind on both hills and holding off Shayla Swanson all the way to the finish.