US Cross Country Championships
Classic Sprint
Laura Valaas's streak of sprint victories finally came to an end today at the US Cross Country Championships. But it took the woman with the best Olympic and World Cup finishes in US history to do it. Kikkan Randall (APU) earned her first US title of the year by beating Valaas (CXC) to the line in the women's A-Final. It was the first time the two women have faced each other this year in a sprint race, and it was a highly anticipated match-up after they finished 1-2 in the prelims and each won all of their heats while advancing to the final. In the A-Final, Lindsey Weier (NMU) finished third, while Jennie Bender (Vermont), Rosie Brennan (Park City) and Karin Camenisch rounded out the A-Final. Randall finally reached the top of the podium after two second place finishes this week.
 finished fifth in the A-Final, while Steve Scott was sixth. The USST quartet were never beaten by any non-USST skiers on their march to the A-Final. The USST guys won all of their heats, except when they went head-to-head against each other.</p>
<p><center><img decoding=)
