Sunday's Free Technique race at Mt Itasca wrapped up a weekend of moderate weather and hot racing on perfectly groomed trails. Caitlin Compton (CXC) won her sixth Super Tour title this season in Sunday’s 10km individual start Freestyle. Compton put 10 seconds on the field in the first 2.5km and extended her lead to win by 35 seconds, with a time of 25:48.7. Yesterday’s Classic winner Kate Whitcomb (FSx) finished second in 26:23.7. Kate Underwood (Subaru) and Maria Stuber (NMU) tied for third place, both with a time of 26:50.6
Lars Flora (Subaru) continued his winning streak by topping the field in the 15km Freestyle, winning by 20 seconds with a time of 35:36.4. In a tight race for second, Marshall Greene (xcOregon) had the fastest final 2.5km lap of the day to move up in to second with a time of 35:59.4. Andre Watt (CXC) was third in 36:08.4. The next ten competitors were all within 30 seconds. With the 40 A/B seed skiers first out in 15 second intervals on a fast technical 2.5km loop with a 20 minute break in starts to the C seed, the race skied like a 15km sprint with one 40 man heat.
In the women’s collegiate division Stuber was the top collegiate racer ahead of top U23 racer Aurelia Korthauer (UAF) 27:05.9 and Anna Coulter (UAF) 27:13.8. Christina Gillis (NMU) was the top junior finishing in 28:50.4.
In the men’s collegiate race Marius Korthauer won, and also took the U23 title placing 5th overall with a time of 36:13.0. Bill Bowler (NMU) was the second collegiate skier in 37:14.4 ahead of Martin Banerud (NMU), 37:48.3. Joe Dubay (MSC) was the top junior finishing in 40:13.4. Dr Adam Swank finished in 8th place after warming up the day before by winning the 50km Pepsi Challenge at nearby Giant's Ridge in 2:11 on a slow cold snow day.
Quotes from winners:
“I went out pretty hard and tried not to let up much on the course, as more racers started the course became more congested and I knew it would be harder to ski my own race. I am looking forward to racing at Telemark because I really like the challenging venue. As a team we have put in a lot of dry land training hours at Telemark and it will be fun to get a chance to ski race there.†—Caitlin Compton
“Yesterday the game plan was to ski consistent lap times, somehow I forgot the plan today. I started a little too fast, but a win is always good. Thanks goes out to the Mt. Itasca volunteer staff for pulling off a great set of races this weekend.â€
-Lars Flora
The next stop on the Central Grand Prix SuperTour Series is the CXC SuperTour at Telemark Resort including a free Sprint on Wednesday, 5/10km interval start skate on Saturday and a 10/15km mass start classic on Sunday. Participants include SuperTour, Collegiate, Junior Olympic Qualifier Saturday, High School, Middle School, J3-J4, youth, citizen and Masters Cup skiers with anticipated starts of 450 each day. Trails currently have a solid cover for free technique with light snows predicted through the week. A solid man made 3-4km made loop is available if needed. A few rooms remain at the Race Headquarters, Telemark Resort. Registration and start lists and results available as a link off www.cxcskiing.org
For full results, including splits for the Mt. Itasca Super Tour check out www.itiming.com
Women’s Top 15
1 Y18 Compton, Caitlin Team CXC NorA 00:25:48.7
2 19 Whitcomb, Kate FSx/Sun Valley NorA 00:26:23.7
3 11 Stuber, Maria NMU SR 00:26:50.6
3 20 Underwood, Kate Subaru/Sun Valley NorA 00:26:50.6
5 27 Strandberg, Kristina Subaru Factory Team NorA 00:26:55.5
6 14 Korthauer, Aurelia Alaska Nanooks SR 00:27:05.9
7 25 Dong, Evelyn XC Oregon/ Alpina NorA 00:27:07.7
8 16 Stursova, Martina Rossignol Elite NorA 00:27:09.8
9 22 Kochen, Tami Atomic/ Northern NorA 00:27:13.6
10 28 Coulter, Anna Alaska Nanooks SR 00:27:13.8
11 21 De Yong, Nicole FSx/Sun Valley NorA 00:27:29.7
12 29 Coulter, Julia Alaska Nanooks SR 00:27:35.4
13 31 Daabach, Paula Alaska Nanooks SR 00:27:46.8
14 12 Owen, Kristina MTU SR 00:27:56.8
15 5 Bergland, Anna NMU SR 00:28:10.9
Men’s Top 15
1 Y104 Flora, Lars Subaru Factory NorA 00:35:46.4
2 107 Greene, Marshall Alpina/XC NorA 00:35:59.4
3 105 Watt, Andre TEAM CXC NorA 00:36:08.4
4 112 Kuzzy, Garrott Team CXC NorA 00:36:12.4
5 117 Korthauer, Marius Alaska Nanooks SR 00:36:13.0
6 106 Gregg, Brian Team CXC NorA 00:36:14.5
7 119 Liebsch, Matt CXC NorA 00:36:17.7
8 103 Swank, Adam fsx NorA 00:36:24.2
9 116 Easter, Justin Subaru Factory Team NorA 00:36:28.9
10 109 Violett, Zachary FSx / XC-Oregon NorA 00:36:31.7
11 118 Cook, Bryan Team CXC NorA 00:36:38.2
12 108 Giese, Chad Subaru Factory Team NorA 00:36:42.6
13 102 Walczak, Karl FSx/MTU NorA 00:37:01.4
14 114 Bowler, Bill NMU SR 37:14.4
15 115 Iverson, Mark Rossignol NorA 00:37:16.5
