MALLES, Italy (Feb. 24) – Simeon Hamilton (Aspen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club/Middlebury College) finished 20th Sunday in a 1K sprint in the Under-23 Cross Country World Championships. Mike Sinnott was the only other American to qualify for the heats, finishing 29 on the day after qualifying in 18th. Hamilton finished nearly 20 seconds out in his quarterfinal heat meaning that it is likely that he was involved in a crash.
Robin Bryntesson of Sweden won the men's race, followed by Cyril Miranda of France in second and Russian Nikolay Morilov in third. Morilov also reached the podium in the World Cup freestyle sprint in Canmore last month.
Just under 10 seconds separated the top 30 in the qualification round.
Karl Nygren and Tyson Flaharty finished 41st and 58th respectively.
Brent McMurtry led the Canadians, qualifying in 10th. He was knocked out in his quarterfinal and finished 26th. Teammate Jesse Winter was 44th.
Slovenian Vesna Fabjan won the women's competition, followed in second by Swede Ida Ingemarsdotter and Mari Laukkanen of Finland in third.
Perianne Jones posted an impressive 8th place finish for the Canadian women. Jones qualified with the 8th fastest time and advanced to the B-Final where she took second. She won her quarterfinal, but was involved in a crash in the semis. Her teammate Amanda Ammar also advanced to the heats, qualifying in 24th, before being knocked out in the quarterfinals and ending the day in 23rd.
Kate Brennan, also of Canada, just missed qualifying in 32nd.
No U.S. women competed.
The U-23 races continue Tuesday with a men's 15K race and women's 10K.
