Brayton Osgood (Bend, OR) and Kristina Trygstad-Saari (Bozeman, MT) skied to victory in the 5/10K classic races in the opening day of the Aspen Valley Ski Club SuperTour. The former Dartmouth College skiers each captured their first SuperTour title of the season, with Osgood winning a tight race over a competitive men’s field, while Trygstad-Saari opened up nearly a thirty second lead over a fairly spread out women’s field.
Brayton Osgood, shown here at the Classic Sprint at US Nationals. Photo courtesy of Chris Hall, Fischer Sports USA
In the men’s 10K classic race, the top seven racers all finished within one minute of one another. Osgood, racing for XC Oregon, skied to a 9-second victory (28:24.8) over fellow Dartmouth alum and current Bridger Ski Foundation athlete Glenn Randall (28:33.8) on the trails at the Aspen Valley Ski Club. Steinbock Racing’s Chris Cook was third in 28:35.7, just 1.9 seconds off Randall’s pace. Noah Hoffman placed fourth, 26 seconds back in 28:51.1, while Sun Valley’s Michael Sinnott took fifth in 29:07.7 and edged Sylvan Ellefson (29:09.1), skiing for Team HomeGrown, to sixth place. The win is Osgood’s first major victory of the season.
Kritina Trygstad-Saari racing in the Classic Sprint at US Nationals, Photo courtesy of Rob Whitney
In a relatively small women’s field, Trygstad-Saari found enough speed over the 5K course to distance herself from second place finisher Nicole DeYong. Trygstad-Saari, skiing for BSF, crossed the line in 16:05.1, 24 seconds faster than Sun Valley’s DeYong (16:29.8), while XC Oregon’s Evelyn Dong claimed the final step of the podium with a time of 17:21, good enough for third place. A tight trio of 16-year-old junior racers claimed places four through six with Durango Nordic’s Alicia Rose Pastore claiming fourth in 17:29.7, only nine seconds behind Dong. Steamboat Springs athlete Haley Piske (17:29.8) took fifth place, one tenth of a second behind Pastore, with Steamboat teammate Michaela Frias 1.6 seconds back in sixth place with a time of 17:31.4. Like Osgood, this is Trygstad-Saari’s first win of the season, as the 25-year-old improves upon her silver medal performance at the Bozeman SuperTour 10K classic in December.
The Aspen SuperTour continues Sunday with the 21K Owl Creek Chase.
This was an incredible competition. Nicole
DeYong actually had the lead at 1.5km but her opening pace was too strong and cost her the win. Trygstad-Saari was very steady and at the 8,000 feet altitude, steady wins. Congrats to Kristina for sure, great race.
The men’s event was epic. Chris Cook had the lead most of the way until Glen Randall came through on the last climb with the fastest split time at the high point of the course. However, Brayton’s skis were incredible on the descents and with a kilometer to go he had moved in front of both Randall and Cook. Very exciting racing action. Thanks to all who came to Aspen for the weekend.
One comment
Mike Trecker
February 15, 2010 at 9:45 am
This was an incredible competition. Nicole
DeYong actually had the lead at 1.5km but her opening pace was too strong and cost her the win. Trygstad-Saari was very steady and at the 8,000 feet altitude, steady wins. Congrats to Kristina for sure, great race.
The men’s event was epic. Chris Cook had the lead most of the way until Glen Randall came through on the last climb with the fastest split time at the high point of the course. However, Brayton’s skis were incredible on the descents and with a kilometer to go he had moved in front of both Randall and Cook. Very exciting racing action. Thanks to all who came to Aspen for the weekend.