![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/03/IMG_6191_2.jpg" "Andy Newell")
Andy Newell set a new American mark by finishing 4th in the FIS Sprint Cup standings, just 34 points behind Alexei Petukhov (RUS) in 3rd, and a single point ahead of Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR), the two-time defending Sprint Cup champions.
Newell entered the final sprint of the season with a chance to move up as high as second, but he was unable to advance past the quarterfinals and was defeated by both Petukhov and Petter Northug, the two men within reach ahead of him.
4th place is still a US best finish in the Sprint Cup, besting Newell’s own 6th place finish in 2007. His 314 sprint World Cup points is also a new mark, easily topping the 222 he scored in 2006 when he was 8th overall.
Newell also finished the season ranked 19th in the overall World Cup standings, the best US ranking since Bill Koch in 1983.
He finished the season with 7 top-10 finishes and 11 in the top-30. In addition to his sprinting, Newell took a major step forward in his distance racing, starting eight individual distance races and two relays.
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/03/IMG_6192_2.jpg" "Hardware")
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/03/IMG_6186_2.jpg" "On the podium")
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/03/IMG_6193_2.jpg" "A team accomplishment.")
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2010/03/IMG_6188_2.jpg" "Emil Joensson (SWE), Petter Northug (NOR) - 1 and 2 in the Sprint Cup. Alexei Petulhov (RUS) is missing. Newell is to the right of the podium.")
Topher Sabot
Topher Sabot is the editor of FasterSkier.
5 comments
Patrick Stinson
March 22, 2010 at 1:37 pm
That is so awesome, Andy. Way to go!
Mike Gibbs
March 22, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Rock ‘n’ roll, Andy.
teamepokeedsbyn
March 22, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Good sprint season.
Lets hope we can parley these top results by KF, KR and AN into consitent top 20’s in the men’s and women’s ski events over 5km next year! Looks like Kiki and Andrew are poised to break into the level of being a threat on any day in any race at any distance. Keep up the good progress, and go for the WC podiums in the 15km next year!
xcskier.borg
March 22, 2010 at 8:22 pm
way to get it done… looking forward to next season.
nyctvt
March 23, 2010 at 4:29 pm
It would be great if Andy and Kris both focused on sprints and 10/15K races. Would make a great one two punch and both would probably be very successful next season.