Still craving more of the World Cup? Here are some comments from a few of the U.S. skiers who closed their international-racing seasons at World Cup Finals last Sunday in Falun, Sweden:
![Kikkan Randall with her third consecutive Sprint World Cup Crystal Globe. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Randall120314mf002.jpg")
On finishing out the World Cup season:
“The race … was a great opportunity for me. I have had a number of races on the World Cup this season but only one other race has been a distance skate and that came only days after a long slow Birkie and flying across the Atlantic. I felt recovered, adjusted to the time and ready to ski hard. Despite only having a few distance skate races I have stayed positive with every opportunity to race and I feel like I have learned an incredible amount going into this next training season, especially for my classic skiing.” — Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/Madshus), 37th in 10 k freestyle pursuit, with the 25th-fastest time
“I felt like my energy was good. I think maybe I have lost a bit of fitness over the last couple of weeks for sure, but it is what it is, I am glad it is over. I’m excited for a training year to revamp, because I need it at the moment.” — Noah Hoffman (U.S. Ski Team), 21st in 15 k freestyle pursuit, with 29th-ranked time
“Starting in the wave with some of the world’s fastest guys, my goal was to go out hard, hang with them, and go like that until I blew up. I wanted to ski as aggressively as possible, which in distance skate races can sometimes be hard for me to do. I did just that. Something about that aggressive mentality switched me into some of the best skating of my life. I felt calm and collected, and like my technique was decent, even while hammering very hard and going pretty fast. I got a split or two saying I was right around 30th for time on day, which would be absolutely insane for me to be in the ballpark of scoring World Cup distance points in a skate race.” — Reese Hanneman (Alaska Pacific University), 37th in final pursuit with 34th-fastest time
![Canada's Alex Harvey started first and finished second in the men's 15 k freestyle pursuit at World Cup Finals for a career-best third overall in the World Cup. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/Group160314mf116.jpg")
“10 k skates tend to be the race I dread the most, but [Sunday] wasn’t disastrous and I’m looking at it positively. I can’t say is was my favorite race, but I think I was able to try to follow some really good girls until I blew up and that in itself is an accomplishment for me for a skate distance race. It was really cool to see Liz, Sadie, Kik, Noah, and Alex [Harvey] have great races and that topped the weekend for me. I was beyond happy with how the classic sprint went, so moving forward I didn’t have many expectations and it was cool to see my teammates have some good performances.” — Sophie Caldwell (U.S. Ski Team), 39th in 10 k pursuit, with 37th-ranked time