HOUGHTON, Mich. — The nation’s best domestic racers have gathered in the snowy Upper Peninsula for the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton. Temperatures were mild on Saturday, in the mid- to upper-20s by the early afternoon, and athletes enjoyed fast, hard-packed snow before predicted snowfall and single-digit temperatures starting on Sunday.
Races kick off with Sunday’s 10/15-kilometer freestyle individual starts, and continue throughout the week with freestyle and classic sprints and 20/30 k classic mass starts.
Ben Saxton (USST/Stratton Mountain School T2)
The 5 k course features several long descents and climbs.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Chelsea Holmes (Alaska Pacific University)
Houghton received plentiful snow in the weeks leading up to the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Rosie Brennan (Alaska Pacific University)
Skiing the course
Practicing starts
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
The first of several hills on the 5 k course
College of St. Scholastica, APU, and UVM skiers out on the 5 k course.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
400 meters to go
Pre-Race Day at the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.
