Sunday Rundown: PyeongChang, Soldier Hollow & Eastern Canadian Champs (Updated x3)

FIS Nordic Junior World Championships (Midway, Utah): Junior relays

Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katharine Ogden on the podium. That’s right. Two days after Ogden became the first American to earn an individual medal at Junior World Championships, those four U.S. junior women listed above did the same, placing third in the 4 x 3.3-kilometer relay on the last day of 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.

The team credited their lucky socks, similar to the red-white-and-blue striped socks the U.S. women’s World Cup team wears for relays and team events.

“We gave everything we got,” Kern said in a televised post-race interview.

“It’s the dream,” Ogden said.

In fourth at the last exchange, Ogden anchored the team to third, 25.8 seconds behind Russia, which won in 34:45.3 minutes with Polina Nekrasova, Lidia Durkina, Anna Zherebyateva, and Mariya Istomina.

Italy placed second (+20.6) with Martina Bellini, Anna Comarella, Francesca Franchi, and Christina Pittin.

Canada finished 12th (+4:41.3) with Natalie Hynes, Lisle Compton, India McIsaac, and Annika Richardson.

[UPDATED] In the junior men’s 4 x 5 k relay that followed, Norway’s Thomas Helland Larsen outlasted Russia’s Vladislav Vechkanov by 0.4 seconds for the team win in 49:36.1.

Norway’s gold-medal team included Herman Martens Meyer, Jon Rolf Skamo Hope, Harald Østberg Amundsen, and Larsen, while Russia took silver with Egor Kazarinov, Kirill Kilivnyuk, Yaroslav Rybochkin, and Vechkanov.

France rounded out the podium in third (+1:05), with Martin Collet, Camille Laude, Hugo Lapels, and Arnaud Chautemps.

The U.S. finished ninth (+4:28.8) with Bill Harmeyer, Kam Husain, Wyatt Gebhardt, and Hunter Wonders, and Canada followed in 10th (+5:21.6) with Antoine Blais, Ryan Jackson, Philippe Boucher, and Gareth Williams. Twelve teams finished the men’s relay, the final race of 2017 Junior World Championships.

Results: Women | Men

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FIS Cross-Country World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Freestyle team sprint

The U.S. women had one team on the podium and one just 0.35 seconds off of it on Sunday in the World Cup 6 x 1.4-kilometer freestyle team sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea.

USA I, with Sophie Caldwell and Ida Sargent, skied in third for most of the race and ultimately finished third, 6.11 seconds behind Sweden’s Elin Mohlin and Maria Nordström in first (in 20:37.11 minutes). Norway took second, 1.71 seconds back, with Anna Svensen and Silje Øyre Slind, while USA I edged USA II, with Caitlin Patterson and Liz Stephen for third. Patterson and Stephen ended up fourth (+6.46), ahead of Slovenia’s Katja Visnar and Anamarija Lampic in fifth (+14.46).

Fifteen women’s teams competed on Sunday, with 10 of them reaching the final. Canada placed 14th overall with Annika Hicks and Sadie White.

In the men’s 6 x 1.5 k freestyle team sprint, Russia’s Gleb Retivykh picked up his second win in in PyeongChang, after winning Friday’s classic sprint. He teamed up with Andrey Parfenov for the victory in 19:34.11, beating France (Baptiste Gros/Lucas Chanavat) by 0.03 seconds in a photo finish.

Russia had two teams on the podium with Russia II’s Artem Maltsev and Nikita Kriukov in third (+5.52). Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton (USA I) fell off the leaders’ pace to finish fourth (+24.23), 18.71 seconds off the podium.

USA II, with Scott Patterson and Matt Gelso, finished ninth (+54.85) in the final, and Canada’s Jess Cockney and Len Valjas placed 13th of 14 teams.

Results: Women | Men 

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NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships (Cantley, Quebec): 15/20 k freestyle pursuits

The NorAm mini tour at the Nakkertok Nordic Centre wrapped up with freestyle pursuits.

In the men’s 20 k, AWCA’s Russell Kennedy posted the fastest time of 53:42.68 to move up from third to take the overall victory in 1:33.22.  Lappe Nordic’s Andy Shields started first but couldn’t hold off Kennedy, finishing 36 seconds behind with a 6th best time, 1:01.46 slower. AWCA’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx wrapped up a strong weekend with the fourth best time of day, 37.92 back, to take third overall, 58.53 behind Kennedy.

SMS Elite’s Anne Hart won the women’s 15 k pursuit in dominant style, starting first and winning time of day in 47:36.10 for an overall time of 1:17:39. AWCA’s Maya MacIsaac-Jones started third and finished second with the second best time of day, 31.36 seconds back for a combined deficit of 51.39 seconds. CNEPH’s Sophie Carrier-Laforte started second and ended third, 2:14.81 down after a sixth best time of day 2:05.47 back.

Results: Pursuit | Full Weekend