The season may be over, but there were a few musings left floating around after last week’s 30/50 k National Championship that never made it into our original reports. Presenting the last edition of notes and quotes ‘til November, for the die-hard race junkies.
Through the slow California conditions and ski exchanges, Kris Freeman battled Andy Newell and Einar Ulsund for the national title in the 50 k classic for over two hours on the last day at spring series. Freeman pulled away in the last 5 k to beat Newell by almost a minute and finish off his season with a win.
When it comes to 50 k's, not many skiers in the U.S. can match Kris Freeman when he's on form. The 32-year-old claimed his third consecutive U.S. distance title on Thursday, beating a tenacious Andy Newell and Einar Ulsund in the last lap of a warm, sloppy 50 k mass start classic at Royal Gorge.
Liz Stephen put on another show of dominance in the women's 30 k classic at Royal Gorge XC for U.S. Distance National Championships, winning the race by over a minute. Kikkan Randall claimed silver and Rosie Brennan took third a minute after that. Our footage from the race.
Liz Stephen didn't want to change skis, and completing the first of three laps first, she didn't have to. The 26-year-old U.S. Ski Team member proceeded to call the shots in a slow-and-slushy 30 k classic mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals, skipping both pit stops to win by more than a minute.
After heaving themselves up Mt. Disney at Sugar Bowl Resort, several of top finishers were pretty animated about the 6 k hill climb on the last day of SuperTour Finals. Here are some of the best quotes outside of the men’s and women’s race reports.
Watch Erik Bjornsen hold off Kris Freeman on the final climb up Sugar Bowl Resort to win SuperTour Finals on a blustery day on the mountain.
The hill climb that concluded SuperTour Finals on Monday looks even more brutal on video than it did in the photos. Liz Stephen clawed her way back from a 2-minute, 26-second deficit at the start to pass Sadie Bjornsen and then Kikkan Randall and claim both the stage win and the overall title.
Liz Stephen certainly likes her hill climbs. Starting at a 2-minute, 26-second deficit in the pursuit start of the last stage of SuperTour Finals, she obliterated the field on the 6 k course to both win the tour and post the fastest time of the day by nearly two minutes. Kikkan Randall, who started the hill climb in the lead, settled for second after skiing off the course partway through the ascent.
Erik Bjornsen thought he was done for. The 21-year-old U.S. Ski Team and APU skier had gone out too hard, too early in Monday’s 6 k freestyle hill climb before the real ascent up Sugar Bowl Resort even started. Somehow, he found at least three more gears and beat Kris Freeman to the top for his first SuperTour Finals title.
In his first domestic sprint start in two years, Andy Newell delivered the win he hoped for in the classic sprint at SuperTour Finals. Our footage of the heats.
Kikkan Randall expanded her SuperTour Finals lead on Saturday at the Auburn Ski Club, skiing to a commanding win in the stage three classic sprint. Ida Sargent took second and Sadie Bjornsen finished third. Our footage of the heats.
In their last races of the season, several top skiers had plenty to say in the first three races at SuperTour Finals. Here are some of the best quotes that didn't make it into the race reports.
Former college skiers Susan Dunklee, Annelies Cook, and Hannah Dreissigacker decided not to go straight to vacation when their World Cup biathlon season ended. Instead, they're racing SuperTour finals - for most, the first classic races and first sprints of the season. After a collection of top-ten results, it looks like a good decision, but they're also keeping things fun with an intra-team "Biathlon Cup" competition.
As the fifth-ranked sprinter in the world this year and the only guy on the World Cup to qualify for the heats in every sprint he started, Andy Newell returned to the domestic sprint scene on Saturday as the odds-on favorite. Despite a challenging wax day at SuperTour Finals, he delivered the win he'd hoped for, besting Pat O'Brien and Erik Bjornsen in second and third, respectively.
Ida Sargent made herself a favorite in Saturday's classic sprint, her last race of SuperTour Finals, putting it all on the line and giving Kikkan Randall someone to chase. Randall prevailed and extended her lead over Sadie Bjornsen, who was third.
Kris Freeman took an early lead and ran with it in the 15 k mass start classic on Saturday at SuperTour Finals, schooling the field by 47 seconds. Our footage from the race.
Kikkan Randall (Alaska Pacific University/U.S. Ski Team) continued to tear around the trails at SuperTour Finals during a sunny 10 k mass start classic, giving herself a nice lead halfway through the race series.
There's something about SuperTour Finals that seems to agree with Kris Freeman. The veteran skier looked more like his usual self on Friday in the 15 k mass start classic — he gapped the field early and won the race by 47 seconds. Erik Bjornsen took second, beating Andy Newell in third by less than two seconds. Freeman now leads the tour by 12.2 seconds with the conclusion of two stages.
Kikkan Randall dropped the field without even knowing it in Friday's 10 k classic mass start to win the second-straight race of SuperTour Finals. Sadie Bjornsen capitalized on some crashes to seal second, and Liz Stephen hung tough for third.