Unlike most of the SuperTour field that likely crashed and burned after the last day of the U.S. domestic season in Anchorage, APU's Lex Treinen packed up the hot tub and headed to Homer for the three-part Ski to Sea race last Sunday. Treinen won it, and his brother placed second.
Aku Nikander was somewhat an unknown in the men’s 50-kilometer classic mass start on Friday at U.S. Distance Nationals. As far as Noah Hoffman was concerned, he was the guy that stood between him and a shot at his second individual victory of 2014 Spring Series.
The 4 x 5 k relay made its way back into U.S. nationals for the first time in about 16 years, but with a new twist of two men and two women per team. APU showed its strength and depth early on, and its winning anchor, Kikkan Randall said she's hoping the format makes it into the World Cup. She's not alone.
A questionable lane change fewer than 100 meters before the finish left jury members to decide whether or not Andy Newell's move in front of Reese Hanneman warranted a penalty in the men's classic sprint final at SuperTour Finals on Sunday -- thus relegating him from first to last. Hanneman ultimately won and Newell was demoted to sixth.
Noah Hoffman knew he had to shake UVM senior Scott Patterson with every ounce of energy he had in Saturday's three-lap 15 k skate at SuperTour Finals. By the end of the second lap, Hoffman had built a nearly 5-second lead and extended it to 11 seconds through the finish.
Kikkan Randall was the woman to beat on Saturday, and she lived up to the billing by winning the 10 k freestyle individual start -- the first race of SuperTour Finals -- by 2.2 seconds over Liz Stephen. An early leader, Caitlin Gregg notched third, 20.9 seconds back.
On a sunny afternoon in Kincaid Park, several World Cup skiers, including three Olympians and three Alaska Pacific University members, took the time to chat on camera between training and testing on Friday.
FasterSkier is on-site at the SuperTour Finals and U.S. Distance Nationals in Anchorage, Alaska, and teaming up with the Anchorage Daily News to bring you images and reports from the events, which start Saturday with the freestyle individual starts at Kincaid Park. Here's the ADN preview.