Andy Newell narrowly qualified in 28th, but made it into the semifinals and finished 12th overall in the season's final World Cup sprint. Canada's Lenny Valjas just missed out the semifinals and took 14th overall. Sadie Bjornsen was the lone North American woman to qualify and finished 26th overall after racing in the fastest quarterfinal heat.
In the last classic-distance race of the season, Sadie Bjornsen placed 14th and Jessie Diggins took 17th on Sunday in the women's 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in Lahti, Finland. Erik Bjornsen led the American men in 38th.
The 2015 American Birkebeiner 51 k freestyle marathon on Saturday offered no shortage of excitement, as Italy's Segio Bonaldi outsprinted three French skiers to win his second Birkie by half a second. American Holly Brooks used a hard push in the final kilometers to collect her second Birkie title as well.
There will be several things to keep an eye on during this year's 42nd American Birkebeiner, including top competitors, like two-time U.S. Olympian Holly Brooks, and a brand-new bridge just a few kilometers from the finish. Watch it live and follow our post-race coverage.
This week's Wednesday Workout comes from Caitlin Patterson of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Patterson's addresses how to feel sharp on days when your skiing is sluggish from her home course at the Craftsbury Outdoors Center.
FasterSkier was on-site and live video broadcasting from the final day of the Craftsbury SuperTour. The day marked the classic mass starts, where Kris Freeman and Becca Rorabaugh overcame challenging conditions to earn convincing wins. Missed the broadcast? We have the full program here for you to watch.
Rosie Brennan (APU) earned her second national title in a week after striding to a 5.5 second win in the women's 20 k classic mass start in northern Michigan. APU coach Erik Flora said that he believes Brennan is ready for the next level of racing saying, “she is one of our top ladies and she is right at that point to make that next step and jump in with the World Cup crew.”
In the two days leading up to U.S. nationals, we caught up with several podium contenders for the races in Houghton, Mich., which start this Sunday and last through next Saturday.
APU teammates Rosie Brennan and Chelsea Holmes put more than a minute into the rest of the women's field in the Bozeman SuperTour 10 k classic mass start, giving Brennan her third-straight SuperTour win. Katharine Ogden placed third to earn her second-straight SuperTour distance podium.
Rosie Brennan dominated the women's 1.5 k classic-sprint qualifier through the final on Saturday to pick up her second SuperTour win in since owning last weekend's distance race in West Yellowstone. In the Bozeman classic sprint, Brennan outlasted Jennie Bender and Caitlin Patterson for the win.
It wasn't easy, but Rosie Brennan of Alaska Pacific University maintained an impressive pace to win the season's second SuperTour race, a 10 k individual start freestyle in windy West Yellowstone, Mont.
How will domestic skiers qualify for World Championships? Who's racing this year? What an we expect from the 2015 SuperTour? To answer these questions and more here is FasterSkier's SuperTour preview, which gives you and in-depth look at how competition will shape up on the domestic front.
The Craftsbury Green Racing Project traveled to Ramsau, Austria Sept. 8 for a roughly three week on-snow training camp on the Dachstein Glacier. The 12 member squad has found excellent conditions and an abundance of international skiers on the glacier's 9 k groomed loop.
It's sure to be an exciting day at Kincaid Park on Tuesday for the first team event at U.S. nationals in at least a decade, and unlike most relays, this one's coed. Stay tuned for a showdown between APU, Stratton, Craftsbury, Sun Valley and several college teams.
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.
Top skiers pick their favorites for this weekend's 41st American Birkebeiner in Cable-Hayward, WI.
Domestic racing continued with the SuperTour this past weekend in Craftsbury, Vt, where Caitlin Gregg podiumed in all three races, twice at the top, and second in the classic race to Rosie Brennan. On the men's side, Scott Patterson captured two wins in a row, and Sam Naney took a victory in Sunday's sprint.
Caitlin Gregg didn't waste any time getting out front and out of range on Wednesday, opening up an 11.5-second lead by the first of four laps in the women's 20-kilometer freestyle mass start. As the race went on, she only got faster, ultimately winning by an unheard of 3:36 minutes at U.S. nationals.
At the 2014 U.S. Cross Country Championships, winning by any margin is enough to make most competitors’ day. Not so for Caitlin Gregg of Team Gregg and Madshus, who won Wednesday’s 20 k freestyle mass start by over three and a half minutes, a gap that has not been seen at the national level in recent memory.
Jennie Bender rose from fifth to first in the final stretches of Sunday's 1.5 k freestyle sprint to complete the Bridger Ski Foundation's podium domination at U.S. Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow.