American Ian Torchia led the North American men on Friday, placing 11th in the 20 k skiathlon at Junior World Championships, while Alexis Dumas of Canada finished 18th. Meanwhile, the Russians swept the podium for the second-consecutive race.
Last year in his Junior World Championships debut, Thomas O’Harra placed 54th in the freestyle sprint. The 18-year-old APU skier placed 14th on Tuesday in the opening race of 2015 Junior Worlds in Almaty, Kazakhstan -- the 1.3-kilometer classic sprint -- and three Canadian women made the quarterfinals as well.
Of the six 3 x 3-kilometer classic relays at Junior Nationals on Tuesday — two each in the Junior 1, J2 and Older Junior divisions — only two were decided by less than 30 seconds and only one was up for grabs on the final straightaway. That race was the girls Junior 1 event, in which Intermountain edged Midwest by 3.7 seconds and Alaska by four seconds.