Oslo, Norway – The Canadian men’s team, just off a record-breaking Olympics, was unable to re-capture the magic. The “Big-4” of Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Alex Harvey, and George Grey all dropped out of the race, leaving Graham Nishikawa as the sole finisher in 48th place, +19:24. Kershaw was complimentary of his teammate, and very disappointed in his own performance. “Nish is a tough MF’er. Ivan, George, Alex and I pulled the pin. I had...
One by one, the favorites crumbled in the men’s classic sprint. The first to go was Garrott Kuzzy, who went down coming into the backstretch in his quarterfinal. Illness quashed Simi Hamilton’s hopes. And as he led his semifinal heat, Chris Cook took himself out on a downhill corner. When the snow finally settled, it was a Swede, Erik Soederstrom, who remained standing. A sophomore at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) hailing from Ostersund,...
After a disappointing first two races here at Nationals, Garrott Kuzzy scratched from the classic distance event on Wednesday to prepare for today’s classic sprint. It’s looking like that was a pretty good idea. In the qualifier this morning, Kuzzy topped the men’s field by almost two seconds, besting a pair of top domestic sprinters Mike Hinckley and Chris Cook, who were 1.73 and 2.31 seconds down, respectively. Using his lanky technique to stride all...
After four years in college, Simi Hamilton isn’t supposed to know how to sprint. Try telling that to Mike Hinckley. With 500 meters to go in the freestyle sprint at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Hinckley made a huge move on the field, passing Hamilton on the outside of the last significant hill on the course. After finishing second last year, it looked like Hinckley had this one in the bag. But on the ensuing downhill,...
ANCHORAGE – With two days two go before the opening of the 2010 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, Alaska, FasterSkier brings you a preview of the 1.4/1.5km freestyle sprint course where the racing will unfold on Saturday, the first day of competition. Mike Hinckley gives the tour of the course. An Anchorage native, Hinckley spent his last four years skiing for Denver University, earning second-team All-American honors at the NCAA Championships last year...