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.
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.
Photos of some of the top finishers in the U.S. Cross Country Championships women’s 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint on Sunday. Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg/Madshus) won it by more than 4 seconds in 3:09.97 to advance to the quarterfinals, which start with the men at 1 p.m. MST.
With Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, and Jessie Diggins all scoring World Cup points, the American women's team was happy with their day in Saturday's 15 k skate. Were there any personal bests? No, but a few of them cracked a tough Davos course that has given them trouble in the past.
American Rosie Brennan earned World Cup start rights by capturing the 2013 SuperTour title. She made her European World Cup debut last season, racing the entire final period, before starting this fall at the top level. This season she placed 70th in the Kuusamo, Finland mini-tour and finished 54th today, in the 10 k classic in Lillehamar, Norway. US Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb termed Brennan’s performance “a strong result.” For her part, Brennan...
Six years ago, a back injury put a damper on Rosie Brennan's skiing, but she didn't let it get her down and finally addressed it this spring. Now training consciously and rehabbing the injury, the 24-year-old APU skier is hoping for another career-best season leading up to the Sochi Games.
For their unmatched performances on the domestic circuit this season, Torin Koos and Rosie Brennan are FasterSkier's 2013 Continental Skiers of the Year.
The NNF Cup winner for the 2012/2013 season is the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center. The NNF Cup is awarded annually to the top domestic club on the USSA SuperTour circuit. APU showed impressive depth in its program by roughly doubling the points of Craftsbury, the 2nd place team.
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 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.
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.
At 7,000 feet and with a serious climb smack in the middle, the 3.3 k freestyle prologue will open up SuperTour Finals on Thursday with a bang. The Americans, Canadians, Europeans and biathletes in Truckee will quickly find out what they have left in the tank as the season begins to close.
Athletes hit a breaking point on Thursday before the last three stages of World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, where they threatened not to race on courses they deemed too dangerous. In successfully pressuring FIS and the race organizers to make the requested changes to the trails, athletes hope they've drawn a firm line between what they will and will not compete on in the future.
Kikkan Randall did just what she needed to on Sunday, finishing 7th in the 10 k skate pursuit with the second-fastest course time to hold onto third place in the overall World Cup standings. Three other Americans finished World Cup Finals in the top 30 to end the season "better than I could have imagined," Randall said.
Kikkan Randall led three American women into the top-30 in the third stage of World Cup Finals on Saturday, a 10 k mass start classic. With 19th place on the day she moved into 15th in the mini-tour, and if she maintains that position in Sunday's pursuit she'll be able to hold off Marit Bjørgen in the overall World Cup standings.
The American women were back on form on Friday for the 2.5 k prologue at World Cup Finals. Kikkan Randall led the way with a third-place finish, and behind her in seventh and eighth, respectively, Holly Brooks and Jessie Diggins were ecstatic to have confidence-building races towards the end of the season. Liz Stephen was 20th for a total of four women in the top-20.
Before Andy Newell got a medal for finishing fifth in the overall sprint rankings this season, the race that took place in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm was not quite what the U.S. was looking for from the final sprint of the year. Newell led the way for the men 11th but was aiming for the finals. Ida Sargent posted the top women's finish in 20th and Kikkan Randall was 22nd.
Liz Stephen's ninth-place finish highlighted the U.S. team’s day at Holmenkollen on Sunday, but right along with her Jessie Diggins and Holly Brooks toughed out their own races to finish the 30 k feeling relatively good about the effort. Diggins was 30th and Brooks finished 35th.
The disappointment of World Championships now well behind her, Sadie Bjornsen led the American women in the Lahti, Finland, 10 k classic with another personal best: 18th place, six notches better than her previous high water mark. Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall tied for 28th to put three American women in the top 30.
Sadie Bjornsen notched a career-best ninth-place finish in the Lahti, Finland, freestyle sprint on the same day her teammate, Kikkan Randall, secured the crystal sprint globe for the U.S. "She almost stole the show, in a way," said USST women's coach Matt Whitcomb. Seven American women in all competed on Saturday; Jessie Diggins followed Bjornsen in 25th.
For some "warm-up" races before hitting the OPA Cup, a group of Stratton and APU athletes competed in Slavic Cup competitions in Nove Mesto this weekend. They made a splash, with Kate Fitzgerald, Sophie Caldwell, and Rosie Brennan sweeping Sunday's 10 k pursuit. Paddy Caldwell also continued his success from Norwegian junior nationals the weekend before.