Heads turned and ears perked up alongside the course at U.S. Cross Country Championships on Sunday as Kyle Bratrud was rumored to be leading the men's 15 k freestyle individual start. In fact, the Northern Michigan senior led from start to finish, and ended up winning for his first top 20 at nationals.
In her third race of the season with CXC after studying, training and racing in Russia, Natalja Naryshkina won the women's classic sprint at U.S. nationals on Friday with a flawless run through the qualifier and heats. Rosie Brennan (APU) was second for her second national title in two years.
Natalja Naryshkina (CXC) put down the fastest women's qualifying time by 0.02 seconds in the 1.5 k classic sprint at U.S. nationals on Friday, winning the qualifier in 3:58.20 to advance to the heats, which start with the men at 12:15 p.m. MST.
Sylvan Ellefson, 26, knew it was going to take some gutsy skiing to win the men's 30-kilometer freestyle mass start Wednesday at the 2014 U.S. Cross Country Championships, but he didn't want to go too crazy, too soon. Here's how he executed to win his first national title by 2.8 seconds.
A crowd favorite, Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV/Team HomeGrown) put down a bold move and broke away with 7.5 k to go in the men's 30 k freestyle mass start at U.S. nationals. “Whether they pick me for the Olympics this year or not, I’m just happy to have a national championship under my belt," he says.
The men’s field in Sunday’s freestyle sprint at the U.S. nationals was anything but shallow, making it one of the most competitive sprints in recent memory. Despite the competition, one man came out on top. Torin Koos (Bridger Ski Foundation/Rossignol) skied powerfully throughout the finals to capture his eighth national title.
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.
Photos of some of the top finishers in the U.S. Cross Country Championships men's freestyle sprint on Sunday. Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess of the Bend Endurance Academy won it by nearly two seconds in 2:41.37 to advance to the heats, which start at 1 p.m. MST.
After a three-year break from World Cup racing, Torin Koos returned to the international scene last year and picked up where he left off with a top 20 finish last March. As the 33-year-old prepares for what could be his fourth Olympic Games, he thinks of last season as a stepping stone to more progress in 2014. "I feel like I’m coming into this year with some momentum and still with a lot to prove as well, to myself," Koos says.
The annual USSA Coaches Congress wrapped up this weekend in Park City, Utah, and the biggest decision to come out of the meetings was an overhaul of the U.S. SuperTour calendar so that it makes more athletic and developmental sense nationwide. Other changes include the addition of a mixed club relay at SuperTour Finals and renamed junior age groups.
Petter Northug, Jr., revealed last week that he lied about an illness in 2011 in order to get out of racing at Norwegian Nationals prior to the Oslo World Championships. The revelation sparked debate across Norway about whether nationals should move to the spring. The discussion should be a familiar one for Americans as the best U.S. athletes increasingly skip the event to focus on international races.
A two-time runner-up at this year's nationals, Sadie Bjornsen proved to herself that she can achieve gold, winning her second national title in three years in her first-ever 20 k. Bjornsen skied away from the pack late, beating teammate Kate Fitzgerald by nearly 13 seconds.
A year after initially winning the classic sprint at U.S. nationals, then being disqualified from it, Torin Koos proved he was back and in good health Wednesday as he secured his fourth national sprint title.
The curse may be broken; U.S. Nationals could take place on natural snow yet. Ten inches of new-fallen powder accumulated at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, over Tuesday and Wednesday, creating an additional three to four inches of packed corduroy on top of the artificial snow the venue began blowing last week.
The dearth of snow that characterized the 2011-2012 season continues. Barring a surprise snowstorm in Midway, Utah, in the next 12 days, U.S. Nationals will take place once again on a modified loop of artificial snow.
Highlighted by her fourth-place performance in the senior freestyle sprint at U.S. Nationals, 17-year-old Corey Stock (Cambridge Sports Union) earned her first trip to Europe with the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) World Junior Championship squad this coming February. It’s difficult to determine the most remarkable part of that statement. For starters, Stock’s age would normally make her a candidate for the J1 trip, and yet as the top junior finisher in the skate sprint in...
RUMFORD, Maine – Swirling around the Black Mountain venue was news that Justin Freeman was done. After 16 consecutive U.S. Cross Country Championships, including his recent appearance at this year’s nationals, the 35-year-old Olympian, national champion and brother of current U.S. Ski Team veteran, Kris, wouldn’t be back. Of course, that all depended, Freeman said in phone conversation on Saturday. “It’s my last consecutive nationals,” he clarified. “It’s unlikely that I won’t be back.” Soon...
RUMFORD, Maine — After an exciting morning of mass start racing, the junior men and women had their chance to shine at U.S. Cross Country Championships on Friday. With the morning’s snow flurries behind them, the athletes found themselves on a well-skied loop at Black Mountain. The junior men’s race consisted of three laps around the 3.26 k course for approximately 10 k, while the junior women raced two laps, one of which was on...