Us Cross Country Ski Championships - Nationals - Day One - January 3, 2011
The Cross Country Ski Championships are underway in Rumford Maine
. The best cross country skiiers in our nation are competing in 4 separate xc ski races over the course of a week.The first cross country ski race held on Sunday January 2, 2010 was a nordic sprint race, using the classic ski technique. Snow was in short supply and the Black Mountain Ski Area and Chisholms Ski Club worked diligently to get the nordic course ready. They were able to pull off the nordic sprint race since the course was 1.4km and volunteer help and snow making was readily available. Tuesday's 10/15k classic races, have been moved back to Wednesday due to the shortage of the white stuff.The US Cross Country Ski Championship competition features two sprint (1.4k) and two distances races (20k/30K). The sprint race is exciting, since five or six racers going head-to-head on a short course that typically has a few hills, turns, and technical downhills. The Nordic Sprint race is relatively new - only 5 years ago was the first Olympic Nordic Sprint race.
Olympians Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) and Holly Brooks (Anchorage, AK) won first place in this first race of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships. Torin was followed by Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Michael Sinnott (Sun Valley, ID) in second and Stratton Mountain School's Skyler Davis (Jericho, VT) in third. For Women, Holly Brooks was followed by Eliska Hajkova in second only 10 seconds behind, but her results did not count towards the US Championships since she is from the Czech Republic. So third place finisher Morgan Smyth (Vernon, VT) received the silver in the championship standings and Sadie Bjornsen took the bronze. For Brooks, a 2010 Olympian Cross Country Skier, this was her first national championship win. She is also a strong contender in the remaining three cross country ski races.
Thursday's scheduled 20k (women's) and 30k (men's) skate races will not give the nordic racers any day of rest between the longer events. This will be tough even for these top athletes. The mass start freestyle race should be exciting to watch. The final race is a freestyle skate race to be held at the end of the week on Sat., Jan. 8. The race again is a nordic sprint, 1k freestyle.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
U.S. Cross Country Championships
Rumford, ME Jan. 2, 2011
1.4k Classic Sprint
Men
1. Torin Koos, Leavenworth, WA
2. Michael Sinnott, Sun Valley, ID
3. Skyler Davis, Jericho, VT
4. Erik Bjornsen, Winthrop, WA
5. Lars Flora, Anchorage
Women
1. Holly Brooks, Anchorage
2. Eliska Hajkova, Czech Republic
3. Morgan Smyth, Vernon, VT
4. Sadie Bjornsen, Anchorage
5. Katie Ronsse, Anchorage
For all your cross country ski gear, xc ski supplies, and nordic information visit Brian's Bicycles and Cross Country Skis at http://xcskistore.com. Cross country skiing in Mammoth Lakes, California.
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