US Nats: The Sprint, And The Bogburn Back East

Now that the whole team is back in the East, we are finally skiing together on our perfectly groomed home trails together again. Although jetlagged, our 4 brave skiers from the North were good sports about staying up late enough for a night ski under the brightest moon of the year last night. Yannick, Mitch, and Evan went down to the Bogburn yesterday for the 12k classic race. The course was a true easterner's course- long windy climbs, narrow trails, and almost unskiable downhills- all in all, it was a lot of fun.

Janey has also been kind enough to write up an update on the sprint race that finally occurred in Anchorage.

We all arrived to the race venue Thursday expecting the worst, another delay or cancellation. At 12:30 the jury made thier final decision that the race was on, the temperature acceded -4 degrees Fahrenheit for the second time in the past two weeks we have spent in Alaska. The race was on, we all bundled up and smothered our faces with Dermatone before leaving the warm chalet. Sam placed 41^st in the qualifying round, giving him a spot in the Junior/U23 heats. Lucas placed 98^th, not quite making the rounds. Corinne placed 47^th and Janey placed 54^th, both qualifying for Junior/U23 heats. The heats were scheduled to start with the male quarterfinals at 17:15. We all enjoyed the two hours given to enjoy the warmth of the lodge. As we headed out for the second time lights illuminated the stadium. Women and men heats were finalizing as we entered the stadium. The Junior/U23 heats were pushed back until those heats were completely finished. Running around the stadium and doing our best to stay warm to prepare for the upcoming heats we watched Kikkan Randall and Kris Freeman dominate the A Finals. Sam won his Quarterfinal heat and Semi-Final heat qualifying for the A Final Junior/U23 boy’s heat. In his final heat Sam placed 3^rd. Corinne placed 3^rd in her Quarterfinal heat and 6^th in her Semi-final heat qualifying for the B Final Junior/U23 girl’s heat. Unfortunately her pole broke during her Semi-final heat destroying her chances of making A Finals. She finished her last heat 7^th Junior/U23. Janey failed to make it past her Quarterfinal heat in a 4^th place position due to a pole strap malfunction. Happy to be done and to get out of the cold we enjoyed a lasagna dinner in the lodge for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships banquet and awards before returning back to the Lake Hood Inn to pack up our stuff and head to the airport.