Stay tuned for race reports and photos.
Archive for January, 2009
XC Ski Alliance and CXC Athlete Bryan Cook is 2009 Telemark 10K Classic SuperTour Champion!
Posted: Saturday, January 31st, 2009Sprint Photos Courtesy of CXC
Posted: Thursday, January 29th, 2009CXC Sprints
Posted: Wednesday, January 28th, 2009The Duluth sprints were moved to Telemark and the courses were incredibly hard. For those who know the venue, the start was where the Korteloppet finishes, then you shoot down toward the chairlift, up the downhill about 150 meters, back straight down, around a knarly 180 degree hairpin turn, uphill again another 300+ meters, and then back down towards the start/finish area. You were either climbing or decending the whole time, but it felt like mostly climbing. Antoher thing was that all the climbing parts were slanted so you had to be able to V1 on your right side. The field was small but very impressive. The qualifying round went very well for me (4th), but I struggled in the heats finishing 7th overall . Bryan just missed out on the heats, finishing 9th place overall (8 made the heats). Garrott Kuzzy was the only other CXC skier to make it to the heats and he ended up 3rd overall. Kristina Trygstad-Saari and Lief Zimmerman were the fastest skiers on the day. Full results can be found HERE.
Mount Itasca 10K Skate
Posted: Tuesday, January 27th, 2009Day two at Mount Itasca was even more successful than the first day. The races were not delayed, but it was still very cold. The women went first and Caitlin Compton (CXC Elite) won by about a minute. Kristina Strandberg (2nd-Saab/Salomon) was next, followed by Lindsey Dehlin (3rd-USST), Kate Arduser (4th-APU), Maria Stuber (5th-CXC Elite), and JoJo Winters (6th-CXC Ellite). Kelly Chaudoin (Gustavus Adolphus) had a very impressive race, finishing 7th place overall and winning the women’s CCSA college race by a hefty margin. Kristina Owen (CXC Elite) was next in 8th place.
Caitlin Compton and Maria Stuber at Mount Itasca in 2004 (also freezing cold)
One of the most notable events of the day happened later when the CXC Elite Men’s team swept the podium. Not only did Matt Liebsch (1st-CXC Elite), Brian Gregg (2nd-CXC Elite) and Bryan Cook (3rd-CXC Elite) beat the rest of the field by about 40 seconds, but they also accomplished a team goal that was expressed by several men at our early summer goals meeting (SuperTour Podium Sweep). This impressive feat especially demonstrates the depth of the CXC Elite men’s team because top-ranked CXC Elite athlete, Garrott Kuzzy, did not even race. Andre Watt (CXC Elite) also had a good race, finishing 7th place overall. Congratulations CXC Elite Men!
In the men’s CCSA field, Tim Cook (NMU) had a breakthrough race, finishing 12th place overall. He was the 2nd collegiate skier, only 8 seconds behind 10th place Santi Ocariz (1st-college skier) of UWGB. Both the Men’s and Women’s teams from NMU won the overall CCSA team standings on Saturday and Sunday.
Unfortunately, I can not find any pictures from the weekend. My camera did not work in the cold and I’m guessing other people must have had the same problem.
Mount Itasca
Posted: Saturday, January 24th, 2009Today’s SuperTour race in Mount Itasca, MN, went very well for the CXC Elite Team. The start was delayed an hour due to very cold weather. Bryan Cook finished second place, one second behind Dave Chamberlain. Bryan Gregg finished 4th place, and Andre Watt was 5th. On the girls side, Kristina Strandberg (Saab/Salomon) won by quite a bit, Lindsey Dehlin (USST) was 2nd, Caitlin Compton was 3rd, Laura Dewitt (NMU) was 4th, Kristina Owen was 5th, and Marie-Helen Soderman (NMU) was 6th, Jo Jo Winters was 7th, Maria Stuber was 8th, and Heather Zimmerman finished somewhere in the teens. Results did not come out quickly so most of us have not seen them yet. Check back later for more information on the races.