Today’s sprint race was a lot of fun. Full results from the qualifier can be found HERE and the heats are HERE. hen they are posted. I don’t remember many places, but I think Kuzzy was 2nd. We had 3 boys make the heats (Kuzzy, Gregg and Liebsch) and 4 girls (Rebecca, Caitlin, myself, and Jessie).
On the unofficial results posted after the race, I tied with Kate Brennan of the Alberta World Cup Academy for 12th place in the qualifier. Then, I had a really tough quarter final with Rebecca Dussualt and Holly Brooks leading the way. I finished right behind them in 3rd. The top 2 finishers in each quarter final automatically go on to the semi finals. They also take a couple 3rd place skiers as “lucky losers.” This is done by bib number, and I fully expected to race again. Unfortunately, the girl that I tied with in the qualifier was also 3rd in her quarter final and the last “lucky loser” spot was between us. They gave her bib #12 for the heats and automatically put her in the semi final, not looking back to see that there was a tie. Before the heat was about to start, I ran over to Coach Fish (CXC), Pat Casey (USST), and some of the race officials (in a panic) to tell them that I thought I should be in the race and explained the situation. It was a double tie! They didn’t know what to do right away, so they were going to let me just jump in the race and have a semi final of 7. Eventually, they decided to look at FIS points to determine who would go on. Kate has better FIS points than I do. So, I was standing at the start in my bib ready to go and they sent me away. It caused a huge delay and was a major bummer for me. I basically drew the short straw.
Now on the official results, Kate Brennan actually finished 0.2 seconds in front of me and undisputably diserved the final “lucky loser” spot. On the positive side, 13th was a good qualifier finish for me in a skate sprint with such a tough field. I will take it.