|
Administrator
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,078
|
Arritola Leads SuperTour Sweep at SoHo
Morgan Arritola (Fairfield, ID) out-sprinted Taz Mannix (Anchorage, AK) Sunday to win a USSA Cross Country SuperTour 10K mass start race and lead a 1-2-3 podium sweep by U.S. B Team skiers.
Arritola, a student at Westminster College when not training or racing, finished the two-lap freestyle technique course in 29:55.7. That put her four seconds ahead of Mannix with Laura Valaas (Wenatchee, WA) completing the podium in 30:03.6. Mannix and Valaas train with the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center when not with the U.S. Ski Team.
It was the second top-3 of the weekend for Valaas, the defending SuperTour sprint champion. After winning the first two sprints of the SuperTour, she finished third Saturday in a classic technique sprint behind Norwegian Kjersti Boe, a University of Utah student. Second place went to Swede Kristina Strandberg, a former University of New Mexico racer.
In the men's 15K freestyle mass start Sunday, Russian Ivan Babikov rolled to a half-minute victory in 37:50.1. Garrott Kuzzy (Hayward, WI) was second (38:19.2) with U.S. B Team skier Leif Zimmermann (Bozeman, MT), sidelined for two weeks by a cold, third.
The men's CL sprint went to Even Sletten, another Norwegian skier at the University of Utah with Reid Pletcher (Sun Valley, ID) runner-up. Finishing third was Marshall Greene (Bend, OR).
"It was a good weekend. Obviously, the girls did extremely well. Morgan and Taz didn't ski in the sprint so they could be full-on for the 10K. At the same time, Laura showed great endurance, and that's very encouraging for staying strong through the heats in a sprint," said U.S. Coach Pat Casey.
After six races, Kuzzy leads the men's standings by two points over Sletten, 107-105. Veteran Dave Chamberlain (Caribou, ME) is third at 83. Kuzzy is the distance race leader (73) with Andrew Johnson (Greensboro, VT) second at 56. Sletten leads the sprint tally to 76 points to 49 for Greene.
The women's overall and sprint leader is Valaas with 138 points overall (to 103 for Strandberg) and 81 sprint points to 58 for Karin Camenisch of Switzerland. Strandberg leads the distance rankings with 62 points, five ahead of Valaas.
APU Nordic is the No. 1 team with 465 points from 11 skiers to 353 for Team Rossignol's eight skiers. Utah stands third after six races (315 from 10 athletes).
The next SunperTour races will come during the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships Jan. 1-6 at Michigan Tech in Houghton. All races are double SuperTour points.
OFFICIAL RESULTS:
2008 USSA CROSS COUNTRY SUPERTOUR
Soldier Hollow, UT - Dec. 15-16, 2007
Dec. 15
Men's Classic Technique Sprint (6 made finals)
1. Even Sletten, Norway/University of Utah
2. Reid Pletcher, Hailey, ID/Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation
3. Marshall Greene, Bend, OR/XC Oregon
4. Barton Dengel, Valdez, AK/APU Nordic
5. Jeff Ellis, Canada/APU Nordic
6. Ryan Scott, Boulder, CO/Montana State/Boulder Nordic
--
Women's CL Sprint (6 made finals)
1. Kjersti Boe, Norway/University of Utah
2. Kristina Strandberg, Sweden/The Factory Team
3. Laura Valaas, Wenatchee, WA/U.S. Ski Team/APU Nordic
4. Karin Camenisch, Switzerland/Team Rossignol
5. Martina Stursova, Czech Republic/Team Rossignol
6. Nicole DeYong, Ketchum, ID/Sun Valley SEF
--
Dec. 16
Men's 15K Freestyle mass start
1. Ivan Babikov, Russia, 37:50.1
2. Garrott Kuzzy, Hayward, WI/Team CXC, 38:19.2
3. Leif Zimmerman, Bozeman, MT/U.S. Ski Team/Bridger Nordic
4. Dave Chamberlain, Caribou, ME/Maine Winter Sports Center, 38:31.8
5. Noah Hoffman, Ketchum, ID/Sun Valley SEF, 38:33.0
--
Women's 10K FR mass start
1. Morgan Arritola, Fairfield, ID/U.S. Ski Team/Sun Valley SEF, 29:55.7
2. Taz Mannix, Anchorage, AK/U.S. Ski Team/APU Nordic, 29:59.7
3. Laura Valaas, Wenatchee, WA/U.S. Ski Team/APU Nordic, 30:03.6
4. Kate Arduser, Anchorage, AK/Team Rossignol, 30:08.2
5. Kate Whitcomb, Ketchum, ID/Sun Valley SEF/Fischer-Craft, 30:09.2
|