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20k Classic Women's Podium - photo flyingpointroad.com
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Wrapping up Nationals, Looking ahead
10.Jan.2012 The week of racing at Nationals concluded with two classic races: a 20/30k mass start and a classic sprint.
Ida had her best result of the week in the mass start. After trading leads throughout the race, Ida Sargent ended the day second to her USST teammate, CXC's Jessie Diggins, at a gap of 11.6 seconds. It was Diggins' third championship of this edition of Nationals, and extended her unbeaten 2011-12 North American winning streak to around a dozen.
The rest of the GRP women were solid as well:
Hannah Dreissigacker - 14th
Clare Egan - 17th
Maria Stuber - 22nd
Pat O'Brien led the GRP men home in their 30k several hours later, ending eighth in a pack of three with CXC's Brian Gregg and his GRP teammate Bryan Cook right behind him in 9th. It was GRP rookie Cook's second strong distance showing of the week, after his 5th place in the individual start 15k skate.
Again, nice results from the rest of the GRP men:
Tim Reynolds - 15th
Nils Koons - 21st
Dylan McGuffin - 48th
While not on the GRP, some other Craftsbury affiliated results included a noteworthy 28th for Dartmouth/CNSC skier Alex Schulz, 34th for Colby/CNSC's Jake Barton, and 35th for CNSC skier Hannah Miller in the junior women's 5k.
Sunday closed National festivities with a classic sprint - a favorite for several of the GRP athletes. However, the sprint course at Rumford featured a closing descent into the stadium, making for tough, tactical racing as packs could easily re-form after breaking apart on the climb - very interesting racing possibilities.
CNSC affiliated men qualified well, led by big Alex Schulz in 15th, and nearly getting the whole GRP squad into the heats:
Pat - 18th
Tim - 22nd
Dylan - 24th
Bryan - 32nd (0.27s away from qualifying!)
Nils - 37th
The women also did well, qualifying three:
Ida - 3rd
Hannah - 22nd
Clare - 28th
Stuber - 35th
Hannah Miller - 43rd
After working through three rounds of jockeying for position, drafting, double poling and crucial line selection, the GRP and CNSC skiers ended Nationals 2012 with
Pat - 9th
Tim - 10th
Alex - 15th
Dylan - 25th
Ida - 4th
Hannah D - 11th
Clare - 15th
with Hannah Miller 9th in the junior women's sprints.
After a bit of recovery early this week, most of the skiers will return to Maine this weekend for the next round of the TD Bank NENSA Eastern Cups. Originally scheduled to be held in Augusta, Maine, the racing is presently slated for Titcomb Mountain in Farmington. Athletes will compete in a classic sprint on Saturday, with Sunday now an interval start skate. Results for these races will be found at NENSA.
Ida will return to Europe and the World Cup for the US Ski Team, racing this weekend in the city sprints in Milan, Italy to kick off another extended race period. Follow her progress this weekend on www.fasterskier.com.
Sargent will be joining her GRP teammate already on the continent, biathlete Susan Dunklee. Dunklee and her USBA compatriots are in Nove Mesto, Italy for three races: a 15k Individual (Wednesday), 7.5k Sprint (Friday), and a 12.5k Pursuit (Sunday). Keep tabs on her progress via www.biathlonworld.com.
Congrats to all, and best of luck!
Nationals: Results menu, Fasterskier Coverage (including photos and videos)
Eastern Cup Info
World Cup Coverage via FIS and Fasterskier
Nove Mesto Biathlon World Cup
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