Demino XC: Hetland, Jacobsen win distance races

DEMINO, Russia — Norway's Tor Arne Hetland and Astrid Jacobsen won cross-country World Cup events on Saturday.

DEMINO, Russia — Norway's Tor Arne Hetland and Astrid Jacobsen won cross-country World Cup events on Saturday.
    Hetland won the men's 30-kilometer freestyle for his first victory this season. Jacobsen won the women's 15-kilometer freestyle race for her first career top finish in a World Cup event.
    Hetland, who timed 1 hour, 11 minutes, 4.8 seconds, was 4.4 seconds behind the leader at the 22.5-kilometer mark but managed to edge Ville Nousiainen of Finland by 0.5 seconds in a sprint at the finish line.
    Pietro Piller-Cottrer of Italy was third, 1.3 seconds behind the winner.
    The win moves Hetland to third place in the overall World Cup standings with 184 points.
    Axel Teichmann of Germany leads the standings with 260 points after two top finishes. Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic is second with 230. Both skipped the event here.
    Lars Flora of the United States was 55th in the men's race. No U.S. women competed.
    Jacobsen, the world sprint champion, finished in 39 minutes, 24.5 seconds. She was 7.6 seconds behind at the 9.6-kilometer mark but sprinted in the final lap to edge Russia's Natalia Korosteleva by 0.7 seconds at the finish line.
    Riitta-Liisa Roponen of Finland was third in 39:25.6.
    It was the third podium finish for Jacobsen this season. She was second in two races in Kuusamo, Finland, last weekend.
    The win moves her to second place in the World Cup overall standings with 300 points after 6 of 31 races. Norwegian Marit Bjorgen, who skipped the event, leads with 312 points.
    Vibeke Skofterud of Norway is third with 234.
    The meet concludes Sunday with the men's and women's 1.2-kilometer sprint races.

— The AP