Athletes dig deep for US Nationals classic sprints

By Published On: January 9th, 2015Comments Off on Athletes dig deep for US Nationals classic sprints

Postponed due to cold weather on Monday, the second day of racing at U.S. Nationals in Houghton, Mich., brought classic sprinting experts together to take on the 1.6-kilometer course at Michigan Tech on Tuesday. Constant snow and wind demanded that the toughest athletes dig in, which is what winners and national champions Rosie Brennan (APU) and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess (Bend Endurance Academy) did in the women’s and men’s races.

Brennan started the qualifier as the highest ranked skier, meaning she would take to the course first, virtually grooming the track as she skied. As more starters went out, the track became faster and faster, but Brennan’s time held, keeping her at second by the end of the preliminary race.

“The prelim was a little intimidating because I did have to plow through some snow without someone in front of me,” she said. “I will say that when I got to the finish lanes I looked up and saw the clock was over five minutes and was a little surprised no one had caught me, but it turns out that is actually how slow the course was.”

Blackhorse-von Jess faced similar conditions, as racing ended for a short period between the men’s and women’s prelims. His coaches and the technical delegate were skiing in the tracks for him at the start, hoping to speed up the course for the individual time trials.

“There were a couple of times I changed tracks to chase the best line and it was just so slow I had to get right back in the faster lane, but mostly it was about having a good plan, being confident enough of my fitness to stick to it, and when it came time to drop the hammer, to stomp on the gas and not let up,” said Blackhorse-von Jess, who also qualified second.

The snow progressed through the rounds, creating a slow course with times around four minutes for men and five for women. Brennan finished each of her heats in front, using her fitness and classic technique to her advantage while skiing the long course.

“I quickly realized that getting into one of the more skied-in lanes was important. I had some good skis that were allowing me to open a gap on the small downhill about half way through so I decided to run with it and push hard early on, up the hills, then relax the last part into the finish,” said Brennan, who had originally planned to stay more relaxed until the end. She finished first over APU teammate Becca Rorabough and Craftsbury Green Team’s Elizabeth Guiney.

Blackhorse-von Jess also abandoned usual sprint techniques to lead out the entire race, knowing that his fitness could carry him to the line. “There were really only two tracks in play out there, so I felt it out in the quarter final and realized I could work the race from the front without losing anything in the descent,” he said, noting that he had great glide in his skis.

“In the final when we hit the final climb, I got into my rhythm and started to pull away, I decided to just pin it and go for the win from there.” He finished first over Benjamin Saxton (SMS T2/USST) and Haakon Hjelstuen.

In the races for U23s and Junior World Championshiops, Benjamin Saxton (SMS T2/USST) took the top spot, while Anne Hart (SMS T2) finished fourth in the women’s race, stamping her ticket to Asia. Junior skier Hannah Halvorsen (Far West Nordic/Sugarbowl Academy) landed herself in the A final while Peter Holmes (University of New Hampshire) was the only male junior to qualify for senior heats.

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About the Author: Annie Pokorny

An SMS T2 elite athlete and Middlebury College philosophy major, Pokorny is contributing Nordic articles to SkiRacing.com this year.