Otepaa CC: U.S. sprinters struggle in wet conditions

Kikkan Randall finished 25th Sunday in a classic technique World Cup sprint and Andy Newell was 28th in a steady rain.
OTEPAEAE, Estonia — Kikkan Randall finished 25th Sunday in a classic technique World Cup sprint and Andy Newell was 28th in a steady rain.
    Norwegians, led by Eldar Roenning, took the top three places in the men's sprint. Newell led his quarterfinal heat but was passed with 150 meters to go and wound up not qualifying for the semifinal. Petra Majdic of Slovenia was the women's winner, edging Norway's Astrid Jacobsen.
    "We've got some work to do," U.S. head coach Pete Vordenberg said. "I'm not sure what the problem is, or was, but we missed some opportunities today. Andy was dominating his heat, leading all the way, and then with about 150 meters left everyone blew by him. And Kikkan qualifying [i.e., top 30 in the time trial to determine matchups for the finals heats] in classic was good, but overall it wasn't a good day.
    "It was rainy, the snow was chunky … but there are no excuses. We should have done better. Everyone skied in the rain, and over the same snow. We had excellent skis, so that wasn't the problem, either."   
    The next stop on the World Cup schedule is Liberec, Czech Republic, host of the 2009 FIS Nordic World Championships. Next weekend's schedule calls for men's 15 km and women's 10 km freestyle races Saturday — replacing pursuits because of the lack of snow — and classic technique team sprints Sunday.