Randall tallies 17th National crown in 30k

Kikkan Randall collected her 17th career US National Championship in Craftsbury, Vermont Friday (March 30) taking the 30k to culminate her historic season.

She said the 1.5k loop the competitors circled 20 times in warm, damp conditions kept the event interesting and she enjoyed skiing with her closest friends on the  team, Liz Stephen the bronze medal winner, and second place finisher Jessie Diggins.

“The race ended up being pretty fast from the start,” The World Cup Sprint champion said. “Liz pushed the pace going up the main climb on the first lap and continued to keep the pace high up the climb on every lap. We traded places a few times but Liz and Jessie ended up doing most of the leading. Holly (Brooks) was with the group for the first half and I’m not really sure when she dropped off. With about six laps to go it was clear that it was a three person race. I took the lead with three laps to go but only held it for a lap or so. My quads started cramping pretty badly on those last three laps.”

The race came down to the final lap and a sprint to the finish with Randall getting a narrow 1.1second victory over Diggins.

“It was really fun to ski the whole race with my US teammates and best buddies Liz and Jessie,” said Randall. “The continue to impress me with the progress they’ve made this year.”

USSA photo, from left Jessie Diggins, Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephens.

For complete results go here