US Cross Country Championships wrap-up in Michigan

By Published On: January 13th, 2015Comments Off on US Cross Country Championships wrap-up in Michigan

In a week playing theme to cold temperatures and constant snowfall, the distance mass start days were no exception Thursday at the U.S. Nationals in Houghton, Mich. A challenging 10-kilometer loop paired with slow snow and changing waxing conditions crowned Kris Freeman (Team Freebird) and Rosie Brennan (APU) as national champions in the 30- and 20-kilometer races, respectively.

In the men’s race, a pack of about 40 stayed together through the first lap, gradually breaking up into groups of 20 by the second. In the third, a group of about 15 skied through the lap lane, Freeman waiting patiently in the middle.

“Because of the cold temperatures and very slow snow, I knew that it would be nearly impossible to ski away from the pack early. I went to the front a few times and pushed the pace but the group always came together again at the bottom of the next hill,” said Freeman.

The 10K course at Michigan Tech starts with long downhills and gradual climbs for the first six kilometers, ending with four kilometers of climbing and 800 meters of uphill finish. Freeman stayed in the pack until the final 2.5 kilometers, at which point he knew he would have to break the pack in order to avoid a finishing sprint in the slow snow.

“With 2.5K to go, I made my move and put about 10 seconds on the guys following me over two short steep hills,” he said, noting that they caught back up to him on a short downhill. He pushed over a rise to regain his lead, and suffered the consequences for the final 200 meters. His lead shrunk as he got closer to the line, but it had been enough for him to cross in first.

“The last 2.5K push was pretty hard,” he said. He finished four seconds ahead of APU’s Alexander Treinen and Sunday’s race winner, Kyle Bratrud (NMU).

On the women’s side, Brennan took her second victory of the week, finishing five seconds ahead of Caitlin Patterson (CRGP) and Eliska Hajkova (BNJRT). Like the men’s race, the slow was cold and slow for the women, creating a pack race in a field that usually breaks up in the first kilometers of a distance race.

“We very much stayed in a pack until the final few kilometers,” Brennan said. “Chelsea [Holmes] and I both tried a few times to get away, but it was just too slow to make that work out very well.” Holmes (APU) ended up in fourth place, but was third for the national championship because Hajkova is not an American citizen. Homes and Brennan led much of the race, until the final kilometer where Brennan broke the pack.

“I had to believe in my ability to finish hard and wait until the right moment to go and, fortunately, [APU Coach Erik] Flora was in the perfect place and said the perfect things to get me going when I needed to.” With 400 meters left in the race, Brennan pulled ahead and kept her lead to the line. After leading through the slow snow for 20 kilometers, she proved that she had the fitness and the gumption to lead to the line.

In the juniors races, which were shorter distances to match those at World Juniors, Ian Torchia (NMU) and Katharine Ogden (SMS) each claimed their second junior titles of the week. That evening, they were named to the World Juniors team, along with Julia Kern (CSU), Alayna Sonnesyn (UVM), Kristen Bourne (NMU), Vivian Hett (NMU) and Hailey Swirbul (Aspen Valley SSC) for the girls and Thomas O’Harra (APU), Peter Holmes (UNH), Evan Weinman (Middlebury College), Thomas Bye (Michigan Tech), Ben Hegman (UVM).

Saturday marked the final day of racing for the event. A skate sprint rounded out the four-race series, where the classic sprint champions from earlier in the week repeated their victories. Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess (Bend Endurance) and Brennan took double sprint wins for the championships, making Brennan a three-time national champion for 2015 and markedly raising the prospects for both skiers in their bids for the World Championships in Sweden come February.

Unlike earlier in the week, the sprint day started with little to no precipitation, but temperatures continued to hover around zero degrees Fahrenheit. Blackhorse-von Jess qualified first for the men, with a margin of 13 seconds, while Brennan qualified third, two seconds off of Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg). Despite the cold snow, the track was hard and stayed fast, producing much quicker times than the classic sprint earlier in the week.

“This was more like a ‘normal’ sprint in the sense that the pace varied, positions were jockeyed for, and in the end winning came down to speed and power over 30 seconds rather than raw endurance over four minutes,” said Blackhorse-von Jess, who sat in behind Reese Hanneman (APU) through his semi final and A final. Hanneman eventually finished third with APU teammate Tyler Kornfield in second.

Brennan won both her quarter and semi final before going on to take the final, finishing two seconds before Gregg with Jennie Bender (BSF) crossing in third. Brennan credited her skis and her motor in getting her to the line first, but noted that the sun, which appeared for the first time on the trails that week, didn’t hurt either.

Brennan is the current SuperTour leader and will travel to Otepaa, Estonia and Rybinsk, Russia for her first World Cup starts since 2013. In the meantime, the U.S. Ski Team will announce its World Championships team on Jan. 14, a team both Brennan and Blackhorse-von Jess hope to have qualified for with their performances this week.

“Coach Ben [Husaby] and I built my plan in the late summer with a certain schedule in mind, specifically how long I’d be racing on the domestic circuit and when and where I’d be heading to Europe,” said Blackhorse-von Jess, who hasn’t heard yet whether or not World Championships is on the table for him. “If I can lock up the SuperTour Sprint title, then of course I will be at the two Period 4 World Cups in March ready to have my best races of the season!”

With the end of the U.S. Championships also came the final naming of the U23 World Championships teams. On the men’s side, early week winner Kyle Bratrud (NMU) will be joined by Benjamin Saxton (SMST2/USST), Patrick Caldwell (Dartmouth/USST), Scott Patterson (APU) and Logan Hanneman (UAF). On the women’s side, Annie Hart (SMST2), Joanne Reid, Annie Pokorny (SMST2), Paige Schember (SVSEFGT) and Deedra Irwin (Michigan Tech) will make the trip. The U23 Worlds will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in February.

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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.