February 01, 2016 (Lake Placid, NY) – Caitlin Patterson of Craftsbury Green Racing Project took home a decisive win in the women’s 10km individual start at the Lake Placid SuperTour, besting her nearest competitor and teammate, Kaitlynn Miller, by a full minute. David Norris of Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center (APUNSC) doubled up on Saturday’s surprise win with an impressive 45-second victory over multi-decorated Olympian, Kris Freeman, of Team Freebird. APU’s Chelsea Holmes was third in the women’s, while Lex Treinen, also of APUNSC, claimed third in the men’s race.

Women's Podium © Jessica Yeaton

Tricky waxing conditions played a role as racers and wax support dealt with changing cloud cover and rising temperatures as the day progressed. The men raced four laps on a 2.5-kilometer course, the same loop used for the women’s 10-kilometer constested earlier in the morning. With participants from the SuperTour circuit, Eastern Cup series, Mid-Atlantic Junior National qualifiers, and Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) teams all racing, the course deteriorated despite the best efforts of organizers and volunteers.

Patterson, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Saturday, finished with a time of 31:45, only about three minutes behind Norris’ top time in the men’s. Her victory was her third of the season and her third straight distance win after taking two National titles earlier this month in Houghton Michigan. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long [since Houghton] or all that many races,” she said of her streak, which also padded her SuperTour lead. “I’ve never gone into them [races] expecting to win, just expecting to have to fight hard to be at the top,” she added, “Mostly I think this reflects that I’ve skied myself into better shape and gained confidence.” Her teammate, Kaitlynn Miller, also showed impressive consistency, finishing second in a distance classic race for the second straight time. Holmes, who recently returned from a stint at the World Cup, finished third after moving up from a 5th place ranking after the first of four laps.

Men's Podium © Eric Packer

Norris’ victory, with a decisive gap of 45 seconds over Freeman in second, was the biggest victory margin of any national-level race on the men’s side in the US this season, and was especially impressive considering he was racing in Freeman’s backyard. Norris attributed his double victory to a successful training block back home in Anchorage, Alaska, after U.S. Nationals in Houghton, MI, earlier this month. Outside of preparations back home Norris said that part of his success came from the atmosphere within his team. “Just having a low stress environment with a cool team makes it easy to race fast and well,” he said, “[Especially] when you have good waxing and teammates supporting you.” Four different APU men have won SuperTour or National races this season.

Men’s third place finisher Treinen also cited his team as contributing to his success, “The atmosphere on the team is so supportive. One example of that is how we were able to work together to make a call to use white base Rossignols. We also tested double poling…before the start I grabbed Eric Packer [who finished 5th] and we used skate skis versus klister skis.” Treinen added that APU team training camps on Eagle Glacier, a summer skiing training facility on a glacier above Girdwood, Alaska, helped to increase his experience with klister skiing – a required skill for the forty-plus degree temperatures at Lake Placid.

Many of the top male finishers described conditions as sloppy, slow and mushy, and high temperatures forced some athletes to even forgo wearing racing tops to avoid overheating. Athletes remarked that conditions matched those of Spring Nationals, not what is typically expected in late January.

This week’s weather pattern will likely impact racers next weekend (February 6-7) in Stowe, Vermont, for the second of two mid-season SuperTour weekends. While Stowe’s Trapps Family Lodge remains the scheduled venue for the combined SuperTour and University of Vermont’s EISA Carnival races, there is speculation that predicted rain next week could influence trail conditions. Next weekend’s SuperTour are a 5/10km Freestyle and a 10/15km Classic.

Results
Women here.
Men here.