January 13, 2006 – The weather at Soldier Hollow turned sunny and warm for the third and fourth races of five that will help decide the contingent of athletes named to the U.S. Olympic Team. The field sizes for both races were among the largest ever for a National event with over 425 elite athletes participating daily.

The racing also heated up with hotly contested classic and skate races over the past weekend. Team Rossignol skier James Southam of Anchorage and Rossignol skier Liz Stephen of Burke Mountain Academy continued to put together stellar performances, each won National Championship Titles in the skate races (10km for men and 5km for women). They also had podium finishes in the 15km and 10km classic events held on Saturday, each finishing third among Americans. Joining Stephen on the podium in the 5km skate race was Team Rossignol member Kate Pearson who finished third, her personal best U.S. Nationals result.

In the most exciting finish thus far, Stephen who went out earlier in the line-up posted the fasted time of the time day for the women in the 5km skate event. However, when Kikkan Randall finished, her time came up on the electronic scoreboard with the exact same time as Stephen! The bubbly Stephen, who will turn 19 in a few days seems to be enjoying every minute of her time here at Soldier Hollow exclaiming “I just love to race and go out there just to see what I can do”!

The week of racing has taken its toll on many athletes, several have chosen to sit out races in order to recover for the next event. Team Rossignol skier Brooke Hovey, who had the fastest qualifying sprint time last week has been battling a respiratory illness since late November and has not fully recovered to her full racing potential this week. Team Rossignol skier Eli Enman was also not feeling quite up to par after the classic race, but posted his best result of the event finishing in the top 8th among American men in the 10km skate event.

The all important final race, the 30km and 20km (for women) pursuit format race (classic followed by skate) will be key in determining the make-up of the team that will represent the U.S. in Torino, Italy in February. Southam is the 2006 National 10km FS Champion Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall tie for 1st, Pearson 3rd Kate Pearson puts on final charge for 3rd place Liz Stephen wins the 5km FS and keeps press media busy.