February 17, 2012 (Szklarska Poreba, Poland) – Seven North Americans qualified for the skate sprint heats at the inaugural FIS World Cup sprint competition being held in Szklarska Poreba, Poland, on Friday. In the women’s race, Americans Jesse Diggins and Kikkan Randall qualified in 12th and 17th, respectively. Canada’s Dasha Gaiazova was 29th while her teammates Alysson Marshall missed qualifying by less than a second and ended up 35th and Chandra Crawford and Perianne Jones finished in 38th and 40th, respectively. The USA’s Ida Sargent was 46th, followed by teammate Liz Stephen in 47th. Germany’s Denise Hermann was the top qualifier. Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk gave the Polish fans a bit of scare, finishing almost 5 seconds off  Hermann’s pace placing 24th.

On the men’s side, Canada’s Devon Kershaw qualified in 18th place, followed by teammate Alex Harvey in 19th, a mere 1/100th of a second behind Kershaw. Americans Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton qualified in 26th and 28th, respectively. Four other North American men raced but failed to advance through to the heats, including Canada’s Phil Widmer (35th) and Len Valjas (43rd) and the USA’s Tad Elliott (53rd) and Sylvan Ellefson (57th). Norway’s Anders Gloeersen won this morning’s qualification run.

Women’s qualification results HERE.
Men’s qualification results HERE.