March 27, 2008 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – With a final lunge across the finish line, Torin Koos and Laura Valaas proved on Wednesday night that it’s not necessary to lead the entire final race or be the fastest qualifier. In exciting come-from-behind efforts, Koos edged fellow U.S. Ski Team member Andrew Newell while Valaas nipped Norwegian Sigrid Aas in Tour of the Golden Heart classic sprints at the Birch Hill Recreation Area.

A festive crowd of several hundred showed its appreciation by chipping in for a pass-the-coffee-can fundraising effort that, combined with other contributions, netted the winners $275 apiece.

“I passed (Newell) going up the last hill. I passed him striding up outside the tracks,” said Koos, of Leavenworth, Wash., who on the homestretch said he “just put my head down and went for it” to hold off Newell by two-tenths of a second.

Like Newell and several of the other top skiers, Koos opted in the qualifying round to use skate skis and double-pole the entire course. But for the three six-skier elimination heats, they switched to classic-technique gear that enabled them to stride up the hills. Skating equipment is faster around corners and on downhills (because no kick wax is present) but given Wednesday’s terrain and snow conditions it’s slower on the uphills.

“(Using skate skis) I thought you would lose too much over the last uphill coming into the finish so you would have to make up too much ground,” Koos said. “I had to make that decision probably 10 minutes before I did the final.”

Newell, who finished a career-best second in a World Cup sprint in Finland on March 1, felt a slight tactical error may have cost him Wednesday’s race. “Torin came up next to me and I decided to let him go in hopes I could slingshot (past) him on the last downhill,” said Newell, of Shaftsbury, Vt. “I think I should have stayed behind him longer in the draft. I think I pulled out too early down the downhill. That kind of cost me in the end, but it was a fun race.”

Newell said the annual Spring Series is a good way to wrap up a long season. “In a race like this, especially in March, it’s all just for fun,” said Newell, who muscled around the 1.1km course with the fastest qualifying time of 2 minutes, 31.68 seconds. “For sure, we’re a little more relaxed for these races.”

The stakes will increase this weekend with national championship races for the skiathlon (also called pursuit) on Friday night and marathon Sunday afternoon.

The hometown Alaska Nanooks also had a good day Wednesday, as Vahur Teppan and Marius Korthauer reached the A final, placing third and sixth, respectively. The B final was dominated by current and former Nanooks, as Bart Dengel placed seventh, followed by Tyson Flaharty (10th), Henri Soom (11th) and Einar Often (12th), whose ski unluckily popped off mid-race.

The podium featured the same three skiers as at January’s U.S. Nationals freestyle sprint in Houghton, Mich., though Newell bested Koos that day with Teppan third.

Wednesday’s race — held in sunlight turning to shade with a temperature in the teens — was also an opportunity for Alaska juniors to mix it up with many of the nation’s elite. David Norris, Eric Packer and Reese Hanneman took advantage by reaching the quarterfinals before being eliminated. Norris nabbed 15th, Packer 18th and Hanneman 19th among 49 starters.

The women’s race was a duel between Alaska Pacific University’s Valaas and Aas, the former Nanook who won Tuesday’s freestyle event. “Sigrid probably had the lead most of the way but we changed leads a couple times,” said Valaas, of Wenatchee, Wash.

That set up a neck-and-neck sprint through the Birch Hill stadium to the finish. Both did skiing’s version of the splits in a bid to get there first. “I knew it’d be pretty close so I made a pretty big lunge. Luckily it’s pretty easy to lunge in the track as long as you practice it a little bit,” said Valaas, who won by 0.3 seconds though the margin appeared to be only a foot or two.

Valaas wasn’t expecting a cash reward but appreciated it. “Bike racers do that all the time,” Valaas said of spectator donations. “In fact I’ve gotten money from the crowd at bike races. I think it’s an excellent tradition.”

Aas, an occasional sprinter on the World Cup circuit, nearly pulled off her third win in five days. “I thought I had it but then (Valaas) came very fast here in the end,” Aas said. “I fell over the finish line so it was really close.”

Sixteen-year-old Amy Glen of the Alaska Winter Stars was an impressive third while top qualifier Martina Stursova took fourth to round out the A Final. Katie Ronsse of APU held off Elizabeth Stephen of USST in the B final. Fairbanks’ Hanna Gillis matched her age with a 12th-place finish.

The most notable omission from the race was Anchorage’s World Cup winner Kikkan Randall, who was signed up but hurt her back while training on Sunday on the 2010 Winter Olympics trails in British Columbia, Canada.

“I think it’s just a little thing,” said Erik Flora, Randall’s coach with APU. “It sounded like it was getting better (Wednesday). She’s just not ready yet (to race). It sounds like she’ll be ready for the weekend.”

For complete results brackets click here.

For complete results with points click here.

Matias Saari is a reporter for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.