January 26, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Norway kept the magic of their strong development program in order today, by sweeping the top three spots in the opening race of the 2011 FIS World Junior/U23 Championships in Otepaa, Estonia. The winner of the women’s 5km was Ragnhild Haga who set the pace with a 13:50.6, followed by Kari Oeyre Slind with Heidi Weng in third.

It was also a big day for US skier, Jessie Diggins of Afton, Minnesota who skis for CXC. She placed a remarkable seventh place, and seems poised to turn in great skiing performances at the championships. Diggins turned in a time of 14:18.2.  Other American finishes were Joanne Reid in 36th at 15:07.4,  Kinsey Loan was 68th in 16:00.3, and Dartmouth freshman Izzy Caldwell was 70th with a time of 16:06.0.

SkiTrax caught up with Diggins following her stellar performance and she said today’s race fun but added that was a bit nerve-racking as well.

“I was all sorts of nervous before the race, but once I got on snow and started moving I calmed down – slightly – and got focused,” said Diggins. “My plan going into the race was to start off fast and try and ramp it up during the last quarter of the race. I ended up filling my legs with acid fairly quickly, but I also caught the girl ahead of me and we worked together, drafting each other and pushing each other to go faster.”

Diggins was indeed impressive but was quick to praise the others. “We have such a great team here – really good work by the other girls especially those who were racing here for the first time (Kinsey and Izzy). It was also nice to have such good support before the race.

“The coaches were working hard testing skis and they absolutely nailed the wax, which was good since the course had some major downhills. There were also some sweet climbs, which I loved because I do best on courses with hard climbing and snow that’s more powdery, and those were the conditions here today. I am pretty stoked on today’s race and am looking forward to the rest of the week.”

Diggins was 27 seconds off the winners pace and USA Coach Matt Whitcomb was elated. “I’m just thrilled with her race”, he told SkiTrax in a telephone interview. “And I am not surprised in any way. She took it out well and had good splits. We are excited for her, it’s already been a great season for her and she’s taking another step up this year.”

According to Whitcomb Diggins will sit out the classic sprint, which is the next race and then take part in the final pair of races later in the week. She is known as a particularly strong relay skier, either in the scramble leg or in the anchor position.

The Canadian squad was lead by Janelle Greer in 35th in 15:06.7, Heidi Widmer was 45th in 15:23.2 and Heather Mehain in 47th place in15:23.6. Annika Hicks was 56th in 15.41.2.

“Based on their FIS points heading in to the event, Janelle, Heidi and Heather skied above their points while Annika skied below,” said Canadian Coach Eric de Nys. “It was a good day for Janelle but we’re striving for more as a program. All the girls skied technically well and it was evident that nerves, from being on the Worlds stage for the first time for some skiers, had a negative effect. With three more races to go I believe the girls will settle in and ski better in the upcoming events.”

The Norwegian winner Haga said following the race, that she did not expect to win. “When they told me I was going to take this medal, I was very happy. When I found out I won it, it felt surreal. Last year the best results for me was the ninth place.”

Full results HERE – more coverage to follow.