January 25, 2019 (Lahti, Finland) – The Americans took yet another top 10-finish at the 2019 U23 Nordic Championships on Friday morning, as Hailey Swirbul finished 10th overall in the Women’s 15 km Classic event. Her teammate Julia Kern also delivered a strong performance on the day placing 16th out of the 61 total starters, followed by American Alayna Sonnesyn in 23rd.

“After an unsatisfying first two races, it was exciting that everything came together for me in the classic distance race. I did my best to pace the race well, and it paid off during the last lap. The coaches and techs did an amazing job of waxing our skis and getting us what we needed to have yet another successful day for USA. This group is strong, and I know good things are on the horizon for the future of skiing in the US,” said Swirbul.

Hannah Mehain was Canada’s top finisher in 31st, as fellow Canuck Sadie White came in shortly after in 33rd. Russia’s Anna Zherebyateva took the win, along with her teammate Lidia Durkina in 2nd with Germany’s Katharina Hennig in 3rd.

During the U23 Men’s 30km Classic race two Canadians broke into the top 30, as Antoine Cyr took 27th, followed by Gareth Williams in 28th. Peter Holmes was the top American to finish in 33rd as the Russians swept the podium with Andrey Sobakarev taking the win.

Women’s results here.
Men’s results here.