November 25, 2010 (West Yellowstone, MT) – Canada’s Drew Goldsack (AWCA CAN National Team) and Holly Brooks (APU Nordic Ski Center) were the big winners at the inaugural, back-to-back, 1.5km classic and 1.45km freestyle sprints today in West Yellowstone. The sprints are the lead events of the new mini-tour set up in West Yellowstone for the USSA SuperTour season kick off. Over 200 skiers were registered as 165 skiers made it to the start line following huge snowfalls that forced the sprints to be delayed a day as many were stranded en route including officials such as USSA Nordic Director John Farra.

Under overcast skies on fresh snow both Goldsack and Brooks won both sprint events with comfortable margins. APU had a strong showing in the classic races with Lars Flora second and Mark Iverson third for the men. In the women’s competition Kristina Strandberg (XC Oregon) claimed second with APU’s Sadie Bjornsen in third followed by team mates Morgan Smyth in 4th and Kate Fitzgerald in 5th.

“It’s a great way to kick off the season. I felt like my shape was pretty good but you never really know for sure until you put on a bib,” said Goldsack after his double sprint win.

Goldsack didn’t attribute his strong season start to any major changes, but claimed some minor adjustments attributed to the new squad and coaching: “Training has been pretty standard, I travelled less this summer and have been training with the AWCA under Mike Cavaliere and Chris Jeffries, so there has been a few subtle changes to my training, working with a new team.”

“The APU team performance was great,” said Brooks. “And also having my family here to watch. They were volunteering, and my dad took off my skis at the finish line as I was falling all over myself. It was just like junior racing!”

In the skate race Flora pulled up second behind Goldsack, the lone Canadian racing, with Colin Rodgers (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) in third followed by team mate Michael Sinnott in 4th. University of Colorado’s Eliska Hajkova trailed Brooks by 7 seconds for second with Fitzgerald in third in the women’s skate.

“That was one of the hardest sprint courses I have done, between the cold slow snow, high altitude and climbing course, it made for a very hard sprint. The format was a little weird, I would have liked to do a full sprint race but it was certainly better than no sprint races at all,” commented Goldsack on West Yellowstone’s new format.

The back-to-back format with separate finish lines challenged timing officials who had a short window of only 5-6 minutes to move the photo timing beams from the classic races about 20 metres to the skate finish. It was too tight and officials used plungers and timing wands for the skate race and were confident in their ability to deliver accurate results within 0.05s according to head timer Ernie Page although releasing the final results was a bit delayed.

“I’m thrilled we were able to hold these races after the huge storm and frigid temperatures we have experienced,” said Farra. “The courses were very tough, and the temps hovered around -1 degree F throughout the races, but overall the snow was terrific and the racers and coaches seem to enjoy this unique double sprint qualifier format. The 10/15k freestyle races are up next. Both winners take home $250 for their trouble and will start Friday’s freestyle distance races as the first USSA SuperTour Leaders of the season in the Yellow bibs.”

Up next on Friday are the SuperTour 10km women’s and 15km men’s freestyle races and Saturday wraps thing up with the 5km women’s and 10km men’s classic events.

Full Sprint classic results HERE.
Full Sprint freestyle results HERE.

Results (brief)

1.5km Classic Sprint

Men
1. Drew  Goldsack (AWCA CAN National Team) 4:12.30
2. Lars  Flora (APU Nordic Ski Center) +2.99
3. Mark Iverson (APU Nordic Ski Center)  +4.34
4. Brenton Knight (APU Nordic Ski Center)  +7.76
5. Reid Pletcher (University of Colorado Ski Team) +8.54

Women
1. Holly  Brooks (APU Nordic Ski Center) 5:04.25
2. Kristina Strandberg (XC Oregon) +4.21
3. Sadie Bjornsen (APU Nordic Ski Center) +4.93
4. Morgan Smyth (APU Nordic Ski Center) +10.89
5. Kate Fitzgerald (APU Nordic Ski Center) +12.25

1.45km Free Sprint

Men
1. Drew Goldsack (AWCA CAN National Team) 3:44.53
2. Lars Flora (APU Nordic Ski Center) +6.95
3. Colin Rodgers (Sun Valley Ski Education Found) +9.16
4. Michael Sinnott (Sun Valley Ski Education Found) +10.59
5. Brenton Knight (APU Nordic Ski Center) +12.52

Women
1. Holly Brooks (APU Nordic Ski Center) 4:32.89
2. Eliska Hajkova (University of Colorado Ski Team) +7.18
3. Kate Fitzgerald (APU Nordic Ski Center) +9.33
4. Kristina Strandberg (XC Oregon) +11.21
5. Jessie Diggins (CXC Team) +12.80