February 13, 2011 (Beitostølen, Norway) – US rising star Jessie Diggins pulled out all the stops to take the win in the Junior women’s 10km Freestyle race in Beitostølen today while in the senior women’s race Morgan Arritola and Liz Stephen landed on the podium in second and third behind winner Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen from Norway with a time of 28:20.1. Arritola was 37.7s off the pace and Stephen was 1:12.4 behind.

Diggins time of 29:29.9 was 2.6s faster than her teammate Stephen meaning she had the 3rd fastest time in the senior field theoretically putting her on both podiums.

“We had the final race of our “mini-tour” today; a 10km skate for the women and a 15km for the men,” writes Diggins in her blog. “I was hoping they’d keep it 15/30km, but since it was predicted to be miserably cold out, and the Norwegians are much more careful to preserve their athletes lungs than we are in the US, they shortened the races and they didn’t start until later in the day.

“The race was awesome for the US team. I started with the 19/20 age group. This made for some fun chasing and passing during the race. At the end of the day, Morgan finished 2nd, I finished 3rd and Liz finished 4th. And Tad came in 11th, which is totally awesome in such a tough men’s field. I’m very proud of the US – top 11 for everyone who raced!”

Arritola was also pleased with her day and shared her thoughts with SkiTrax by email…

“Yeah it was a good race here in Beito,” said Arritola. “I got off to a slow start and Astrid caught me a few K in and I just skied with her until the end. It was really fun to ski with her and I realize where I need to make the most improvement is in the first few K. Now we have a few days here in Beitostollen before we head to Drammen so I’m excited to get a little rest before next weekend’s race.”

Tad Elliott (CXC) also had a strong day just out of the top 10 in the men’s 15km race finishing 11th a little over a minute off the winner Thomas Vestbø (Nor) in 37:44.7. Noah Hoffman, Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell did not start.

It was a good day at the office for Stephen who commented to SkiTrax by email…”Good day for the USA with Jessie Diggins winning the junior field which is stacked and I haven’t seen results, but I’m sure she measured up quite well in the senior category as well. Morgan was 2nd and was able to ski with Astrid for about 7km of the race, which she said was really cool.

“Tad was 11th which is awesome! So it was a really solid day here. I am happy with my result on the day. My body was a bit tired today, but I was able to have a good effort out there and I think I am in line with achieving my goals in the coming weeks.”

Junior women’s results HERE.
Senior women’s results HERE.
Senior men’s results HERE.

Combined women’s results HERE.
Combined men’s results HERE.