February 09, 2012 (Madona, Latvia) – Canada’s Graham Nishikawa missed the podium by fractions of a second today in the men’s mass start 30km skate race in Medona, Latvia, the latest stop on the Scandinavian Cup circuit. Nishikawa finished in a group of five men in a race that came down to bunch sprint, with the top five places crossing the line within a half second. Nishikawa missed the podium by a mere two tenths of a second. Sweden’s Frederik Karlsson won the race in a time of 1:15:33.05.

Michael Sinnott posted the top US result in the race, finishing in 15th, 1:12 off the winning pace. Also in the field were Canada’s Michael Somppi and Brian McKeever, who placed 20th and 22nd, respectively, along with the USA’s Peter Kling (34th), Welly Ramsey (44th), and Max Christian (46).

In the women’s 15km race, Rebecca Rorabaugh (USA) led the North Americans with a 17th place finish, followed by Canada’s Alana Thomas (20th) and Zoe Roy (25th). Emily Hannah (USA) finished in 26th.

The Scandinavian Cup series moves on to Albu, Estonia this weekend with classic sprint and distance races. Both the USA and Canada will be represented by the same development trip athletes, with current Haywood NorAm women’s overall leader, Alysson Marshall (CAN), joining the fray as well.

Full men’s and women’s results HERE.