January 04, 2013 (Midway, UT) – APU was on fire on Day 2 at the 2013 U.S. XC Ski Championships as SuperTour leader Eric Bjornsen and double-podium skier, Rosie Brennan, took the wins in the 10/15km FR Individual Start races at Soldier Hollow on January 4th as they both earned their first national titles. The women’s podium paid tribute to Erik Flora’s renowned APU program with Sadie Bjornsen in second and Kate Fitzgerald in third.

For the men it was 2011 American Birkie winner, Tad Elliott, winning the silver at 6s followed by Sun Valley’s Matt Gelso taking home the bronze another 9s behind Elliott.

“I’m still a little bit in shock. I can’t believe I just won nationals. It’s so amazing. My race was unbelievable. I’ve never been top 10 in a distance race at nationals so to win it was pretty crazy,” said Erik Bjornsen. “I went out hard and caught some fast dudes and worked with [Matt] Gelso, who was third today. He kind of pulled me for a lot of it. I was kind of dying the second lap and then the last lap I pulled a couple times for Gelso and just felt like we were hammering that last lap. Coming down the last hill I was just thinking “don’t fall! Don’t lose it!” because my legs we so filled with lactate. Then I just hammered into the finish and I couldn’t believe it. I was just so excited.”

Friday’s conditions nearly repeated Wednesday’s cold fog with blue sky burning through before race start. Cold mountain air overnight of -12F made for a very hard and fast track as it warmed at start time. The women’s 10k, two laps of a modified Olympic 5k course, started with a long climb through the hollow followed by flats up at the FIS legal elevation limit of the Soldier Hollow course.

The hairpin turn from the sprint course led to Hermod’s Hill, the steep and infamous climb almost regaining the top of the course. Hermod’s climb leads directly to a fast descent and a turn to the stadium from the opposite direction of the sprint course’s led to the stadium run. The men’s 15km climbed the hills and through the stadium three times.

Brennan, originally from Park City, Utah, established herself among the top tier of eastern collegiate racers while at Dartmouth with regular podium finishes. “So far my time here has been fabulous. I have already exceeded my expectations so I’m just hoping that it will keep going that way! This course has great up hills and that plays to my strengths,” said a smiling Brennan post-race.

“The flatter sections here are my challenge but I was able to work with some teammates to work through the flats. It’s great to be back home and have my friends and family able to watch. I’ve been off for the past year’s cross country ski racing and nobody really knows what it is, so it’s great for them to finally have been able to come out and see it.”

Bjornsen tightened his grip on the men’s overall in the SuperTour series as the Alaskan skier won by a solid 6s over his next rival. His sister Sadie leads the women’s series.

Live results women HERE.
Live results men HERE.
Full results HERE.

Women’s Photos

Men’s Photos