April 04, 2013  (Truckee, CA) – World Champion Kikkan Randall said before the SuperTour Finals Prologue that she was not sure she had anything “left in the tank” after her successful and demanding World Cup season that recently ended in Sweden. But her first-place finishing time of 7:57 would have placed her second in the men’s race.

Randall’s gold-medal World Championship Team Sprint teammate, Jessie Diggins, earned the silver in Thursday’s 3.2 kilometer race at Auburn Ski Club in Truckee, Calif. U.S. Ski Team member Sadie Bjornsen took the bronze.

In the men’s 3.2km contest it was Erik Bjornsen who had the fastest time of the day at 7:47. Knute Johnsgaard of Canada took the silver at 14.5s while APU’s Mark Iverson tied with Sun Valley’s Michael Sinnot for the bronze at 15.7 seconds behind the Alaskan winner.

The first day of racing dawned to heavy rain and wind, not the best conditions for a World Class cross-country ski race, and not the sunny California spring weather most racers expected.

August Teague, SuperTour chief of competition, said they salted the trails overnight and restricted access to the race course to ensure it stayed in good shape.

Skiers started solo at 30-second intervals on the 3.2-kilometer prologue course at the top of a hill, but headed straight into the rain and wind. After taking a sharp left at the bottom of the hill, racers started the first climb, but were protected by the forest for the rest of the course. That is until they dropped back down into the stadium where they again had to ski into a fierce wind to the finish line.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) SuperTour cross-country ski race series began in November at Yellowstone and typically concludes with the final rounds at the National Championship distance races. With only nine months to go until the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the top racers in the country are hoping to do well in this Olympic-qualifying event.

The Tahoe area in California is hosting the four-race SuperTour finals which are drawing members of the U.S. Ski Team and other top teams from across the country with 200+ skiers on hand. The finals run through Monday at Auburn Ski Club and Sugar Bowl. The week of racing finishes with the 30-kilometer and 50-kilometer distance races at Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Center next Wednesday (April 10) and Thursday (April 11).

Sixty women lined up for Thursday’s race, that began in a full downpour that slowly turned to sleet. Randall’s time on the 3.2-kilometer course — 7.57 minutes — not only beat her 59 female competitors, but also would have placed her 2nd in the men’s race as Bjornsen came in with a time of 7.47, while Johnsgaard was second with a time of 8:01.

Randall said the course was generally fast and in good shape but crossed the finish line looking like she gave it her all. Second place Diggins said she was able to find firm snow along the edges of the track, which helped her keep her speed high.

Diggins said her goal for the race series is to “have fun” and to “have an awesome time with my teammates and to leave it all out there.”

Veteran U.S. Ski Team member Andy Newell, a two-time Olympian, had a strong World Cup season finishing 29th overall to make the elite Red Group. Before today’s race he said he often feels pretty tired by this time of the racing season, but told us this was the first time he ever felt great.

“I’m excited to actually feel good for once in the spring and race some fast U.S. competitors,” he told Trax.

But just as the men’s race started, the rain turned to snow. Many who had tested skis and waxes in the wet, rainy conditions faced slower skis when the snow covered the track which was Newell’s fate.

He finished a disappointing 35th, saying his skis felt slow and he struggled with the 7,000-foot elevation on Donner Summit. If he has hopes of winning the mini-tour he’ll have to make up a total of 37 seconds over the three upcoming races that he lost to Bjornsen today.

Fellow veteran U.S. Ski Team member Kris Freeman also crossed the line disappointed. He finished 11th and 25 seconds down.

Randall and Bjornsen, will start Friday’s classic races in the yellow, race-leader’s bib. The men will contest a 15-kilometer mass-start Classic race with the women completing 10km. Time will tell what’s still in the tank.

Full results HERE.
More photos HERE.