January 03, 2016 (Houghton, Michigan) – APU’s Scott Patterson held off a challenge by Canadian Kevin Sandau (AWCA) for his first national title at the 2016 U.S. Cross Country Championships on the Michigan Tech trails in Houghton, Michigan. Sandau, who has recently dominated the Canadian circuit, finished less than two seconds ahead of Northern Michigan University’s Adam Smith.

Patterson, a pre-race favorite, said he was taken off guard by the fast start of his rivals. “I got a split from Bryan Fish [at 3km] saying that I was in fourth place,” explained Patterson, “That jumped everything off.” At the end of his first 7.5km lap, Patterson had taken the lead, but only by a slim four seconds over his teammate Eric Packer, who ended up in fourth. From there Patterson stepped on the gas to finish twenty seconds ahead of Sandau. “I took every second I could,” he added. Packer took home the bronze on the USSA podium as Sandau is ineligible to win a US title.

Men's 15km CL podium (l-r) Sandau, Patterson, Martin © USSA

Sandau, for his part, took an opposite approach, starting slow and working into the race after the first lap. “I started feeling like I could go a bit harder and put time into them and catch them. It appeared some guys went hard at the start and then slowed,” he commented.

Unlike last year’s Championships, also in Houghton, this year saw fast snow and relatively clear conditions, making for a fast course with lots of double poling. In fact, Sandau said he considered double poling the race, but eventually decided that the classic skis were running fast enough to go with kick wax.

Like last year’s championships, the NMU racers found themselves skiing hot in the top ten, with Ian Torchia finishing in seventh place behind Martin who credited their strong showing to knowing the snow and the courses well. “We race here a lot,” he shared, “A lot of us really like the courses. The hills aren’t too steep but they are long enough that they take fitness. At least that’s what we like to think.” Martin, a full-time student, said he doesn’t consider his academic schedule an impediment to training. “Sten [Fjeldheim] is one of the best coaches in the country. We have a really good system here,” he said, also crediting his results to his training partner Kyle Bratrud, last year’s 15km winner. “There definitely wasn’t a specific athlete who was stronger this fall. Every workout there was someone to push you.”

Patterson’s results makes him a shoe-in for the US Team for the upcoming Ski Tour Canada, but first he is making his way to the World Cups in Nove Mesto later this month, where he hopes to score World Cup points by finishing in the top-30. “We [the US] need another guy in the points to up our quota, so I am feeling some pressure for that,” he said.

He is also hoping to have another strong showing in the upcoming 30km mass start freestyle race so that he can add to his SuperTour points lead, and qualify for the Period 3 World Cups. What does he think of his chances in the 30km? “I consider myself more of a freestyle skier,” he said, “I’ve had my eye on the 30km for a while.”

Full results here.