March 2, 2005 – The fourth week of February has become a pilgrimage for over 6500 competitive
cross-country skiers as they converge on Hayward, WI. In it’s 32nd year, the
Subaru American Birkibeiner has become the season’s highlight for many citizen
racers and some of the best long distance racers from around the world. This 51
kilometer event has become a showcase in matching the most talented American
skiers against the traditionally stronger European racers.
Caminisch and Hochtl win the Elite Sprints
The three days of events kicked off on Thursday with the Elite Sprints located on
the snowed in main street of downtown Hayward’s shopping district. The heats
started with the quarterfinals, matching two competitors head to head from the
pre-selected elite racers. The course was lined with cheering crowds as racers
sprinted four blocks, around the turn around barrels, and back to the finish. An
extremely strong contingent of Team Rossignol raced progressed through the
quarterfinals until it came down to the showdown for the final champion. It was
no surprise to see Team Rossignol racer Karin Camenisch (current FIS Super
Tour leader and Sprint Champion) going against Irena Eder of Austria for overall
win. With amazing speed, Camenisch shook off Ider for a decisive victory.
The real excitement of the day was Team Rossignol’s Kevin Hochtl of Vail, CO
going against U.S. Ski Team athlete Lief Zimmerman of Bozeman, MT in the
final heat. Pumped with adrenalin from the cheering crowds, it was Kevin Hochtl
who managed to have a slight lead at the turn around and edged out Zimmerman
for a close finish line win.
Top Americans in the Birkebeiner
The sub zero temperatures of Friday night combined with the previous day’s
powder set the scenario for perfect race day conditions along the 51 kilometer
Birkebeiner course. Starting at Telemark Lodge in Cable, WI, the course headed
south over hilly terrain, across a lake, and on to the main street of Hayward
where thousands of cheering spectators greeted the weary competitors. The
Italian team took control of the race from the start as they set the pace throughout
the course followed by other foreign racers and a few Americans. With a couple
of kilometers to go, Marco Cattaneo of Italy made his break to take the win by
almost one minute followed by his two teammates. The top American was Leif
Zimmerman of the U.S. Ski Team in fourth place followed by Team Rossignol’s
Eli Enman of Huntington, VT in 7th. Other notable results for Team Rossignol
were Scott McArt of Anchorage, AK in 9th, Adam Swank of Duluth, MN in 12th,
John Bauer of Duluth in 13th, Alex Churikov of Verona, WI in 15th, Owen
Hanley of St Paul, MN in 16th, Josh Smullin of Boulder, CO in 22nd, Jon Engen
of Ketchum, ID in 25th and Kevin Hochtl of Vail, CO in 30th.
In the women’s event, it was Team Rossignol’s Brooke Baughman who set the pace from the start and made a
break from the main pack with the current FIS Marathon Cup leader, Cristina Paluselli and her Italian teammate
Lara Peyrot. It wasn’t long before Peyrot made a surge off the front to ski it alone for a victory in a course
record time of 2:15:30. With less then a kilometer to go, Paluselli made a hard surge to take 2nd place followed
within 30 seconds by Brooke Baughman in 3rd place. Other notable Team Rossignol results for the women were
Karin Camenisch of Denver, CO in 8th, Sheila Kealey of Ottawa, ON in 11th, Vicki Asmus of Plymouth, WI in
12th, JoAnn Hanowski of Duluth, MN in 14th, Kim Rudd of Golden Valley, MN in 19th, and Jamie Misner of
New Hope, MN in 20th.
Myers Win The Birkebeiner Classic Event
The superb condition of the Birkebeiner classic course was just what Team Rossignol’s Michael Myers of
Missoula, MT was looking for. Myers took the lead early in the race and never looked back to take a decisive
victory in 2:28:26 over Markus Knuesel of Switzerland.
Mahood Brothers podium in Kortelopet
The 23km Johnson Bank Kortelopet was a hotly contested event as it came down to the final sprint between
Team Rossignol’s Colin Mahood of Bend, OR and Ben Fick of St. Croix, MN. After taking the lead early in the
race, the two racers went head to head into the finish where Fick outsprinted Mahood by four tenths of a second
to take the win in 58:33.4. and making it the closest finish in the Kortelopet history. Colin’s brother, Nick
Mahood of Woodstock, VT and a Team Rossignol racer took 3rd place while their teammate Grethen Czaja of
Woodstock, VT ended up 2nd in the women’s race behind Maria Stuber of Northern Michigan University.