January 08, 2012 (Rumford, ME) – The final day of the 2012 US XC Ski Championships in Rumford was full of drama as Torin Koos (Bridger Ski Foundation), who appeared to have won the Men’s 1.6km Classic Sprint title, has apparently been disqualified. Yet no further information was given by the Jury when asked – stay tuned for more details that are expected to follow.

Assuming that the DSQ stands, the men’s race crown will go to Tyler Kornfield of UAF/Club Alaska Winter Stars. Following in second will be Sun Valley’s Mike Sinnot, with Dartmouth skier Eric Packer taking third place. Fourth went to The Green Team’s Patrick O’Brien, with fifth going to the USST’s Skyler Davis.

Since filing this report we caught up with Kent Slaughter, the Technical Director at the 2012 US XC Nationals, and he confirmed that Koos was issued a warning during the mass start race on Friday [Jan. 6] for moving up into the wrong starting place. Koos was issued a second warning today [Jan. 8] during the men’s classic Sprint for obstructing another skier and according FIS rules the two warnings resulted in the automatic disqualification. Koos has 72 hours from the time he was notified of each infraction to appeal them and we understand that’s his intention. -ed

The winner of the women’s 1.4km Classic Sprint race was Canadian skier Daria Gaiazova, who had the fastest qualifing time this morning in 3:28:14. But as Gaiazova is not eligible to win any titles at the championships the USSA women’s Classic Sprint crown goes to Jesse Diggins (CXC-USST) as the first American finisher. It was Diggins fourth consecutive National gold title at these championships.

“Today was such an awesome day,” said Diggins. “I was feeling a little tired and sore going into the day, but also pretty nervous from putting too much pressure on myself. So I decided to just try and make the A final, and see what happened from there! Turns out once I got to the last round, I was so ready to race that my energy level picked up quite a bit.”

Diggins liked the course and explained her strategy to us. “I knew that last downhill was going to be super tactical, so although I wanted to be able to kick up the hills my coaches and I found a fine line between enough kick and super slick skis that enabled me to slingshot into the stadium.

“I also knew from the rounds that I did NOT want to be the first one at the top of the last hill, so I tucked in behind Ida and picked up speed before the bridge get around her for the final hundred meters,” she added.

Second place in the women’s sprint went to APU’s Kate Fitzgerald who had a marvelous week of consistent racing here. Third went to Ida Sargent, a former Dartmouth skier and Vermont native, now skiing out of the Craftsbury Green Team. Fourth position went to APU skier Lauren Fritz.

The weather provided some measure of tricky waxing, with some athletes using binder and others using klister, as the temperatures hovered around 30 degrees F, under bright sunny skies.

Diggins is soon off to Europe and talked about the challenges ahead for the talented skier. “I fly to Milan, Italy on the 11th for the World Cup sprints, and from there I follow the World Cup till U23’s in Turkey. After U23’s I’ll get back to the World Cup till the OPA finals in Spain, and from there I’ll get back to Vermont for Distance Nationals and Supertour finals.

“I’ve only done one World Cup race before, so I don’t really know what to expect, and I really like that. There’s no pressure except to get out there, have fun and race my hardest. So I’m psyched!”

All proceeds from Flying Point Road Photography from this year’s Nationals will be donated to the NNF.

Women’s Qualifications HERE.
Men’s Qualifications HERE.

Women’s Final results HERE.
Men’s Final results HERE.