February 06, 2015 (Almaty, Kazakhstan) – We caught up with more North American skiers competing at the FIS Junior World Championships in Kazakhstan. Check out what Americans Katharine Ogden and Ian Torchia, and Canucks Katherine Stewart-Jones and Alexis Dumas, had to say about their Skiathlon results and experiences Worlds – race report here.

Katharine Ogden (USA) © USSA

Katharine Ogden (USA)

Thank you so much! This result was really great for me and I am psyched to be able to mix it up with some fast juniors. Going into these Championships my goal was a top 20 in the Skiathlon, but when I placed 11th in the 5km it definitely gave me a confidence boost and I revised my goal to shoot for a top-10 result today.

The conditions today were really awesome, the race organizers put in a huge amount of work to make sure that we had good snow cover on the course. Also, the weather was beautiful and warm and sunny with minimal air pollution, which was awesome. My skis were incredible thanks to the amazing wax techs here, they were ripping fast and my classic skis had perfect kick.

My race was actually pretty uneventful – I  worked to maintain my position in the pack and not break any equipment for the first leg. At the exchange I was preoccupied with pulling off a timely equipment-switch so I wasn’t paying much attention to what place I was in but I did know that I was doing pretty well.

During the skate leg I was thinking about keeping up with the girls ahead of me and skiing really big. Gradually, as people began dropping off, there were only about 6 or 7 of us that were pretty close together at the end of the second skate lap.

I think that my prep for Worlds was very successful. I had been training hard all year and so I went into the championships knowing that I was fit and I just did the same thing that I do leading up to any race series, knowing that it has worked many times before.

Next on my schedule I am heading to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic to race a Slavic Cup weekend there and then I am heading home to gear up for the Junior Nationals.

Today, Altynai, the volunteer assigned to team USA to help translate for us, brought homemade traditional Kazak buns for us to eat after our race. They are sort of like doughnuts but a little less sweet – for sure they’re my favorite Kazak food so far!

Ian Torchia (USA) © USSA

Ian Torchia (USA)

I am extremely psyched with my 11th place, and even more excited with all the great results this week from Team USA. Ben Saxton’s 6th in the sprint, three U23 guys in the top 20, Katherine Ogden 11th and 6th, its been a great week.

It was a klister day, and I had great skis thanks to the wax techs, especially Justin Beckwith. Great kick and great glide for both techniques.

Luckily I made it through the carnage of the Classic start and moved up throughout the race and headed into the exchange as calm and collected as possible. I was pretty surprised to hear that I had the 2nd fastest pit stop, I was just pumped to make it through smoothly and with two skate skis and skate poles!

I was in a group of three guys during the skate portion, and the coaches yelled that we were all fighting for 10th which really fired me up to try and hang at some points and try and drop the group at other points.

I’ve been skating all my life and only started classic three years ago, but thanks to my strong teammates at NMU and my coach Sten Fjeldheim, my classic has improved drastically and I now consider it my stronger technique.

I spent the summer training in Stratton which prepared me well for the increased training load at NMU. We have one of the strongest teams in history so it’s been a great freshman year experience to train and race with the best in the nation.

My next races are two college events home in Marquette where I will try and finish in the top 3 on the NMU team so I can make the NCAA team. If that doesn’t happen, I will head to Truckee for the Junior Nationals.

My favorite Kazakh food would have to be the free walnuts the street vendors gave us when we visited the outdoor market!

A happy Canadian women's team (l-r) Annah Hanthorn, Katherine Stewart-Jones, Anne-Marie Comeau and Maya McIssac-Jones ©CCC

Katherine Stewart-Jones (CAN)

It feels amazing to have achieved my goal of finishing top 15 in a distance race at Worlds. Today was my last chance to reach that goal so I am definitely super excited about my race! I am really happy about being consistent in all three races; to me being a specialist closes doors that haven’t even been opened yet. I want to be able to compete in any of the possible events that are held on the world cup circuit.

My 19th place in the sprint was a great way to start the week and definitely gave me confidence for the next races.

The conditions were pretty quick today. It was pretty warm so we were on klister. The race started with a downhill and three hairpin turns so it was pretty hectic. There were girls falling everywhere and breaking poles. During the first 2km I just focused on staying out of trouble and on my feet.

I made sure when I was testing that I had a lot of grip so that I could stay relaxed on the uphills and not waste energy. I started in 30th so I was glad to have moved up to 20th after the classic and I was ready to ski hard in the skate. In the skate leg I skied with a group of girls; I led on most of the uphills but the girls would draft me on the downhills which made it hard to break away. I knew that I would have to make a move on the last uphill if I wanted to stay in front.

The weeks leading up to worlds my coach integrated specific interval sets that resembled what I would be racing at worlds so that I was prepared mentally for the races.

The food here is pretty normal. We eat a lot of potatoes and meat. I am looking forward to eating fresh salads at home!

Alexis Dumas after the race © CCC

Alexis Dumas (CAN)

My race went really well. I’m super happy with the result, I knew that if I was in good shape and the skis were good
I could make the top 20. The condition were warm around +3C and the snow was pretty dirty. However, the wax techs gave me super skis in the classic and also in skate. Everything came together today and I’m super happy.

My start was a bit chaotic but I managed not to fall. At the end of the first lap I went hard to put myself in a good position. At one point I was skiing just beside the Russians in the first line. I was feeling super strong and glided well on the uphills. After I tried to relax but couldn’t follow the leading pack.

My exchange was slow because I had trouble clipping into my binding, but I stayed relaxed and didn’t lose too much time on the guys in front of me. During the skate leg I was feeling great, my legs were light and I had some energy left. Still I had a bit of trouble pacing myself and skiing with the pack. At the end I was super tired and couldn’t outsprint a Norwegian to the line.

My coaches gave me good feedback on where I was placed in the pack and that really helped me stay motivated and focused.

My form is super good, since the trials I put in some big intensity training and that really helped. My coach, François Pépin worked hard to give me the best preparation possible for this trip.