November 21, 2010 (Gallivare, Sweden) – The Norwegians continued to dominate in Sweden as Norway 1, lead by anchor Marit Bjoergen, earned another convincing victory in the women’s 4x5km mixed technique relay over Sweden 1 in second and Italy 1 in third. For team USA it was a solid effort of building their relay squad as they finished 13th in a photo finish with Japan.

Ida Sargent broke the ice at her first FIS World Cup in the tough scramble of the opening classic leg and held her own for awhile before fading and then tagged off to Kikkan Randall who regained some ground with good form in her classic leg. Morgan Arritola skied better today than yesterday in her skate leg before handing off to anchor Liz Stephen who raced a solid final skate leg to claim 13th in a photo finish with Japan in 12th. “I’m really proud of our team today,” said US coach Matt Whitcomb following the race.

Norway 1’s Vibeke Skofterud who started the first leg summed up the team’s win saying, “We are very satisfied with our race. We wanted to win and we did it. I am myself happy about my performance. I was racing the first leg, Justyna [Kowlaczyk] was faster but I had good control on the other teams. It was a good World Cup kick off weekend.”

For the USA’s starter Sargent, 21, a Vermont native and Dartmouth College junior with Craftsbury Green Team, it was great to finally have her first World Cup under her belt as she lined up with likes of Justyna Kowlaczyk (POL) for the first classic leg of the women’s relay.

“It was really exciting and a good start but tough – it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” said Sargent. “But I felt good out there and wanted to stay at the front with the top skiers. The pace picked up and I couldn’t keep up in the final km and kind of blew up. But it was fun and a great experience – next time I’ll do my own race. The World Cup is a whole new level – it was eye opening and I’m  looking forward to next weekend in Kuusamo.”

For veteran Kikkan Randall who followed Sargent and had a strong classic leg moving the team up five spots into 14th the day was a huge success for the team. “We’re all excited – it was a great team effort and I’m really impressed with Ida going up against Kowlaczyk and the others. We experimented and it worked out – just having a team ready to go is great. Sure we have some fine tuning but Morgan skied well as did Liz so we’re all stoked and looking forward to Kuusamo.”

Arritola also skied a strong leg but other teams were able to gain some ground as she handed off to Stephen in 17th. “Morgan looked better today,” said Whitcomb. “She has been training really well, but came into the weekend a touch tired. Her snap was partially back in place today, a sign of good things to come.”

For Stephen, also from Veromont and a former team mate of Sargent, who loves the relay and skiing anchor it was a great day and a great experience as she brought the team back into a photo finish with Japan ending up in 13th. “Everyone skied well and the energy on the team is great,” said Stephen. “It’s really exciting to see this team coming together and we’re eager to build on this experience and look ahead to Sochi. We’re all psyched for Kuusamo next weekend.”

The team heads out to Kuusamo, Finland on Monday for a 4-hour drive and will settle in and begin training and preparing for the mini tour at round 2 of the FIS World Cup. For US coach Pete Vordenberg it was a solid day for the women’s team. “Ida did what was asked,” said Vordy. “She went out to keep up with the leaders. It was a bit much and she fried, but man is it going to be fun to watch her next weekend and in the future. The others skied well and a real team is taking shape.”

Full results HERE.
Analysis of results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Norway 1 (Vibeke W. Skofterud, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, Marit Bjoergen) 50:16.0
2. Sweden 1 (Britta Johansson Norgren, Anna Haag, Maria Rydqvist, Charlotte Kalle) 26.8
3. Italy 1 (Magda Genuin, Marianna Longa, Silvia Rupil, Arianna Follis) 56.2

13. USA (Ida Sargent, Kikkan Randall, Morgan Arritola, Liz Stephen) 2:53.2