November 29, 2009 (Kuusamo, FIN) – USA’s Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) was just off the podium in 4th in the men’s 15km classic scoring his career-best World Cup finish on Sunday as Norway’s Petter Northug took the win over Maxim Vylegzhanin (Rus) in second with Alexander Legkov (Rus) in 3rd. The top Canadian was Ivan Babikov in 38th. Andrew Newell (USA) placed 48th, George Grey (Can) was 52nd, Devon Kershaw (Can) finished in 55th, Torin Koos (USA) was 57th, Alex Harvey (Can) was 62nd and Graham Nishikawa (Can) was 66th – a total of 94 skiers finished.

“I did ski what I thought was my best race ever today. I’m a little pissed off that I didn’t make the podium, but whenever you ski your best race, it is a good feeling,” Freeman told USSA’s Lindsey Sine. “Overall it was really what I had hoped to do today, except that I would have liked to have been 10 seconds faster and have won.” Freeman’s fourth was the best non-sprint U.S. World Cup finish since Tim Caldwell was second in a 15km in Anchorage in March, 1983. Freeman was also fourth twice in this same event at World Championships in 2003 and 2009.

“I paced it really well. I was 32nd by the 5K and moved up to 12th by the 10K. I just picked people off over the last 5K,” Freeman said. “I practiced this type of pacing all summer long. This is exactly what I have been working on doing. Everything is about the Olympics this year, and certainly I take a lot of confidence from this. I haven’t done a ton of hard intervals yet, so hopefully there is more fitness to be gained.” Freeman added, “I was on a new pair of skis that my coach picked for me and they were super easy to kick. Any time you go out on a new pair of skis and they’re great, it’s an exciting thing.”

According to U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Pete Vordenberg, Freeman’s finish was something they had been working on throughout his summer training. “He finished really strong, which has been a huge focus for us to have them finish the last 5K strong,” Vordenberg said. “Regardless of his place, just the fact that he finished so strong, I would have been really happy with it.” Vordenberg was pleased with everyone’s part saying, “It was really good work by the whole staff to put together good skis.”

The USA’s Kikkan Randall showed her increasingly strong form finishing in the points in 18th place at 26:56 – her best finish in a non-sprint race – at Sunday’s women’s World Cup 10km classic in Kuusamo while Canada’s Sara Renner was 39th at 27:51. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (Fin) gave the home town crowd something to cheer about scoring the win with a time of 25:58. Irina Khozova (Rus) was second and Norway’s Vibeke Skofterurd completed the podium. Other North Americans in today’s race include Liz Stephen (USA) in 59th, Chandra Crawford (Can) in 64th, and Morgan Arritola (USA) in 70th.

“Yesterday was a real disappointment for Kikkan. She had been preparing so well and has obviously made huge progress in the classic sprint and it just didn’t go well,” Vordenberg said. “So she was really looking for redemption today and came through with her best distance race ever. She paced it really well.”

“Our skis were fine and we had good equipment, it was just a really tough week for us as a team,” said Canadian team leader Dave Wood in a CCC release. Wood experienced significant flight delays with Renner and George Grey en route to Finland getting them there just in time for Saturday’s competitions, not to mention the team’s head coach, Inge Braten, suffering a broken hip during race preparations. “It was a brutal trip over here for us and I think we are just a little flat right now. We need to have a good training period this week and regroup.”

“We need to get Chandra some harder aerobic conditioning and I think she was a positive for us today,” added Wood. “It takes time but her shape is coming. Even sprinting events are aerobic and we need to build that up with her.”

Full women’s 10km classic results here.
Full men’s 15km classic results here.

Results (brief)

Women
1. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (Fin) 25:58.0
2. Irina Khozova (Rus) 26:11.1
3. Vibeke Skofterurd (Nor) 26:12.7
4. Marianna Longa (Ita) 26:21.0
5. Natalia Korosteleva (Rus) 26:23.2

18. Kikkan Randall (USA) 26:56
39. Sara Renner (Can) 27:51
59. Liz Stephen (USA) 28:52.3
64. Chandra Crawford (Can) 29:05.3
70. Morgan Arritola (USA) 29:26.1
71. Kristina Strandberg (Swe) 29:27.8

Men
1. Petter Northug (Nor) 35:22.2
2. Maxim Vylegzhanin (Rus) 35:23.4
3. Alexander Legkov (Rus) 35:30.1
4. Kris Freeman (USA) 35:32.3
5. Martin Johnsrud Sundby (Nor) 35:32.7

38. Ivan Babikov (Can) 36:30.8
48. Andrew Newell (USA) 36:47.1
52. George Grey (Can) 36:54.5
55. Devon Kershaw (Can) 36:56.8
57. Torin Koos (USA) 37:03.6
62. Alex Harvey (Can) 37:06.2
66. Graham Nishikawa (Can) 37:09.9