December 19, 2009 (Rogla, SLO) – Top US sprinter Andy Newell finished in 6th, his best finish since January, after topping the qualifications in the men’s 1.5km Sprint finals in Rogla as Norway’s Petter Northug took the win over Tobias Angerer (Ger) and Jesper Modin in 3rd. In the women’s 1.4km final it was Norway on top again with Marit Bjoergen, healthy and making good to score the win over top qualifier Justyna Kowalczyk (Pol) in 2nd with Rogla’s favourite local star Petra Majdic (Slov) in third.

“It was a fun day,” said Newell in a USSA release. “Really epic conditions; snowing super hard, super cold. I just didn’t quite have enough for it at the end of the race. I’m not trying to be at peak fitness right now. Hopefully in February, the training will pay off.”

“It was a great qualifying race,” commented U.S. World Cup Coach Justin Wadsworth. “When somebody wins qualifying by two seconds, you’re skiing very quickly. We knew it would be a big day for him from the start.” Newell added that he’s excited to have finishes of sixth and seventh in the season’s two Classic sprint events (the format at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver), despite having room for progress.

“Whew, a tough one today,” Randall told us. “One of the more challenging sprint qualifiers I have ever raced. It was -16 C when we woke up this morning (I think it warmed up a bit before the start). it was snowing, they just groomed the tracks 45 min before start so the tracks were really soft, it was windy, and the course was over four minutes long. Unfortunately I didn’t have the speed to qualify today, I ended up 38th, a few seconds out of the top 30. It’s disappointing to miss out on another chance to ski in the classic sprint heats, but I just haven’t found my classic sprinting form yet.”

“It was great to see Andy ski so well,” added Randall, “He dominated the qualifier and skied really strong in the rounds. The distance skiers had just a little more gas in the final, but Andy was in there the whole way. Freeman was impressive as well, just narrowly missing the top 30. Tomorrow there are mass-start classic races, 15km for women and 30km for men. Conditions are predicted to be the same as today so it’s going to be challenging. I am looking forward to the chance to race head to head in a distance race!”

Norway is currently in charge overall with Northug leading the World Cup with 340 points, John Kristian Dahl (Nor) is in second and Ola Vigen Hattestad is 3rd. The USA’s Newell is in 11th overall. Bjoergen leads the women with 362 points while Majdic is in second followed by Finland’s Aino Kaisa Saarinen in 3rd. The USA’s Kikkan Randall is the leading North American woman in 28th.

Qualifications
The USA’s Andy Newell continues to impress qualifying in 3:49.69, over two seconds ahead of 2nd placed Nikolai Chebotko (Rus) in 3;51.71 in the men’s 1.5km Sprint with Lina Andersson (Swe) in third. Showing good form Kris Freeman (USA) finished in 32nd just out of the top 30 to advance along with surprise non-qualifier John Kristian Dahl (Nor) in 31st, who won the Davos sprint – both missed the top 30 by 24/100ths and 46/100ths of a second respectively.

In the women’s 1.4km sprint Justyna Kowalczyk (Pol) lead the charge in 4:09.89 over Evgenia Shapovalova (Rus) in second at 4:11.40 with Lina Andersson (Swe) in third. Out of the top 30 to advance Sara Renner (Can) lead the North American women in 37th with a time of 4:28.33 while top US sprinter Kikkan Randall (USA) was 38th in 4:29.87 and Chandra Crawford (Can) placed 43rd with a time of 4:47.57.

Alex Harvey (Can) placed 35th while the USA’s Lars Flora (4:07:05) and Torin Koos (4:07:18) placed 45th and 46th. The sprint course in Rogla, SLO is difficult and long. Neither Petukhov (Rus) nor Devon Kershaw (Can) started – Kershaw is sick and still recovering in Davos.

Women’s qualifications here.
Men’s qualifications here.

Women’s 1.4km final here.
Men’s 1.5km final here.

Women’s Overall WCup standings here.
Men’s Overall WCup standings here.