April 11, 2013 (Lake Tahoe, CA) – U.S. Ski Team member Kris Freeman and three-time Olympian captured his 16th national title on Thursday when he skied away from the lead group on the last lap of the men’s 50km Classic race to win the final event of the 2013 Distance National Championships and defend his 50km crown for the third consecutive year.

The 32-year-old Freeman, who skis for the Maine Winter Sports Center, covered five laps on the 10-kilometer course at Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Center near Lake Tahoe, in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 52 seconds.

Freeman’s U.S. Ski Team teammate Andy Newell, a sprint champion who said he has only skied a 50-kilometer race four times during his racing career, kept pace with Freeman throughout most of race and finished a close second, 50+ seconds back.

“Me and Bird (Freeman) skied together the whole race except he got away going over the top of the hill on the last lap,” Newell told Trax post-race. “He kind of broke away and we weren’t able to catch up to him.” Norwegian Einar Ulsund, racing for the University of Utah, finished third.

“Kris skied away on a climb on the last lap,” Ulsund, 24, said after the race. “He was just stronger than us. So then me and Newell skied together, just changing the lead until the last long hill. I was just so tired had to focus on getting to the finish line. I was like cramping, and was just empty. I was done.”

Newell dropped Ulsund near the finish. “We skied the downhill together and we were at the low point with about 3-K to go and I took over the lead to just take the pace down a little bit more and I looked back and didn’t see him.”

Just after Ulsund finished, U.S. Ski Team member Tad Elliott approached the stadium just in front of Canadian Knute Johnsgaard who skis with the Yukon Elite Squad. But as they rounded the last corner and headed into the final stretch Johnsgaard passed Elliott and took fourth.

Jack Novak of Alaska Pacific University, won the 20-kilometer Junior’s Distance National Championship. Adam Martin of Central Cross Country Ski Association came in second and Patrick McElravey of Auburn Ski Club was third.

A week of sunny, warm weather was quickly melting away the snow pack and volunteers had to spend hours shoveling snow onto the course to cover open ground and wet spots. Freezing temperatures overnight kept the snow firm for the 9 a.m. start and cloud-cover during the first hour of the race kept the tracks in shape.

But the snow was pretty dirty. Pine needles and tree-debris collected on the sticky ski wax, making the glide slowly disappear as the day wore on.

Racers had the option of  changing their skis twice for a new pair. But doing so would mean losing their position in the race. A ski change could take about 50 seconds to complete. Newell said the three leaders only made a change once.

“We changed skis on the second lap [at 20km],” Newell shared with Trax. “I was thinking about going three (laps before changing) but when I saw Kris head in to change, I decided to follow him because I figured he was a good person to try to ski with. So we all changed once on the second lap. I think it was a good strategy to just change once. Otherwise it takes too much time. Our skis definitely got slow toward the end with only one exchange. I think it was worth doing.”

The 168 racers, including 16 juniors racing 20-kilometers, skied in a tight line on the first lap until the 2-kilometer climb just before the finish. Freeman kept up a hard pace at the front and slowly pulled the line apart. Going into the second lap, a lead group of about six had formed.

That group included Freeman, Newell, Ulsund along with Patrick O’Brien, Tad Elliott and Erik Bjornsen. Elliott went off the front of the group when Freeman and Newell stopped to switch skis, but he was quickly caught.

The snow remained solid in many shaded spots through the second lap, Sylvan Ellefson, with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail Team Homegrown, slid off the trail at the bottom of a fast downhill and landed in a tree-well.

“He was rounding the corner at the bottom of a big hill,” said Dr. Nina Winans, who saw Ellefson crash. “He laid there for about a minute, but he finally got up and kept racing.” His arms were covered in road-rash and suffering a few cuts as well, Ellefson quit the race soon after.

As the lead group dwindled from six to three skiers and headed into the final lap, Freeman led the group through the flat section and then attacked on the first climb, successfully dropping Newell and Ulsund. After the race, Freeman said that was his strategy all along.

“The way the course played out today it was really hard to get away,” he said. “Two people were way faster than one person because they could sling-shot each other on the downhills. And also, because of the way it was melting as the day went on you could find faster parts of the track and with two people looking you could find the faster parts [more easiy]. When you were by yourself you didn’t really know if you were in the mushy part or the icy part.

“So what I tried to do was just make it as uncomfortable as possible for the other guys around me on the uphills. And eventually after attacking on the uphills a couple times I was able to get a significant break. That was what I had to do.”

Freeman made his final attack at 2-kilometers into the last lap and skied about 8-kilometers by himself to finish for the victory and his fifth 50km title. Next up, Freeman said, is rest and then begin training for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, where he said he hopes to have a personal-best performance.

“Our team has made incredible strides in the last 10 years and I’m just hoping I can have one of my personal-best performances,” he said at the SuperTour Finals. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that at the Olympic Games. I had a couple of [good performances] World Champs but the Olympics is what really matters.”

Martha Bellisle is an investigative reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal. She has been cross-country ski racing at Truckee-based Far West Nordic events for almost 10 years. She won two silver medals and one bronze in three U.S. Masters Nationals Championships and has raced in two World Cup Championships.

Full results HERE.
More photos HERE.