February 26, 2011 (Hayward, WI) – In a very tight finish Tore Martin Gundersen from Norway topped the field in the 50km freestyle race at the 38th annual American Birkebeiner in very cold conditions on Saturday with a time of 1:59.57.6 nipping Benoit Chauvnet (France) by 0.6s with Andre Tyuterev (Russia) in third a further 18 seconds behind.

CXC’s Bryan Cook lead the USA contingent in 4th only 2.4 seconds off the podium while Ottawa XC’s Karl Saidla was the top Canadian in 9th with a time of 2:00:23.4.

Caitlin Compton (CXC) from Minneapolis, MN was the fastest woman placing 75th overall with a time of 2:16:07.3 followed closely by Park City’s Morgan Smyth (APU) in second only 3s behind with Evelyn Dong (XC Oregon) in third place another 5 seconds back.

For complete overall results click HERE.
For all gender/age results click HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Tore Martin Gundersen (Norway) 1:59.57.6
1. Benoit Chauvnet (France) 1:59.58.2
3. Andre Tyuterev (Russia) 2:00:16.4
4. Bryan Cook (USA/CXC)  2:00:18.8
5. Vetle Thyli (Norway) 2:00:19.1

9. Karl Saidla (Can/Ottawa XC)  2:00:23.4

75. Caitlin Compton (USA/CXC) 2:16:07.3  – top woman
77. Morgan Smyth (USA/APU) 2:16:10.3
80. Evelyn Dong (USA/XC Oregon) 2:16:15.9

For complete overall results click HERE.
For all gender/age group results click HERE.