January 18, 2011 (Lake Placid, NY) – Holly Brooks (APU) and Noah Hoffman (USST) were untouchable as day two of SuperTour racing in Lake Placid saw a change of venue to former Olympic site Mount Van Hovenberg on a 5km-loop laid out on the biathlon trails that offered little rest. The field of 400 racers, ranging from juniors and masters to world team members, toed the line for the 10/15km freestyle races.

Brooks, who was named to the US team heading to Oslo, added to her large lead in the SuperTour standings, taking her second win in as many days for APU in dominant fashion with a 55-second margin over her teammate Kate Fitzgerald. In third at 1:34 was Evelyn Dong of XC Oregon who broke onto the podium for her first SuperTour podium of the season. UVM’s Caitlin Patterson was the top collegiate racer in 5th overall winning the SLU Winter Carnival event.

The men’s side saw a new winner as Hoffman upgraded his performance from second on the previous day trouncing the field to win with a 58-second margin over second placed Brian Gregg (CXC Elite) in the men’s 15km skate. The surprise of the day was Alex Howe (UVM) taking third. His superb time held until Gregg bested him followed by Hoffman’s dominating performance. On his way to a podium finish Howe claimed the SLU Winter Carnival race win as well.

Lars Flora (APU), the winner of the men’s race from the day before and the SuperTour point’s leader, didn’t race on Saturday as he recovered from the large amount of racing under his belt and he was heading overseas the next day. “I was flying to Europe the next day and I was a little tired after the US nationals,” said Flora. “I wanted to be rested before I jumped on the plane.”

Flora will be joined by both Hoffman and Brooks at the 2011 Nordic World Championships in Oslo, Norway in February. APU is dominating the SuperTour this year as the next stop on the circuit is at Michigan Tech on January 28th.

SuperTour Standings after Lake Placid
(full standings here)

Women:
1. Holly Brooks  – APU Nordic Ski Center – 340 pts
2. Kate Fitzgerald – APU Nordic Ski Center – 235 pts
3. Morgan Smyth – APU Nordic Ski Center – 208 pts
4. Sadie Bjornsen – APU Nordic Ski Center – 200 pts

Men:
1. Lars Flora – APU Nordic Ski Center  – 297 pts
2. Michael Sinnott – Sun Valley Ski Ed Foundation – 167 pts
3. Torin Koos – Methow Olympic Dev Prog – 150 pts
4. Brian Gregg – CXC Team – 137 pts
5. Noah Hoffman – USST/Aspen Valley Ski Club – 137 pts