January 22, 2012 – (Otepaa, EST) – While Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland was carving out another resounding victory for herself in the women’s 10km CL individual start race, not far behind, a bevy of North American women were doing their thing.

American ring leader, Kikkan Randall, had a solid day in 15th but it was US revelation, Jessie Diggins, that really turned heads with a slam dunk 18th-place finish at her first distance WCup. For good measure teammate Liz Stephen nailed her personal best classic result placing 21st. Not to be undone rising Canadian star Perianne Jones grabbed her first distance points since 2009 landing in 30th – the first distance race points earned by a Canadian women since Sarah Renner in 2010 (we believe).

Add to that the course in Otepaa is renowned for it’s character-building toughness – ask Devon Kershaw – and that i) Randall is the Sprint Cup leader ii) Diggins is a WCup rookie who earned Team Sprint silver last weekend with Randall in Milan, Italy iii) Stephen just completed her first Tour de Ski w/the eighth fastest time up Alpe Cermis (yes 8th)… AND iv) Jones was also on that historic Milan Team Sprint podium last weekend in third with teammate Chandra Crawford…

For the US-CAN women skiers it was a great way to end the second WCup period as everyone gets to take a break until the racing picks up again in Moscow on Feb. 2. Other NA results included Sadie Bjornsen (USA) in 34th, Canada’s Daria Gaiazova in 35th, Ida Sargent (US) in 4oth and and Chandra Crawford (CAN) in 51st.

For Kowalczyk it was a special day with back-to-back victories in Otepaa, known for its tough courses, as she edges closer to Marit Bjoergen (NOR) for the overall World Cup. While Kowalczyk’s 18-second plus victory speaks volumes about her conditioning and will to win, her Norwegian rival, in second on Sunday, is no pushover. Rounding out the podium was Bjoergen’s teammate Therese Johaug who took home the bronze… here’s a selection of quotes from some of the main protagonists in today’s competition.

Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) – 1st
This is my victory number five. For the first time I won here in Otepää five years ago. Otepää is really a special place for me. The distance course is very tough but in the summer I had here very good training camp. Perhaps the air is special here and it fits me very well. My tactics was not to start too fast. I wanted to get slower from the beginning. courtesy of FIS XC

Marit Bjoergen (NOR) – 2nd
I’m satisfied with second place. I kept the good technique today but Justyna was in a little bit better shape than me. It’s fair she has won. This winter Therese has been on the podium many times and me and Justyna too. We three have been in very good shape this year. I’m going to Norwegian championships where I will compete in two races. I will rest little bit afterwards before I go to Rybinsk. courtesy of FIS XC

Kikkan Randall (USA) – 15th
Yep, another solid day for me. Felt pretty bagged in my warm up so I took the first few km to build into the race. Probably skied a little conservative on the first lap but finally found my rhythm around halfway and worked up from there. Course was challenging but it actually skied better than it seemed in the preview. The snow was a little greasy in places so you had to finesse the kick and it didn’t always feel pretty. Had a close call on the first lap coming down one of the fast descents. One ski was completely in the air and it was a miracle I didn’t go down, would have been messy.

Really great to see the whole team so strong today. We got fired up before our race watching Kris and Noah finish in the top 30 and of course Kershaw on the podium. Got to see Jessie come through the lap just before I started and she looked really peppy. Sadie put up a good fight starting 30 secs in front of me, it took me the whole first lap to catch her.

Liz knotched her best WC classic result and Ida had an awesome sprint off with Kowalczyk in the finish stretch. I used to be psyched with a top-40 so to have our whole women’s team in there just shows what a huge step forward we’ve taken!

Having only had one weekend off since mid-November I am really looking forward to this up coming recovery block until Moscow. My coach Erik Flora is here and it will be nice to reset and do a little training again. Also hoping to revive my pink highlights!

Elizabeth Stephen (USA) – 21st PB
The race went really well yesterday, the second lap especially. If I could do it over I would go out a bit harder than I did. It was important to be a bit conservative on a such a hard course, but I was a bit too conservative. It was really fun to ski with Marthe Kristofferson up the big hill second lap and then try and keep her in sight for the rest of the lap. It really helps to see people out there. I actually caught glimpses of every girl on our team out on course at some point as well, which was cool, and got to ski with Ida for a bit too, which is always fun.

I felt pretty solid, and I fully enjoyed every moment of the race, which doesn’t always happen in an individual start classic! My body is feeling good, confidence is high and I am having so much fun racing and being with the team. The success we have had this season as a country carries with it a lot of momentum and we are all getting swept up in it.

Jessie Diggins (USA) – 18th PB
The race went really well! I think I went out a little to hard and started to fall apart that second lap, but managed to hang on long enough! Yes, this course was without a doubt the toughest one I’ve ever raced. If your technique wasn’t right on you’d slip pretty badly, and there were some tough moments out there! But our wax techs and coaches did an amazing job.

This being my first distance race on the World Cup, I had no expectations going into it. I wanted to just go out and ski the course the best I could, and get some experience in pacing along the way. I love being here on the World Cup – it’s so hard to stop smiling! The atmosphere is great and the fans around the course are so enthusiastic.

Justin Wadsworth – Canadian Head Coach
Very good to have Perianne score WC points on such a hard course – I’m very happy for her.

Matt Whitcomb – US Women’s Coach
Great day. We put five people in the points today on one of the hardest distance courses of the year with classic career bests from Noah (Hoffman), Jessie (Diggins) and Liz (Stephen). It’s nice to flex some depth like this. It helps us build momentum, and let’s athletes back home see the possibilities. There is connection. It can happen with a lot of good training and commitment to the sport. It IS happening and top-30 finishes are no longer historic. So much hard training lies behind these good days. It’s nice to see the team succeed together. But nobody is satisfied yet.

Full results HERE.