March 01, 2019 (Seefeld, AUT) – The U.S. men’s relay squad took home a gutsy 9th place finish in the men’s 4x10km Team Relay in Seefeld as Norway claimed its 10th consecutive world title with Russia in second and France third.

Americans Erik Bjornsen, Scott Patterson, David Norris and Kyle Bratrud were as high as 4th following the first exchange as Bjornsen led off with a brilliant leg. The U.S. team had an early morning roster adjustment as anchor skier Simi Hamilton woke up with a sore throat and was replaced with Bratrud

Team Canada’s Alex Harvey, Scott James Hill, Evan Palmer-Charrette and Len Valjas were 7th after the first leg courtesy of Harvey and finished 12th.

It was a dramatically different weather day with steady rain and cooler temperatures, a welcome break from the extreme warmth that has plagued the Championships so far.

“Erik skied a really smart and gutsy race and is obviously skiing well,” said U.S. Cross Country Team World Cup Coach Matt Whitcomb. “We were starting 12th and there are only two tracks in the relay, so his challenge today was to be aggressive early and get into the break when it happens. Because of his tactics he was able to hand off to Scott just 4-seconds behind the leaders. Scott kept things very close for a long time before he got snapped off the group. Unfortunately, David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Bratrud had to ski in no man’s land out there by themselves.”