March 15, 2013 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – Logan Hanneman has been skiing the Birch Hill Recreation Area trails as long as he can remember. On a chilly Thursday night at the U.S. Cross Country Junior Nationals, he and Ben Saxton gave spectators a race they’ll also remember for a long time.

Hanneman, representing Team Alaska, came from behind in the homestretch of the Older Junior 1-kilometer freestyle sprint final and out-lunged Midwest’s Saxton by the narrowest of margins.

A photo finish sealed Hanneman’s third gold of the championships and tough-luck Saxton’s third silver.

“We could see this much daylight between the line and your toe,” JN chief of competition John Estle told Saxton, holding his fingers a couple centimeters apart. “It couldn’t be closer.”

Hanneman chased Saxton around the course and trailed slightly until the very end.

“I think he actually was a foot ahead or so,” Hanneman said, who along with Saxton crashed and lay horizontal after the last-gasp effort. “When I lunged I shot it out pretty good.”

The result took several minutes to determine as race officials blew up the finish-line image on a computer. The FinishLynx phototimer photo can be viewed on the Junior Nationals home page. Saxton and Hanneman were each given copies of the image and smiled as they posed for a photo holding them.

“I never want to lose, ever, but if I’m going to lose to somebody, what a guy to lose to on his home course,” a gracious Saxton said. “I’m just so happy for him. Racing like that is so much fun … but at the time I’m getting awful tired of second place.”

The sixth and last sprint final of the day was rife with drama. Saxton, who won the qualifying round while Hanneman was second, avoided disaster on an early uphill corner when Tucker McCrerey of Rocky Mountain crashed near him on an icy corner.

“I just punched it and I barely made it around him,” Saxton said.

Saxton’s acceleration gave him a lead that Hanneman worked hard to contain. Saxton said he faltered briefly at the bottom of the final East Ramp hill but still reached the top ahead of Hanneman. So he went first on the ensuing downhill, despite the dreaded possibility of a slingshot effect for Hanneman at the bottom.

“I led down the hill and that was the right decision. Whoever led (at the top) should have led (going down),” Saxton said.

Hanneman was in comfortable territory for the football-length charge to the finish into a steady headwind. He pulled around to Saxton’s left at the bottom of the hill and the two friends had an old-fashioned drag race to the end.

“We always do practice sprints here,” said Hanneman, a Fairbanks native who now skis for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “I know that 100 meters here pretty good.”

To his surprise, Hanneman now has a chance to pull off a junior nationals rarity: four gold medals. Three years ago, he accomplished the feat as a 16-year-old J2 in Truckee, Calif. Whether anybody has done so twice was not immediately known.

The 15-kilometer mass-start classic race concludes the OJ competition on Sunday.

“(Sweeping four golds) was a thought a long time ago, but then after how tired I was after NCAAs, I was just going to shoot for some podiums,” Hanneman said. “The 15K classic mass-start, that’s more and more my favorite event, so we’ll wait and see but i’m looking forward to it.”

Saxton, meanwhile, is still seeking that elusive gold. “One more chance,” he said.

Miller Spoils Norwegian Sweep in J1 Girls Race
Spectators watching halfway through the Junior 1 national championship girls sprint race must have wondered whether three Norwegians were on their way to a sweep. At that point, twins Tiril and Lotta Weng seemed in control, while fellow Norwegian Lisa Kvamme trailed slightly and American Annika Miller fought to stay close.

The next time spectators in the Birch Hill Recreation Area stadium spotted the skiers one tough climb and several hundred meters later, many must have been shocked to see Miller en route to a clear win at the U.S. Cross Country Junior Nationals.

“I really wanted to (win). I was like ‘You know, the U.S. needs to be on top today,’” said Miller of Team Intermountain, whose win was no fluke considering that she finished the qualifying round in first as well.

But keeping up with the Norwegians, who competed as guests and are not eligible to claim U.S. Championship medals, was no easy task.

“I was really worried coming up that first hill because they were just hammering,” Miller said.

Miller, from McCall, Idaho, quietly stalked the Norwegians and then charged past them on the final East Ramp uphill.

“I was kind of neck-and-neck with them coming up the last hill and then just off the top they just didn’t have enough left, I guess,” Miller said. “And so I hammered the top and hoped they didn’t have too much of a draft and just went for it.”

It was a risky strategy that could have backfired had the Norwegians hopped in Miller’s slipstream and slingshotted past her at the bottom of the hill leading into the flat finishing stretch.

Instead Miller won going away in 3 minutes, 4.14 seconds. Tiril Weng was runner-up a half-second behind, Lotta Weng placed third and Kvamme finished a distant fourth.

The other two skiers in the A Final, Marion Woods of Alaska and Zoe Snow of New England, placed fifth and sixth, respectively, but won the U.S. silver and bronze medals.

Blanchet Scores Surprise J2 Girls Win
In the J2 girls race, Lydia Blanchet of Anchorage could hardly believe she won.

“It just hadn’t crossed my mind that I could be a sprint champion,” said Blanchet, who considers herself more of a distance skier.

That Blanchet, the 2013 Alaska High School Skimeister, would top Julie Kern of New England seemed improbable, given that Kern was the defending J2 sprint champion and won Thursday’s qualifying round.

Blanchet grabbed the lead halfway through the 1-kilometer course with a nifty move on the inside of a tight corner. She held off Kern by .46 seconds and was never seriously threatened on the homestretch.

“I knew (Kern) was there. It wasn’t until I looked around and didn’t see anyone’s shadow that I kind of started realizing that ‘Oh my gosh, I might be able to win this race,” Blanchet said. “To pull this one off is just a good confidence boost for me.”

Hannah Halvorsen edged New England teammate Leah Lange to win bronze.

Gesior Glides to Victory in OJ Girls Race
In girls OJ, Felicia Gesior credited her fast skis.

Clearly her talent had plenty to do with the decisive victory that gave Great Lakes its first gold medal of the championships.

Gesior, who competes for Northern Michigan University, placed 11th in the same race a year ago at Soldier Hollow, Utah. This time she and Stephanie Kirk of Alaska, the top two qualifiers, broke away from the pack early on. Gesior bided her time just behind Kirk for half the race, then blew past her on the final climb of the 1.25-kilometer course.

“Once I was gone, I kind of went,” Gesior said.

As Gesior powered through a stiff headwind on the finishing straight, Kirk struggled home 5.75 seconds later. Celia Haering of Alaska took bronze.

Gordon Overcomes Adversity to Win Boys J2 Sprint
The J2 boys national championship sprint was only seconds old, and already Koby Gordon feared disaster had struck.

“My pole grip came undone so I had to grab my pole and put it back on,” Gordon said. “Yeah it was (stressful). I was like ‘This could put me in last’ but I was able to keep pushing really hard with my legs.”

Gordon, of Stratton Mountain School, quickly regained second place behind teammate Henry Harmeyer, the event’s defending champion. “I was comfortable there,” Gordon said.

Then on the final hill of the winding 1-kilometer course Thursday evening at Birch Hill Recreation Area, Alaska’s Jake Bassett surged.

“Jake came up and challenged on that hill and I just went for it so deep on that last climb,” Gordon said. “And I realized I was in front. I wasn’t planning on being in front. I wanted to come in second and get the slingshot (at the bottom of the final hill).”

That set the stage for a frantic sprint to the tape decided by .22 seconds in Gordon’s favor.

“I wasn’t sure who got first there until I saw my coach put up a big one (finger) in the air, so it was really exciting,” Gordon said.

Afterwards his coach examined the Velcro on Gordon’s pole straps and delivered another message, telling him “You’re not using these poles again.”

Bassett, meanwhile, won the qualifying round and coasted to first place in his quarterfinal and semifinal heats. But he expected a challenge in the final and got it.

“Those guys went out hard and I was just doing my best to not get boxed out,” Bassett said.

Bassett liked his position of second on the final downhill, but it didn’t spring him ahead.

“I kind of caught a little bit of a slingshot, but it wasn’t fast enough to get (Gordon),” Bassett said. “He definitely is a fast skier and he definitely deserved (to win).”

Harmeyer of New England took third .84 seconds after Gordon.

When the J2 qualifying round kicked off the third day of competition at the U.S. Cross Country Junior Nationals at 11:45 a.m., the temperature was 8 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind chill read minus 8. However, by the final J2 race shortly after 4 p.m., the temperature had risen into the teens, though the bluebird sunny day offered little warmth.

Stenshagen Scores J1 Boys Victory
In the J1 boys final, Alaskan Thomas O’Harra broke up a Norwegian sweep and claimed the U.S. national championship by placing third.

“I wanted to stay in the mix the whole race and not lose contact with those guys, but I also didn’t want to push myself too hard in the beginning,” O’Harra said. “I knew I had to keep something in the tank for that second hill otherwise they were just going to leave us behind.”

In the end, Norwegian Mattis Stenshagen got away and cruised to a 2.26-second win over teammate Sjur Slettom. O’Harra couldn’t quite outsprint Slettom but bested Norway’s Martin Thon.

“(A sweep), that would have been very fun, but 1-2 is not bad either,” Slettom said.

While O’Harra is impressed by the Norwegians and respects them, he didn’t sound intimidated.

“They’re people too. They put their pants on one leg at a time,” O’Harra said, adding that he’s drawn inspiration from World Cup sprint champion Kikkan Randall. “If she can beat ‘em — Kikkan’s just an Anchorage girl born in Alaska — I think anybody can.”

Full results HERE.
Read more on the championships HERE.