January 1, 2008 (Houghton, Michigan) – Defending SuperTour champion Caitlin Compton, who turned to biathlon after not making the 2008 U.S. Ski Team, extracted a little revenge Tuesday, winning the opening women’s race at the U.S. Cross Country Championships. Russian Ivan Babikov, who is hoping to gain Canadian citizenship, won the men’s race but with only U.S. citizens eligible for medals, Leif Zimmermann was the gold medal-winner.

Compton, co-champion with Laura Valaas a year ago when the team sprint was introduced at nationals, won the 5km race in 13:47.1.

U.S. Ski Team member Liz Stephen took the silver medal in 14:11.8. Karin Camenisch of Switzerland, who skis for Team Rossignol and was in the Guest Class, finished third (14:17.3) with Taz Mannix receiving the bronze medal with a fourth-place time of 14:19.6.

Babikov, another Guest Class entry, who has done this several times at the U.S. championships (i.e., win the race, skip the medal/title and walk off with a nice payday), and Compton received $1,200 apiece for their victories.

Compton, who graduated from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, said a light overnight snowfall didn’t bother her. “I spent five years up here, so I’m used to it,” she chuckled – although it slowed the tracks a bit for the women.

She had a very basic race plan: start fast and keep pounding away; don’t let up until you’re done. “I felt pretty good all through the race. I wanted to keep it just below max so I didn’t have a great three km, and then blow up,” she said.

Zimmermann, the 2004 national sprint champ, said good training sessions after the SuperTour races at Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic cross-country site, helped set him up for this gold medal. He was looking for a good start to the championships so he could qualify for the World Cup races Jan. 22-26 in Canmore, Alberta.

“This is a nice way to start the new year,” the U.S. B Team skier and 2006 Olympian said. “I was a little slow to get going.

“I felt a little sluggish and it took me some time to get fired up, but I got things rolling on the second lap. I really hammered that lap.”

Another blockbuster field – 438 skiers with 253 men and 185 women – opened the four days of short and middle-distance racing. The long-distance championships are set for March 28-30 in Fairbanks, Alaska. The men will race 30 and 50 km events while the women will have their 15km and 30km championships.

The US XC National 2008 races resume on Thursday with the men’s 15 km classic technique race and the women’s 10 km classic.

Full Women’s results.

Full Men’s results.