January 6, 2008 (Houghton, Mich.) – A day of overcast weather and above-freezing temperatures cooled off the favored women’s duo Sunday in the classic technique team sprint. The men’s title, as expected – but in a closer tussle – went to Andy Newell and Torin Koos.

First, it was “Upset City” as Kikkan Randall and Laura Valaas were handcuffed by the changing weather, which meant changing waxing conditions, which meant shifting favorites. Northern Michigan University teammates (and 2006 Olympic teammates) Lindsey Dehlin and Lindsay Williams were the ducklings who turned into the swans.

Williams, the 2005 U.S. sprint champion, took the tag from Dehlin in second place heading into the final 1.3km lap. Let her tell it:

“I knew I had to pass the Rossi team [Team Rossignol skier Martina Stursova from the Czech Republic, who was paired with Swiss skier Karin Camenisch] and stay ahead of Kikkan,” Williams said.

“On the downhill out of the stadium and into the woods I passed the Rossi team. Right when Lindsey tagged me I started to make my move to make up ground on them. And then I just kept going. I never had any doubts Lindsey and I could do it,” she said.

Randall said the sluggish skis didn’t hobble her or Valaas, the reigning SuperTour sprint champion and sprint silver medalist at the 2007 Under-23 Championships, in their first lap. But the softening snow eventually caused a drop in their speed.

Williams and Dehlin won in 21:24.4 with Team Rossignol six seconds back. Valaas and Randall finished with a time of 21:41.6 and since only American citizens can earn medals at the U.S. championships, they got the silver medal. The bronze went to fifth-place finishers Parker Tyler and Sophie Caldwell, two Stratton Mountain School students who finished in 22:11.1.

Men’s Race
In the men’s race, which concluded the championships at Michigan Tech Nordic Ski Center, Newell and Koos – each a podium performer on the World Cup and the two of them finishing 1-2 Saturday in the skating sprint (with Newell winning) – figured to win. They didn’t figure things would be as close as they were.

Koos was thinking of last year when he got tangled up in the tag zone at one point in their relay and his binding ripped out. He was looking for a win this time, a win to make up for last year’s setback.

“My job as the leadoff skier is to go hard and string out the field, so when Andy skis people are chasing him,” he said. “It turned out to be a little tighter than I was hoping, but the course with its rolling terrain and small hills made it tough to really break it open.”

They led but The Factory Team’s Lars Flora and Kazakh Andrey Golovko hung with them until Newell pulled away at the end. The final victory margin was only one second but Newell was well in control as he held off Flora.

“It was a good race and it was fun to be going head to head with everybody,” Flora, a two-time Olympian with Koos, said. “But it’s hard to take Newell out on a double-pole. He looked strong at the finish and once he started double-poling I knew I wasn’t catching him. I was happy, though, to stay with him on the hills.”

The warming weather created some nightmarish waxing. “It was a little tricky and there was one section of the course that was weird. Going downhill, the snow had a lot of suction in it,” he said. “I didn’t know how I’d ski in classic. I’d feel more confident against them in skating, but it as great to have a teammate like Andrey who kept us in there.”

Newell-Koos were the gold medal-winners (17:49.4) with their 2006 Olympic teammates Chris Cook and Leif Zimmerman, third-place finishers behind Flora and Golovko (17:50.8) with a time of 17:53.6, earned the silver medal. Two University of Alaska Fairbanks students Marius Korthauer and Vahur Teppan, imports from Europe and therefore ineligible for medals, were fourth so two other Factory Team skiers, Mike Sinnott and Colin Rodgers, were the bronze medalists in 18:45.8, good for fifth place.


Results

Men
1. Andy Newell, Shaftbury, VT (U.S. Ski Team/Stratton Mountain School) and Torin Koos, Leavenworth, WA (U.S. Ski Team/Leavenworth Winter Sports Club), 17:49.4
2. Andrey Golovko, Kazakhstan (The Factory Team), and Lars Flora, Anchorage, AK (The Factory Team/Alaska Pacific U. Nordic), 19:50.8
3. Chris Cook, Rhinelander, WI (U.S. Ski Team/Northern Michigan U./Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) and Leif Zimmermann, Bozeman, MT (U.S. Ski Team/Bridger Nordic), 17:53.6
4. Marius Korthauer, Germany (University of Alaska Fairbanks), and Vahur Teppan, Estonia (UAF), 18:09.4
5. Mike Sinnott, Sun Valley, ID (The Factory Team/Dartmouth College/Sun Valley SEF), and Colin Rogers, Sun Valley, ID (The Factory Team/Sun Valley SEF),18:45.8

Women
1. Lindsey Dehlin, Mahtomedi, MN (U.S. Ski Team/Northern Michigan U.), and Lindsay Williams, Hastings, MN (U.S. Ski Team/Northern Michigan U.), 21:24.4
2. Karin Camenisch, Switzerland (Team Rossignol), and Martina Stursova, Czech Republic (Team Rossignol), 21:30.9
3. Laura Valaas, Wenatchee, WA (U.S. Ski Team/APU Nordic), and Kikkan Randall, Anchorage, AK (U.S. Ski Team/APU Nordic), 21:41.6
4. Becca Rorabaugh, Anchorage, AK (U.S. Biathlon Team) and Kristina Strandberg, Sweden (The Factory Team), 22:07.0
5. Parker Tyler, Landgrove, VT (Stratton Mountain School) and Sophie Caldwell, Peru, VT (Stratton Mountain School), 22:11.1

Full Women’s results.

Full Men’s results.