January 17, 2016 (Planica, SLO) – Sophie Caldwell and Ida Sargent led the U.S. with a fifth-place finish in the World Cup 1.2k freestyle team sprints on Sunday. Sweden l with Stina Nilsson and Ida Ingemarsdotter won the women’s race over Norway l with Heidi Weng and Astrid Jacobsen second, while Germany l with Sandra Ringwald and Hanna Kolb finished third.

“Ida and I have done three team sprints together, and this is our best result yet,” Caldwell said. “We’re picking our way to that podium!”

The U.S. qualified two out of the three teams in the semifinals. Caldwell and Sargent skied tactically by making great moves throughout the legs to qualify second in heat B, securing a spot in the finals.

In the final, the duo shifted between fifth and sixth throughout the exchanges in the sprint. The heat stuck close together until Norway’s Weng began lengthening the gap on her second leg. In the final leg, Sweden’s Nilsson tracked Jacobsen and attacked on the last climb to claim the victory. Despite not being able to close the gap, Caldwell was able to power through and overtake Norway 2 to secure a fifth-place finish.

“The top nations put in some big moves that were hard to chase, but we tried our best and maintained our position,” Caldwell said. “Team sprinting is tricky because if you ever push too hard, you could implode and move backwards quickly, so the pacing and moves are really strategic and I think we both did a great job and skied to the best of our abilities today.”

“Today was a fun and exciting race,” echoed Sargent. “The course in Planica is very challenging with a lot of climbing and technical downhills that are not great for recovery, so I wanted to conserve energy when I could while still putting myself in the best position to ski near the front. I was very excited to have the opportunity to race with Sophie again. She skied really well all day and this was our best team sprint finish together.”

Maya Macisaac-Jones and Dahria Beatty skied for Canada l and Cendrine Browne and Emily Nishikawa skied for Canada 2. They finished 10th and 8th respectively in their semis ending up 19th and 15th overall.

Men’s Race

For the men, Italy l with Federico Pellegrino and Dietmar Noeckler took the victory over France l’s Renaud Jay and Baptiste Gros in second, followed by France 2 with Valentin Chauvin and Richard Jouve in third.

The USA’s Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell qualified fourth in an extremely competitive heat, allowing them to advance as lucky losers to the finals.

“The men’s semifinals were bitterly contested with many teams fighting for hundredths of a second to make it through to the finals,” coach Chris Grover said. “Andy and Simi skied really well, avoiding trouble and staying close to the front. On the final leg, Simi had to sprint for the finish with seven other teams, and finished fourth, less than one second from first and fast enough to secure a lucky loser position.”

In the final Hamilton and Newell were sitting in 8th when they got tangled up in the exchange zone with one of the Norwegian teams who changed direction at the last second. Unfortunately, Hamilton and Newell failed to make contact before the tag zone ended, resulting in a disqualification.

“The jury made the right call by disqualifying them and both men were very understanding of the call after seeing it on video,” Grover said. “Andy and Simi typically have some of the best exchanges in the men’s field, but the tag zone is always chaotic and it was even more-so today with the very icy, high-speed conditions and the relatively short exchange zone.”

Canada 1 with Knute Johnsgaard and Lenny Valjas was 9th in their semi ending up 13th overall while Canada 2 with Jesse Cockney and Andy Shields finished 16th and 22nd overall. The USA’s Dakota Blackhorse-Von Jess and Reese Hanneman teamed up to finish 23rd on the day.

Full results here.