December 08, 2016 (West Yellowstone, Montana) – Round #1 of the 2016/17 USSA Cross Country SuperTour took place this past weekend, Dec. 3-4, in West Yellowstone, Montana as lack of snow at the original site in Bozeman, MT forced organizers to relocate the event. Inconsistent snowfalls over the past several years have played havoc with early season races in the SuperTour series.

The first weekend of racing included the 1.3km Freestyle Sprints for Men and Women on Saturday, December 3rd. Sunday, Decmeber 4th saw the Men’s 15km Classic and Women’s 10km Classic, as well as the WYSEF 5km Classic Juniors race.

In the Men’s 1.3km FR Sprints kicked things off as Matt Gelso (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) took his first SuperTour sprint win, beating out Tyler Kornfield (Alaska Pacific University) in second with Reese Hanneman (APU) in third. Gelso maintained a lead he established half-way through the final crossing the line almost 2s ahead of Kornfield with Hanneman another 2.27 seconds back. Benjamin Saxton, Cole Morgan and Dakota Black horsevon Jess rounded out the heat.

In the women’s 1.3km contest, Jennie Bender (Bridger Ski Foundation) won over Stratton Mountain School’s Erika Flowers and Annie Hart. Bender, the top qualifier, dominated with Hannah Halvorsen claiming 4th, Chealsea Holmes 5th, and Petra Hyncicoba was 6th.

Day 2 of the SuperTour opener saw Gelso (SVSEF) top of the podium again winning the men’s 15km classic individual start with a hefty 32.2-second margin over Ben Lustgarten (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) followed by Scott Patterson (Alaska Pacific University) in third.

In the women’s 10km classic individual start, Liz Guiney (CGRP) stopped the clock with a time of 33:52.8, securing her the win over Katharine Ogden (Stratton Mountain School) in second at 7.7 seconds back. Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) rounded out the podium in third at 28.4 seconds back.

The first Period of racing in the USSA SuperTour will conclude on December 9-10 in Silver Star, British Columbia.

Sprint Q here.
Men’s final here.
Women’s final here.

10/15km CL results here.