January 23, 2010 (Minneapolis, Minnesota) – CXC Team Vertical Limit dominated the opening race of the 2010 Mayor’s Challenge SuperTour in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Matt Leibsch led a CXC sweep of the men’s 10km freestyle podium, followed by Brian Gregg in 2nd, and Bryan Cook in 3rd. Rebecca Dussault (CXC) won the women’s 5km freestyle over team mate Maria Stuber. Aurelia Korthauer (UAF) was 3rd. Chris Cook (Steinbock Racing) finished 4th in the men’s race as Liebsch was the only skier under 23 min. in wet and soft conditions with rain falling during the race.

The City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation is the host of the Mayor’s Challenge. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak challenged the world to a weekend of racing on the new world class Hap and Judy Lutter Competition Loop at Theodore Wirth Park. On Sunday, January 24, is the women’s 10km and men’s 15km Classic mass start, with SuperTour, Junior Olympic qualifications, college categories, and the youth “ Cookie Classic”.

With files from Team CXC and SkinnySki.com

Men’s and women’s full results here.

Results (brief)

Men

1. Matt Leibsch (CXC Team Vertical Limit) 22:23.8
2. Brian Gregg (CXC Team Vertical Limit) 23:01.6
3. Bryan Cook (CXC Team Vertical Limit) 23:05.8
4. Chris Cook (Steinbock Racing ) 3:10.4
5. Sylvan Ellefson (Fischer/SSCV HomeGrown 23:12.5
6. Michael Somppi (NTCD-Thunder Bay 23:36.7

Women

1. Rebecca Dussault (CXC Vertical Limit) 12:25.0
2. Maria Stuber (CXC Team Vertical Limit) 12:50.0
3. Aurelia Korthauer (UAF) 12:54.7
4. Christina Gillis (NMU) 12:57.3
5. Melissa Schwartz 13:13.7
22. Anna Crawford (Big Thunder ) 13:54.1