December 2, 2009 (Kuusamo, Finland) – Here’s an inside look at the US XC Ski Team’s recent weekend in Kuusamo, Finland where they showed great early season form as Andy Newell came 7th in the men’s 1.4km sprint, Kris Freeman scored his career-best World Cup finish just off the podium in 4th in the men’s 15km classic, and Kikkan Randall earned her best finish in a non-sprint race finishing in the points in 18th in the women’s 10km classic…

Sprint Saturday in Kuusamo:
The lowdown on the classic sprint with U.S. Sprint Coach Chris Grover
“The sprint opener was a good one. Andy (Newell) hung up a good one with his seventh. From my perspective, Kikkan and Torin were really ready for the same as well. Just a change of equipment and we could have had a totally different day. These two both demonstrated they have the fitness Sunday, with Kikkan’s 18th place and Torin’s best FIS point race ever.”

The progression still unfolding in sprint racing?
“This course is hard to get a feel for changes in sprinting’s progression because this course it so simplistic,” said Chris Grover. “There’s hardly any double poling. It’s all climbing or spending time in a tuck, then holding on to the finish after the big climb. It’s a hard course to see much technique – it’s almost a kind of wax race – who’s got the best combination of kick and glide, and the fitness to keep it going up and over the big stadium climb. With Kikkan and Torin, we didn’t get enough of the kicking right to advance.”

Newell: Another Year and still loving Northern Finland
I’ve been fourth here, twelfth, and now seventh so I’d say Kuusamo’s always a pretty good spot for me. I definitely wanted to be in the final, but seventh is a solid start. It’s a long season, so I don’t focus so much on how I do in the early races – it’s fun just to race World Cup heats. This is what we train for. The most enjoyable part of being a ski racer is racing the heats. It’s good to feel the speed and the tactics involved. I don’t feel this at the summer rollerski sprint time trials. It feels good to get back in touch with skiing on snow.

The distance racing’s been good, too. It feels a lot better to distance race when you’re trained for it and are in good shape. That’s how I feel this year. It feels like the long summer hours are paying off. In the rounds I feel good, too. I’m recovering way better between the rounds. This is the biggest difference I can feel this year, recovering faster, having more energy. I felt this in Kuusamo and this is a good sign.

Kikkan: Saturday’s Unhappy Surprise, Sunday’s Delight
I’ve qualified as high as twelfth here in Kuusamo; I’ve also finished as high as twelfth, so I had this confidence going into the day’s sprint. The training’s been going real well all week, and I’ve worked real hard this summer on the classic sprinting so I really think my day’s early end came down to ski selection, the pre-race ski testing. The track was getting a little wetter and wetter. I found some klister skis that I was pretty happy with but the glide didn’t feel super good. Some of the other athletes liked the zeroes, as did the coaches. The glide is definitely better there – it just got close to the start, the zeros felt close enough and I felt confident enough that I could make anything work, so I decided to go on the sandpaper skis. Once I got out on course, especially on the big hill, I just couldn’t attack the climb. I had to ski tentatively, not trying to miss kicks. Even though I felt I carried good tempo up the hill, I was losing time every stride. To get to the finish line and see the big time out of the leader’s chair, I knew I was in trouble. This was a disappointment. At least there were some reasons to explain it and I had the next day to focus on.

More Kikkan on Kikkan: Yes, best her best distance effort ever.
“Yes, I think it’s pretty much my best distance race on all fronts – FIS points, time back, place – so I’m pretty happy with it. I was twenty-first in Beitostolen and I know I’m even better in classic so that left me looking forward to this weekend. Saturday was a little disappointing in not qualifying in the sprint but I had another chance to still make it a good weekend.

Refocusing: It’s No Big Deal for Alaska’s Finest
It helps that it’s the season’s beginning. Every race is a learning experience and I just tried to pull out what I did well and what I could do better. That race is done and closed. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s all about taking these lessons learned Saturday and take them into Sunday.