The last two days of Nationals consisted of snowy classic days, with a classic distance mass start on Sunday and a classic sprint on Tuesday. Kjetil Bånerud (NMU) continued his strong week with 8th in the men’s 30k and Reid Goble (MTU) followed as the next CCSA skier in 17th. Henriette Semb (MTU) and Amanda Kautzer (MTU) led the women’s 20k in 18th and 19th, during the almost whiteout blizzard. In the boy’s 10k race, Gus Schatzlein (CSS) was the top CCSA guy of the day in 19th followed by NMU’s Matt Bourne in 26th. In the girl’s race, Savanna Fassio (NMU) held onto 13th, barely nicking Anabel Needham (MTU) for the top CCSA spot.
Freshman Molly Miller charges to the top junior position in the sprints (photo by Chris Schmidt)
For St Olaf and Green Bay, Sunday was the last day of racing, wrapping up a week of lots of CCSA successes. Many teams, prepared for Nationals by resting up and decreasing the training load before the races. “We’ve been on snow since Thanksgiving in Green Bay”, Shad Kraftson wrote when explaining GB’s strong week, “We had an easy week of training prior to Nationals. We were able to be with our families and ski at home over Christmas. That is always fun and I felt rested going into Senior Nationals”.
GB Senior Sam Meyers in the Classic 30k
Tuesday’s sprint races showcased NMU, Tech and CSS, the three teams that stayed for the last day of racing. On the girl’s side, NMU’s Malin Boerjesjo and Molly Miller had strong performances in the semi-final finishing 8th and 11th respectively. Miller nabbed the top spot for juniors in the sprint race, her 2nd one of the Championship. Kautzer, who felt like she came into the races well prepared, finished her stellar week in 14th. “This year was a bit different coming into US Nationals on our home course. It was the first time in almost 8 years that I’ve been able to have a relaxing Christmas with my family rather than flying off to races somewhere. Mentally that break was huge for me coming into these races. On the men’s side, Kjetil Bånerud finished up his week in 16th, followed by Tobias Moosman and CSS’s Nick Matelich and Emil Book Bratbak.
Teams now get a small break after the busy week. The next races are in Northern Minnesota at Mt. Itasca hosted by CSS.