The 2018 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships, featuring championship Nordic racing through January 8th at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, continued with the Sprint Freestyle events on Friday; the Mass Start Classic races on Sunday and will close on Monday with the Classic Sprint races.
Freestyle Sprint Event
The Sprint Freestyle events featured a 1.4-kilometer women’s course and a 1.7-kilometer men’s course. Racing included a full day of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Women’s 1.4-K Freestyle Sprint
The U.S. Cross Country Ski Championship in the Women’s Sprint Freestyle was captured by Alaska’s Caitlin Patterson. The South Anchorage High graduate (2007) completed the course in the event final in a time of 3:27.86. Patterson proved her versatility following-up a victory in the 10-K freestyle with the sprint championship.
Soldotna High School graduate Sadie Fox, currently skiing for UAA, finished 44th overall with a time of 3:39.64
Kenai Central senior Addison Gibson finished 112th with a time of 3:54.78 as a U18 competitor.
Men’s 1.7-K Freestyle Sprint
The U.S. Cross Country Ski Championship in the Men’s Sprint Freestyle was won by former Fairbanks skier Reese Hanneman. Hanneman, who trains with the Alaska Pacific Ski program, topped the Men’s field completing the 1.7-K course in 3:08.53.
Kenai Central High’s Karl Danielson posted the fastest time for a central peninsula U18 skier. Danielson finished 134th with a time of 3:33.29.
Area skiers Koby Vinson and Jeremy Kupferschmid , from Soldotna High School and competing for Alaska Nordic Racing completed the championship race in the Men’s U18 division. Vinson finished 170th overall with a time of 3:43.36; Kupferschmid finished 180th with a time of 3:50.08
Alaska’s Gus Schumacher from Service High School, 2017 ASAA State Nordic Ski Champion, placed 8th overall and was the only U18 finisher in the top 20.
U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships – 30K/20K/10K/5K Sunday, Jenaury 7th
The U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships featured racing in the Classic Mass Start 30K/20K/10K/5K events on Sunday on the courses at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.
Junior Male 10-K Classic Style
Hunter Wonders, skiing for APU, posted the fastest time in the Junior Male 10-K Classic winning the national title in a time of 27:06.1
Kenai Central’s Karl Danielson placed 43rd overall in a time of 29:33.9. Soldotna High’s Koby Vinson placed 86th with a time of 31:53 and SoHi’s Jeremy Kupferschmid placed 103rd with a time of 34:29.9
Junior Female 5-K Classic Style
Kenai’s Addison Gibson placed 52nd in the Junior Female Classic event, completing the course in 17:02.9
Hannah Halverson, skiing for APU, posted the top time with a 15:07.8
Women’s 20-K Classic Style
Hedda Baangman, from Sweden , held-off Anchorage’s Caitlin Patterson for the Women’s 20-K Classic championship. Baangman edged Patterson by 15.9 seconds, posting a time of 1:00:55.3
Men’s 30-K Classic Style
Tyler Kornfield, representing APU, recorded his first national championship with a 1:21:43.6 in the 30-K Men’s final.
Competitors are listed by affiliation and not by home state or address. Other area skiers may be found in the overall results.
Link To Official Race Results: Click Here!
U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships Link & Schedule
Previous U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships story published 1/3/18
The top Nordic skiers in the United States are gathered in Anchorage, Alaska for the 2018 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships, featuring championship Nordic racing from January 3rd through January 8th at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.
The first day of competition included the Women’s 10-Kilometer Freestyle and the Men’s 15-Kilometer events.
Women’s 10-K Freestyle
Alaska’s Caitlin Patterson raced to the Women’s 10-K Freestyle national championship recording a time of 27 minutes, :08.1 seconds. Patterson was the Alaska High School Skimeister in 2007, winning both the freestyle and classic championship races.
Soldotna High School graduate Sadie Fox, currently skiing for UAA, finished 59th overall with a time of 31:30.8
Kenai Central senior Addison Gibson finished 118th with a time of 34:12.8 as a U18 competitor.
Men’s 15-K Freestyle
The Men’s 15-K Freestyle event featured a victory and national championship for Alaska’s Scott Patterson. Patterson, a graduate of South Anchorage High School and currently affiliated with Alaska Pacific University, completed the Kincaid course in 36 minutes, 33.7 seconds for a :55.2 second margin of victory.
Area skiers Koby Vinson and Jeremy Kupferschmid , from Soldotna High School and competing for Alaska Nordic Racing completed the championship race in the Men’s U18 division. Vinson finished 159th overall with a time of 46:41.2; Kupferschmid finished 174th with a time of 49:25.2
Alaska’s Gus Schumacher from Service High School, 2017 ASAA State Nordic Ski Champion, placed 6th overall and was the only U18 finisher in the top 8.
Competitors are listed by affiliation and not by home state or address. Other area skiers may be found in the overall results.
2018 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships: Calandar
Thursday is a training day with no racing scheduled.
Friday’s race schedule includes sprint freestyle qualifiers beginning at 10 a.m. and sprint freestyle finals beginning at 12:15 p.m.