RASNOV, Romania (Feb. 25, 2016) – Two U.S. juniors finished in the top 15 for men and women’s 15/10k individual freestyle races at the FIS Nordic World Junior and U23 Championships on Thursday. The freestyle races replaced the previously schedule skiathlon, due to a lack of snow. Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, VT, Stratton Mountain School) led the U.S. team in 13th overall and Ian Torchia (Rochester, MN, Northern Michigan University) led the U.S. junior men in 15th overall.
“Conditions for today’s race were a lot better,” said U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Bryan Fish. “The past few races were very warm and sloppy, but the course froze over night which made for great racing conditions today.”
Sweden’s Ebba Andersson dominated in the junior women’s 10k individual freestyle race, finishing nearly 30 seconds ahead of Germany’s Katharina Hennig who finished second. Norway’s Tiril Weng in third. Ogden was also 13th in Tuesday’s 5k individual classic. Ogden skied a competitive race and was only 3.9 seconds out of the top 10 and 17.4 seconds out of the top five.
Heather Mooney in the women’s U23 10k individual freestyle races at the FIS Nordic World Junior Championships on Thursday. (FIS)
“Katharine Ogden had an awesome day and was consistent in her race today as well as in the results,” Fish said. “She did a great job holding on to her place throughout the race.”
Russia’s Ivan Yakimushkin won the junior men’s 15k freestyle race by 12.2 seconds over Norway’s Mattis Stenshagen and Russia’s Denis Spitsov in third. USA’s Torchia had a strong race, finishing 14th overall - just 14.9 seconds out of the top 10.
“Ian Torchia did an excellent job in pacing his race and moving up,” said Fish. “He kept charging hard throughout the race and eventually was able to move all the way up to 15th place, in a very competitive field.”
Patrick Caldwell skied to a 21st place finish in the U23 men’s 15k individual freestyle races at the FIS Nordic World Junior Championships. (FIS)
In the U23 men’s 15k individual freestyle race, Norway’s Simen Krueger claimed first just 13.3 seconds ahead of France’s Clement Parisse and Alexandre Pouye in third. Patrick Caldwell (Lyme Center, NH, Stratton Mountain School) led the U.S. U23 men finishing 21st, just 1.3 seconds out of the top 20.
“Patrick Caldwell also had an impressive race,” said Fish. “He went out strong in the beginning and lost a little bit of time in the end, but he still showed a lot of promise in a very deep U23 field.”
Germany’s Victoria Carl skied to a convincing first place, in the U23 women’s 10k individual freestyle. Carl finished 18.9 seconds ahead of Slovania’s Lea Einfalt and Russia’s Anastasia Sedova. Sedova was the champion of the 5k individual classic on Tuesday. Felicia Gesior (Marquette, MI, Northern Michigan University) led the U.S. U23 women in 38th followed closely behind by Kelsey Phinney in 39th.
This was the final race for the U23 athletes, but competition continues for juniors on Friday with a 4x5 and 4x2.5 k freestyle relay.
HIGHLIGHTS
- New faces graced the top of the podiums in each age category for the 15/10k individual freestyle races on Thursday.
- Thursday’s competitions were initially scheduled for a 15/15k, 10/10k, 7.5/7.5k and 5/5k classic/freestyle skiathlon. Due to a lack of snow, the races were switched to distance freestyle individual start races.
- The distance races were skied on a 2.5k loop.
- This was the first time Korea’s Magnus Kim was not on the podium since the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway Feb. 13-21. He dominated the individual races at the Youth Olympic Games and already has two podiums at the FIS Nordic World Junior Championships. Kim was second in the 10k individual classic on Tuesday and in the 1.3k freestyle sprints on Monday. Despite missing out on a podium spot, Kim skied to an impressive fifth place finish.
- Katharine Ogden led the U.S. junior women in 13th, followed by Vivian Hett (Burnsville, MN, Northern Michigan University) in 30th, Nicole Schneider (Plymouth, MN, Northern Michigan University) 40th and Sarah Bezdicek (Plymouth, MN, Northern Michigan University) 46th.
- Ian Torchia led the U.S. junior men in 15th, followed by Cully Brown (Durango, CO, University of Vermont) in 41st, Zak Ketterson (Bloomington, MN, Loppet Nordic Racing) 60th and Leo Hipp (Wyoming, MN, Northern Michigan University) 74th.
- For the U23 men, Patrick Caldwell finished 21st, followed by Adam Martin (Marquette, MI, Northern Michigan University) in 29th, Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (Bozeman, MT, Bridger Ski Foundation) was 39th and Kyle Bratrud (Eden Prairie, MN, CXC Team) finished 43rd.
- For the U23 women, Felicia Gesior finished 38th, followed by Kelsey Phinney (Middlebury, VT, Middlebury College Ski Team) in 39th, Heather Mooney (Craftsbury Common, VT, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club) was 43rd followed by Kristen Bourne (Lake Elmo, MN, Northern Michigan University) in 44th.
QUOTES
Bryan Fish, U.S. Ski Team Development Coach
Conditions for today’s race were a lot better. The past few races were very warm and sloppy, but the course froze over night, which made for great racing conditions today.
As far as results, Katharine Ogden had an awesome day and was consistent in her race today as well as in the results. She did a great job holding on to her place throughout the race. Ian Torchia did an excellent job in pacing his race and moving up. He kept charging hard throughout the race and eventually was able to move all the way up to 15th place, in a very competitive field. Patrick Caldwell also had an impressive race. He went out strong in the beginning and lost a little bit of time in the end, but he still showed a lot of promise in a very deep U23 field.
RESULTS
Junior Women 10k Freestyle
Junior Men 15k Freestyle
U23 Women 10k Freestyle
U23 Men 15k Freestyle
