CRAFTSBURY, VT (March 24, 2016) – The third day of racing at the 2016 USSA SuperTour Finals and L.L. Bean U.S. Long Distance National Championships was a fun and unique 4x5k mixed relay, with Team APU 1 taking the win.
In the relay, each team had two women and two men representing their ski club. There were also other teams made up of athletes from multiple clubs, however teams with two or more different club affiliations were not eligible to win the overall Club Championships. The relay had two classic legs and two freestyle legs.
Thursday’s 4x5k mixed relay podium. (Reese Brown)
Team APU 1, which consisted of Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA, APU Nordic Ski Center), Rosie Brennan (Park City, UT, APU Nordic Ski Center), Scott Patterson (Anchorage, AK, APU Nordic Ski Center) and Chelsea Holmes (Girdwood, AK, APU Nordic Ski Center) claimed the Mixed Relay Championship title.
Bjornsen proved his strength as a classic skier, moving the APU 1 team to a 13.3 second lead by the end of the first leg. As Bjornsen exchanged to Brennan, she held on and continued to lengthen the gap to a 36.6 second lead by the second exchange to Patterson. Mads Stroem (University of Colorado), who was in second place, gained a few seconds on Patterson in the third leg, but it wasn’t enough to challenge the huge lead APU 1 team had.
Erik Bjornsen leads his competitors in the relay. (Reese Brown)
By the third exchange to Holmes, the APU 1 team skied to a convincing first place finish, 26.7 seconds ahead of the “Vailbury Green” team—Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail), Ida Sargent (Orleans, VT, Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Tad Elliott (Durango, CO, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail) and Caitlin Patterson (Anchorage, AK, Craftsbury Green Racing Project). The SMS T2 team—made up of Simi Hamilton (Aspen, CO, SMS T2), Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT, SMS T2), Patrick Caldwell (Lyme Center, NH, SMS T2) and Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN, SMS T2)—finished third.
The final competition of the SuperTour finals concludes Saturday, March 26 with the L.L. Bean U.S. Long Distance National Championships 50/30k classic race.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The 4x5k Mixed Relay course was a 2.4k loop.
- The APU 1 team all skied on the World Cup circuit this year. Bjornsen and Brennan are members of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team.
- Teams with two or more different club affiliations on one team were not eligible to win the overall Club Championships.
RESULTS
Mixed Relay (2 x 5k CL, 2 x 5k FR)
