[GRP Ski]: Nationals Recap
GRP skiers claimed 5 top-ten results over the week of U.S. XC Ski Nationals in Houghton, Michigan.
The Michigan Tech trail system features a wide race course with sweeping turns, a combination of sustained and rolling climbs for the 5k loop, and a two-loop sprint course. It was the first Nationals in which men and women did all of the same distances.
Racing began on Monday, January 2, with a freestyle interval start 10k. Alex Lawson led the GRP women in 5th place, with Margie Freed just one second behind her in 6th. Annika Landis placed 17th with Michaela Keller-Miller in 24th. Braden finished in 20th for the men.
Alex
Annika
Michaela
Braden
Margie and GRP U23 skier Waverly Gebhardt (UVM) chased a coyote during the 10k skate race (photo by Ken Wikgren).
The coyote was one pace for a top-10 until it veered off course (photo by Ken Wikgren).
On Wednesday skiers raced a classic sprint - a qualifier first with the top-30 moving into heats. After the qualifier, Margie was 7th, Alex 8th, Michaela 29th, and Annika 33rd, less than half a second out of heats (Braden did not race due to sickness). In the 6-person quarterfinals, with the top 2 in each heat automatically advancing to the semis, Margie and Alex both placed 2nd with Michaela finishing in 6th. Margie then placed 6th in her semifinal to earn a final place of 12th, with Alex 5th in her semi, earning 9th place overall.
Alex near the start of her semifinal
Friday of Nationals week saw skiers racing 20k classic mass starts. Alex skied a gutsy race, hanging tough with the four person lead pack through 10k before eventually dropping back and finishing 4th. Margie skied to 12th, Michaela 24th, and Annika 32nd. Braden was 18th in the men’s competition.
Michaela (121) in the 20k
Braden (11) fighting for the line in the 20k.
The last day of racing in Houghton, a freestyle sprint, was technically not a national championship but it did count as a SuperTour race. In the morning qualifier Margie was 10th, Alex 13th, Annika 21st, Michaela 23rd, and Braden 44th.
Margie and Annika went 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in quarterfinal 1 with Alex 3rd and Michaela 5th in quarterfinal 5. Alex advanced to the semifinals as a lucky loser (meaning she had one of the two fastest times of non-automatic qualifiers).
Margie then placed 6th in semifinal 1 for a final place of 11th with Alex skiing to 4th in semifinal 2 for a final place of 8th. Annika ended up in 15th and Michaela in 22nd.
Day 4 results. Replays of all races can still be accessed via the livestream.
The GRP skiers stay in the Midwest for more racing this weekend - a 30k classic mass start and classic sprints in Cable, Wisconsin.