GRP Skiers Race World Cup Finals in Falun; OPA Finals in Baqueira Beret

Caitlin Patterson cornering in the sprint in Falun (Photo Mathias Eriksson)

Ben Lustgarten climbing in the pursuit in Spain (Photo Bryan Fish)

Last Updated: 21.Mar.2018

The 2017-2018 World Cup season came to an end this weekend with a mini-tour in Falun, Sweden. Ida Sargent, Caitlin Patterson, and Kaitlynn Miller represented the GRP in the mini-tour. Also over the weekend, Ben Lustgarten, Adam Martin, and Liz Guiney represented the GRP at OPA Cup Finals in Baqueira Beret, Spain.

World Cup Finals
After a four month season, the World Cup wrapped up this weekend in Falun, Sweden with a three day mini-tour. The opening day was a freestyle sprint. Ida Sargent took 37th in qualification, followed by Caitlin Patterson in 64th and Kaitlynn Miller in 70th. In the following day’s 10k classic mass start, Patterson led the way in 47th, followed by Sargent in 52nd and Miller in 64th. The final day of competition was a 10k freestyle pursuit, with the start order and time determined from the results of the previous two days of competition. Patterson had a strong result, moving up to 35th place with the 22nd fastest time on day. Kaitlynn Miller finished 56th in the pursuit, and Sargent finished 57th. Full results from the World Cup races are available on FIS-ski.com.

OPA Cup Finals
The weekend OPA Cup races followed the exact same schedule at the mini-tour in Falun. On Friday in the opening freestyle sprint, Liz Guiney qualified 23rd in the women’s race and Ben Lustgarten 29th. Adam Martin was 43rd in the qualifier. Both Guiney and Lustgarten moved up in the standings from their quarterfinals. Guiney placed 4th in her quarter and 18th on the day, while Lustgarten was 4th and ended up 20th on the day. The following day was a 10/15k classic mass start. In the women’s 10k, Guiney finished 16th. In the men’s 15k, Martin finished 16th, and Lustgarten was 25th. The last day featured a 10/15k freestyle pursuit, with the start determined by the combined time of the sprint and classic. Guiney finished 17th in the pursuit, with the 16th fastest time on day. In the men’s race, Lustgarten moved up to 19th with the 12th fastest time on day, and Martin finished 20th in the pursuit with the 19th best time on day. Results from OPA Cup Finals are available on FIS-ski.com.

The GRP skiers are now back in the States and getting ready to race at SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury, starting this Friday the 23rd. Stay tuned for results, and follow along live at SuperTourFinals.com!