GRP Hits SuperTour Podium; Sargent and Patterson Complete Lillehammer Mini-Tour
Last Updated: 06.Dec.2016
In the first race weekend of December, Green Racing Project skiers had more solid results across the board. Five GRP skiers raced the opening SuperTours in West Yellowstone, Montana, while Ida Sargent and Caitlin Patterson continued the World Cup season at its second stop in Lillehammer, Norway.
Caitlin Patterson sending snow flying in the 5k skate in Lillehammer (Photo TokoUS)
Lillehammer World Cup
This year Lillehammer hosted a World Cup mini-tour, which included three races beginning on Friday. Ida Sargent again qualified for Friday’s classic sprint heats in 26th place, along with three of her US teammates. It was Ida’s first time qualifying for the sprints heat in a Norwegian World Cup, which are usually stacked with fast Scandinavian Nation’s Group skiers. She finished 6th in her quarterfinal heat, and 28th on the day. Caitlin Patterson placed 68th in the qualifier.
On Saturday, both Caitlin and Ida raced the 5k individual start freestyle, taking 38th and 67th place, respectively. The big news of the day was American Jessie Diggins taking the victory, her second World Cup win in 5k freestyle!
Finally, Caitlin and Ida finished out the weekend with a 10k classic pursuit, in which the start list was determined by their finishing times in the previous two races. Caitlin was able to pick up 4 spots, moving up from 46th to 42nd over the course of the race. Ida also picked up 3 spots, finishing in 57th in the tour. The World Cup moves next to Davos, Switzerland, where they will race a 15k individual start freestyle and a freestyle sprint this coming weekend. All results from the mini-tour are available on FIS-ski.com.
Ben Lustgarten, Liz Guiney, and Kaitlynn MIller filling out the podium in West Yellowstone
West Yellowstone SuperTour
After a lack of snow in Bozeman forced organizers to cancel the first SuperTour weekend, West Yellowstone offered to host the opening SuperTour, following on the heels of last weekend’s FIS races there. All five GRP skiers made the heats in Saturday’s freestyle sprint. On the women’s side, Liz Guiney qualified in 5th, Mary O’Connell in 20th, Kaitlynn Miller in 21st, and Heather Mooney in 30th. Ben Lustgarten had a very solid qualifier, taking 11th. Unfortunately, Mary, Kaitlynn, and Heather all ended up in the same quarterfinal heat, and weren’t able to advance to semifinals. They ended the day with Kaitlynn in 16th, Mary 23rd, and Heather 30th. Liz took 2nd in her quarterfinal and moved on to the semis, but missed advancing to the final by placing 3rd in her semifinal. She ended up 7th on the day. Ben had a fall in his quarterfinal that put him in 6th place, so he took 26th on the day.
On Sunday, the skiers rebounded for a 10/15k classic individual start in snowy and windy conditions. In the women’s race, Liz and Kaitlynn both reached the podium, with Liz taking the win over SMS-T2 skier Katherine Ogden, closely followed by Kaitlynn in 3rd. Mary took 17th place, and Heather was 21st. In the men’s field, Ben Lustgarten had great race, taking 2nd to Sun Valley skier Matt Gelso. The domestic circuit continues this weekend in Silver Star, BC with a combined SuperTour/NorAm which will include a classic sprint and 10/15k freestyle individual. Results from the West Yellowstone races can be found on SportStats.ca (see sidebar to navigate between results), check here for men’s/women’s sprint heat results.