Last Updated: 04.Jan.2019

The second day of U.S. Nationals arrived with sunshine and crowds for a full day of classic sprinting. Over 200 women and nearly 300 men raced the qualifier, with Craftsbury GRP’s Ida Sargent and Ben Saxton of SMS T2 taking the top qualifying times. Kelsey Phinney and Julia Kern rounded out the top three for the women’s qualifier, while Daniel Streinz and Andy Newell qualified in second and third for the men. 

Sargent proceeded to dominate the women’s day, winning her quarterfinal and semifinal while posting the fastest times in each round. She capped it all off by taking the win in the final, which also held Green Racing Project skiers Kaitlynn Miller and Caitlin Patterson. Second and third place were taken by Julia Kern (SMS T2) and Hannah Halvorson (APU), who had a furious fight to line that led to finishing just two hundredths of a second apart.

On the men’s side, Julien Locke of Canada won the A final after also posting the fastest times in his quarterfinal and semifinal. SMS T2 skier Ben Saxton crossed the line less than a second back, followed closely by APU’s Logan Hanneman in third. Since the overall podium featured a Canadian, however, fourth-place finisher Peter Holmes (Sun Valley) moved up to third for the U.S. National Championships podium, and Ben Saxton claimed the title of classic sprint national champion.

First-place finishers today received hats hand-knit by Kaitlynn Miller, second-place finishers received prizes from Vermont Maple Sriracha, and third-place finishers received maple candy from Butternut Mountain Farm. In addition, the fastest qualifiers on the men’s and women’s sides received a product sampler from Vermont skin care company Ursa Major.

Congrats to the new classic sprint national champions and thanks for joining us! More to come as U.S. Nationals presented by L.L. Bean continue here at Craftsbury. 

Full results

Overheard: "It was the best sprint course I've ever skied!"