Bauer, Kemppel
rule at Bozeman
SV skiers do well
John Bauer
and Nina Kemppel added some more jewels to their glittering career records
by dominating the Chevy Truck U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships last
week at Bozeman, Mt.
Bauer, 32,
of Minnesota and Kemppel, 31, of Anchorage, Ak. each won three national
titles during the weeklong competition at Bohart Ranch and increased their
career totals to 11 for Bauer and a record-setting 18 for Kemppel.
Kemppel,
heading for her fourth Winter Olympics, and Bauer, making a comeback pitch
for his third Winter Games, will lead the U.S. squad to be announced Jan.
21.
Among the
national highlights for Sun Valley:
Lars Flora,
the national men’s freestyle sprint king, added a third-place in men’s
30k freestyle, 35th in men’s 10k classic and 20th in men’s 50k
classic; Hailey’s Pat Casey was 32nd in 10k classic and 25th men’s 10k
freestyle pursuit;
Brooke
Baughman 11th and Hilary Patzer 36th 15k freestyle; Jess Kiesel 52nd 10k
CL; Kaelin Kiesel 53rd 5k CL; Ian Skinner 51st 10k pursuit; Bryce Turzian
35th and Jedd Young 47th 30k freestyle.
Three make
Scandinavian Cup
Eighteen
Sun Valley Junior Nordic ski teamers were among 71 Intermountain Division
X-C racers running classic Wednesday and freestyle Thursday (OJ/J1 boys
10k, girls and J2 boys 5k).
Three,
Ashley McQueen, Matt DeCarufel and Mike Sinnott, were chosen for the
Scandinavian Cup team meaning they’re among the best in the U.S. in
their classes.
Scandinavian
Cup races are Jan. 25-27 in Steinkjer, Norway.
In a battle
of speedy 17-year-olds, Sun Valley’s Ashley McQueen finished a close
second to Boise’s Sara Studebaker (22 seconds back) in classic and
second to Bozeman’s Kristina Trygstad-Sari (27 seconds) freestyle.
McQueen
showed tons of promise at Bozeman, placing 43-39-61-52 overall among 169
women in free sprint, 15k free, 5k classic and 5k free pursuit.
DeCarufel,
17, placed second (4 seconds back) to 18-year-old Ben Ruffatto of
Whitefish in 10-kilometer classic and Sinnott, 16, was third (27 seconds
back) behind freestyle winner Ruffatto on Thursday.
Jackson
Harris topped a commanding performance for Sun Valley in J2 boys with a
1:04 win in classic and 14-second triumph in freestyle. Chase Cleveland
finished third in each race at Bohart Ranch.
Sun Valley
placings:
OJ/J1
girls:
Ashley McQueen 2-CL, 2-FR; Alissa Praggastis 4-CL, 7-FR; Eva Bach
5-CL, 8-FR; Mollie Parker 8-CL, 10-FR.
J2 girls:
Erin McQueen 8-CL, 4-FR; Lexie Praggastis 9-CL, 8-FR.
OJ/J1
boys:
Matt DeCarufel 2-CL, 5-FR; Mike Sinnott 5-CL, 3-FR; Robert Slough
8-CL, 7-FR; Brennan Rego 16-CL, 17-FR; Alex Hamlin 18-CL, 15-FR.
J2 boys:
Jackson Harris 1-CL, 1-FR; Chase Cleveland 3-CL, 3-FR; Lucas
Pletcher 5-CL, 5-FR; Brad Bradford 8-CL, 19-FR; George Livingston 9-CL,
6-FR; David Vanderpool 10-CL, 4-FR; Delamon Rego 14-CL, 13-FR; Dawson
Paschall 22-CL, 15-FR.