Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Lars Flora is classic winner in SuperTour debut

West Yellowstone opener draws 204 Nordic racers


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

Cross-country ski trails at West Yellowstone, Mt. hosted the 2006-07 U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Cross Country SuperTour opener over Thanksgiving Day weekend and 204 ski racers showed up.

Good snow and good weather greeted all of them.

"It was an unbelievable start for the season and for the SuperTour. We got some good snow before the races and conditions for both days were outstanding," U.S. Development Coach Pat Casey of Ketchum said after Friday's sprints on a 900-meter loop and Saturday's classic technique races at the Rendezvous Trails complex.

Subaru Factory Team racer Lars Flora, 28, of Alaska had a particularly good weekend in the debut events of the 26-race, $130,000 series that is scheduled to arrive in the Sun Valley area for races Dec. 6-10.

Flora, a 1996 Wood River High School graduate and Sun Valley Junior Nordic ski team product, won Saturday's men's 15-kilometer race in a field of 115 male racers with a time of 38 minutes, 6.3 seconds, good for a nine-second triumph.

Two-time Olympian and former national champion Flora also finished second Friday in the SuperTour men's sprint heats won by Even Sletten of the University of Utah.

Other Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Olympic Development Team skiers also had a solid opening weekend at West Yellowstone.

Zack Simons (38:39, 33 seconds back) and Colin Rodgers (39:08, 1:02 back) placed fifth and seventh behind Flora in the classic finals. Dartmouth College skier Mike Sinnott of Ketchum (39:55, 1:48) was 18th.

Saturday's women's 10k classic SuperTour winner was Subaru Factory Team racer Kristina Strandberg, 31, a Swedish-born four-time All-American out of the University of New Mexico. Strandberg (30:09) was a 29-second winner.

Three Sun Valley Olympic Development Team members did well at West Yellowstone.

Subaru Factory Team/SVSEF racer Kate Underwood (31:07, 58 seconds back) ended up eighth in the classic race and sixth in the sprints. The sprint finish was particularly satisfying because Underwood's best event is distance skating, Sun Valley head coach Rick Kapala said.

Kate Whitcomb (31:44, 1:35 back) was 13th of 88 classic finishers. And Nicole Deyong (32:13, 2:04) tied for 20th place.

Former Sun Valley skier Kaelin Kiesel (33:33, 3:24) placed 36th, Montana State University's Fraiser Opel (34:13, 4:03) was 45th and Ketchum's Crystal Ward (35:52, 5:42) was 64th in classic.

Kapala said that 40 Sun Valley athletes including Olympic Development Team skiers had a good holiday week of training at West Yellowstone.

SuperTour races continue Dec. 2-3 at Bozeman, Mt. and then arrive in Sun Valley Dec. 6-10 for classic sprints, men's 15k and women's 10k classic races, and men's 30k and women's 15k freestyle events.

Monday's snowfall gave Sun Valley enough snow to host next week's SuperTour event on the Lake Creek trails three miles north of Ketchum, according to Kapala.

"We're looking at about 100 skiers being here for the SuperTour races," he said. "It should be a great group."




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