Alexa Turzian's startling gold medal in Thursday's women's 10-kilometer freestyle race was the Sun Valley highlight of the 2007 U.S. Cross Country Championships at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center in Houghton, Mich.
Older Junior entrant Turzian, 18, of Ketchum became the youngest-ever U.S. cross country champion with a determined second lap that left the other 170 skiers in the dust on the Michigan Tech track.
In sixth after the first lap, Wood River High senior Turzian was seven seconds behind first-lap leader and Wednesday's 5k classic national champion Lindsey Weier, 22, of Northern Michigan University.
Turzian laid down the best second-lap time by 16 seconds and defeated Kikkan Randall of Anchorage by nine seconds.
"Unbelievable! For us to have a junior winning at nationals is unprecedented," said Sun Valley Junior Nordic ski team coach Rick Kapala. "She beat everybody—U.S. Ski teamers, everybody. She was ecstatic at the finish, just beaming.
"We had hoped for a top 10 finish. Then she was sixth after the first lap, but there were still four or five skiers between Alexa and the lead.
"She was skiing fast and really relaxed on the flats coming into the stadium. The course was suited for her, with Alexa's alpine background, and it really brought out her technical skills. She had one of those days—an 'A' Day in terms of her body feeling good. She had a great attitude and turned in a great effort."
There was some indication that Turzian was ready to challenge for the top spot due to her showing in the SuperTour Nordic races at Galena Lodge during early December. Racing in an elite field, Turzian was sixth in 15k skate and ninth overall in the 5k classic event.
"Having the SuperTour results helped her," said Kapala.
Two-time Olympian and SuperTour leader Kris Freeman, 26, of New Hampshire, won his eighth national championship with a 47-second triumph in Thursday's men's 15k freestyle race ahead of former Sun Valley racer Lars Flora.
Last week's races were part of the $130,000 Cross Country Super Tour, with double points awarded. The national long-distance pursuit and skate championships are March 29 and April 1 in Maine.
Final races of the week
Sun Valley Olympic Development Team racers Colin Rodgers and Zach Simons finished fifth in Sunday's 1k team freestyle sprint that wrapped up this year's U.S. short distance finals.
Former Sun Valley racer Lars Flora of Anchorage, Ak. shared the team sprint gold medal with Chad Giese of St. Paul, Minn. Both are Subaru Factory Team racers. Women's team winners were Caitlin Compton of Minneapolis and Laura Valaas of Wenatchee, Wash. There were 57 men's twosomes and 44 women's pairings in the six-lap race.
In Saturday's classic technique 1k sprints, Kikkan Randall of Anchorage and Andy Newell of Vermont won the national titles as Chris Cook, Kris Freeman and Flora went 3-4-5 in the men's A finals and Rodgers was 10th.
Sun Valley's Mali Noyes was ninth in U23 Women, the same finishing position as Kate Whitcomb of Sun Valley in the Women's class.
Colin Struthers of Sun Valley placed fourth overall in Junior Men and Sun Valley's Reid Pletcher was 14th overall, the second Junior, in preliminary sprint rounds. Kapala said, "Reid needed that race. With it he secured his spot on the World Junior team."
Ketchum's Mike Sinnott, 12th in men's 10k classic and 21st in Thursday's 15k freestyle race, led Dartmouth College into second place behind Northern Michigan University in the 2007 College Cup standings. Dartmouth's men's team won its division handily but NMU's women captured the top four spots in freestyle to account for their 790-757 overall edge over Dartmouth.
In other news from nationals, Sun Valley sit-ski racer Andy Soule won the silver medal by placing second in Thursday's men's 6k U.S. Disabled National championship. Soule was 22 seconds behind gold medalist Greg Mallory of Portland, Ore.
The following are Thursday's local skate results:
Men's 15k freestyle: 1—Kris Freeman 39:34. 2—Lars Flora 40:21 (0:47 back). 21—Mike Sinnott 42:52. 22—Zach Simons 42:55. 24—Colin Rodgers 43:00. 42—Colin Struthers 43:58. 67—Taylor Sundali 45:00. 72—Reid Pletcher 45:06. 73—Ian Havlick 45:13. 104—Mike Matteson 46:16. 124—Scott Krankkala 46:59. 197—Chris Holmquist 50:00 (240 finishers).
Women's 10k freestyle: 1—Alexa Turzian (1st OJ) 27:49. 2—Kikkan Randall 27:58. 13—Morgan Arritola 29:17. 21—Nicole DeYong 29:54. 24—Kate Underwood 29:58. 25—Kate Whitcomb 30:02. 31—Mali Noyes (2nd J1) 30:24 (171 finishers).
European selections
Last week's trip to the 2007 U.S. Cross Country Championships at Houghton, Mich. was just a sampler for seven Sun Valley skiers who have qualified for European competitions coming up in February.
Saturday, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association named a number of U.S. international teams. Among the qualifiers were Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation competitors and other local Nordic racers.
Alexa Turzian, Reid Pletcher and Colin Struthers were selected on the 14-racer American team for the 2007 Junior World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy Jan. 29. Turzian, 18, became the youngest-ever U.S. skier to win a national championship Thursday in Michigan.
Morgan Arritola and Mike Sinnott made the 12-skier U.S. squad for the Under-23 Championships, also starting Jan. 29 in Tarvisio, Italy.
Also, Mali Noyes and Taylor Sundali were chosen for the 12-racer U.S. team to the 2007 International Scandinavian Series during the first week of February in Sweden.
Alexa Turzian was certainly ?The Boss,? winning Thursday?s women?s 10-kilometer freestyle race of the 2007 U.S. Cross Country Championships in balmy Michigan and climbing the top step of the podium?the youngest skier to ever win a national cross-country ski championship. Courtesy photo by Chris Hall
