Friday, March 16, 2007

Turzian turns in second-best U.S. performance at World Championships

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By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

Courtesy photo by Chris Hall Alexa Turzian was the second best U.S. finisher in the 5K freestyle competition held Wednesday at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Italy. Turzian is shown here after winning the 10K freestyle race at the 2007 U.S. Cross Country Championships in January.

Eighteen-year-old Alexa Turzian, of the Sun Valley Nordic Ski Team, finished 16th overall and was the second-fastest American in a five-kilometer freestyle competition at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships at Tarvisio, Italy on Wednesday.

Sweden's Charlotte Calla won the women's 5k in 11:44. Norwegian racers occupied the next four spots.

"The top five girls are basically World Cup skiers," said Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Nordic Director Rick Kapala. "Calla is unbelievable. She had the fastest relay leg at the World Senior Championships."

Elizabeth Stephen was the swiftest U.S. skier in seventh place with a time of 12:36. Turzian, a senior at Wood River High School, clocked in at 12:46 in a field of 83.

"It's a really good result for her," said Kapala. "She was only four tenths of a second out of 12th and 10 seconds out of seventh.

"I talked to her coach and he said Alexa's comment was she really couldn't get it going. But looking at the results, she beat a lot of people in the race and it's a really good field," Kapala said. "Alexa is just at a level now where her expectations are pretty high. It was a good start and I am looking forward to this weekend. The U.S. girls seem to be skiing fairly well and the thought is they are a very talented group."

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Mike Sinnott, a SVSEF alumni and captain of current NCAA champion Dartmouth is also competing. Sinnott skied to 25th in the opening sprints on Tuesday.

The U-23 World Championships run through Sunday, March 18. Remaining events include pursuit and relay races.