For the week of January 15 - 21, 2003

Swenson, Ivanova tops at Nordic nationals

At Black Mountain in Maine

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Two-time Olympian Carl Swenson, 32, of Boulder, Colo. and native Russian Katja Ivanova of Vermont won the overall titles of the 2003 Chevy Truck U.S. Nordic Nationals that ended Sunday at Rumford, Me.

Dartmouth College grad Swenson won all three freestyle races—the 10-kilometer opener by 30 seconds Jan. 6, the 1.3k freestyle sprints Thursday and the mass start 50k race Sunday. Ivanova was equally dominant, winning all three women’s free skates.

Former Sun Valley Junior Nordic ski teamer Lars Flora, 25, of Anchorage also had an excellent week in the 201-racer men’s field.

He finished in the top ten of all five races topped by his second-place result, just .14 seconds behind Swenson, in the men’s 50k freestyle finale.

Classic race winners were Kris Freeman, 22, of New Hampshire for the men’s 30k and 10k events, and Wendy Wagner, 29, of Park City for the women over 15k and 5k courses.

Ketchum’s Brooke Baughman (1.37:16) placed seventh in Sunday’s women’s 30k finale. And Hilary Patzer of Ketchum was a consistent finisher, placing 14th, 13th, 20th and 11th among the 167 women.

In all, there were nearly 400 racers at Black Mountain including 18 from Sun Valley. Here are the placings in the first four races for Sun Valley:

Men: Jess Kiesel 28th 30kCL, 36th 10kFR, 25th 10kCL, 106th 1.3kFR; Martin Isaksson 33rd 30kCL, 73rd 10kFR; Mike Sinnott 88th 10kFR, 45th 10kCL, 46th 1.3kFR; Matt DeCarufel 74th 30kCL, 98th 10kFR, 75th 1.3kFR;

Jack Harris 125th 10kFR, 95th 10kCL, 81st 1.3kFR; David Vanderpool 147th 10kFR, 155th 10kCL, 102nd 1.3kFR; Robert Slough 156th 10kFR, 114th 10kCL, 93rd 1.3kFR; Chase Cleveland 184th 10kFR, 136th 10kCL, 85th 1.3kFR; George Livingston 189th 10kFR, 145th 10kCL, 123rd 1.3kFR.

Women: Kristina Joder 33rd 15kCL, 52nd 5kFR, 23rd 5kCL, 12th 1.3kFR; Eva Bach 74th 15kCL, 61st 5kFR, 91st 5kCL, 73rd 1.3kFR; Ashley McQueen 95th 15kCL, 36th 5kFR, 85th 5kCL, 18th 1.3kFR;

Alissa Praggastis 89th 15kCL, 107th 5kFR, 88th 5kCL, 75th 1.3kFR; Lexie Praggastis 137th 5kFR, 67th 1.3kFR; Erin McQueen 143rd 5kFR, 129th 5kCL, 83rd 1.3kFR; Erin Magee 150th 5kFR, 139th 5kCL, 84th 1.3kFR.

 

 

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