For the week of January 14 - 20, 2004

Bronze for Patzer at U.S. Nordic finals

Lars Flora wins 50k skate

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Ketchum’s Hilary Patzer posted her best-ever finish at the Chevy Truck U.S. Nordic Nationals by finishing third among Americans for a bronze medal in Saturday’s women’s 30-kilometer freestyle race in Maine.

Patzer, 24, a Middlebury College graduate and two-time All-American in NCAA cross-country skiing, ended up with a time of 1.31:45 to finish 83 seconds behind gold medalist Sarah Konrad, 36, of Laramie, Wyo.

Trying to climb the ladder onto the U.S. Nordic Ski Team and more international races, Patzer also cracked the top 10 among Americans in both the women’s 15k and 5k classic races.

Her career-best results were the local highlights of a busy week at Black Mountain in Rumford, Me. that featured a record number of 559 entrants and weather conditions that ranged from freezing cold to balmy.

 

Other highlights:

Sun Valley J1 racer Jack Harris, 17, qualified for the Scandinavian Cup trip in late January to Estonia; and Dartmouth’s Mike Sinnott of Ketchum earned a spot on the U.S. team traveling to the World Junior Championships starting Feb. 3 in Norway;

Former Sun Valley Junior Nordic ski teamer and Olympian Lars Flora, 25, of Anchorage enjoyed his most successful nationals. He won the men’s 50k freestyle race Saturday in 2.08:09 and captured silver medals in 30k and 10k classic events, plus the American bronze in 10k freestyle.

Olympian Carl Swenson, 33, earned three national titles, making it 11 for his career, while Rebecca Dussault of Colorado picked up three gold medals. The sprint gold medals went to Leif Zimmerman of Bozeman, Mt. and Kikkan Randall of Anchorage.

 

Here are other Sun Valley results for the week of racing:

Men:
Jess Kiesel 32nd 30k classic, 39th 10k classic; Mike Sinnott 65th 30k classic, 80th 10k skate, 31st sprint; Matt DeCarufel 78th 30k classic, 199th 10k skate, 84th sprint; Chase Cleveland 191st 10k classic, 179th 10k skate, 65th sprint;

Jack Harris 123rd 10k classic; 185th 10k skate, 78th sprint; Luke Pletcher 150th 10k classic, 188th 10k skate, 112th sprint; George Livingston 160th 10k classic, 268th 10k skate, 140th sprint; David Vanderpool 180th 10k classic, 145th 10k skate, 127th sprint.

Women:
Morgan Arritola 92nd 5k classic, 88th 5k skate, 59th sprint; Fraiser Opel 101st 5k classic, 132nd 5k skate, 80th sprint;

Alissa Praggastis 123rd 5k classic, 165th 5k skate; Erin McQueen 151st 5k classic, 152nd 5k skate, 79th sprint; Erin Magee 159th 5k classic, 154th 5k skate, 99th sprint; Margii Driscoll 165th 5k classic, 181st 5k skate, 101st sprint.

 

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