Last Updated: 11.Mar.2015

The ski season is winding down, but GRP skiers are still racing at home and abroad prior to the season finale, SuperTour Finals in Sun Valley. This weekend marked the penultimate World Cup weekend in Lahti, Finland and GRP World Cup regular Ida Sargent was joined by Caitlin Patterson as the US SuperTour distance leader for Period 4. Also, GRP skier Liz Guiney was in Austria racing a FIS race in between OPA Cup weekends in Europe, while several GRP men raced the Bretton Woods Marathon in New Hampshire.

Lahti World Cups

The World Cup weekend in Lahti, Finland hosted a skate sprint and a 10k/15k classic distance race, the first regular World Cups following World Championships. Ida took 43rd in qualification, 3 seconds out of qualifying and Caitlin was 51st, another 2 seconds behind Ida. The US women who made top 30, Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall, used great skis and strong skiing to advance all the way to the A Final. Randall was able to climb onto the podium in 3rd and Diggins was just one spot behind in 4th. In the classic distance race the following day, Caitlin Patterson took 50th after struggling with slick skis. This weekend was Patterson’s European World Cup debut; she previously has only raced World Cups in Canmore, AB in 2012. The top American results in the women’s 10k race were Sadie Bjornsen’s 14th and Jessie Diggins’ 17th. The World Cup moves to Norway this week, with a classic sprint in Drammen on March 11th, and the 30k/50k Holmenkollen in Oslo over the weekend. 

Eisenerz SUMI Cup

A group of US development skiers are in central Europe racing OPA Cups and had an off weekend between races. Part of the group traveled to a FIS race in Eisenerz, Austria for 7.5k/15k classic individual starts. The US women had a strong showing in the races, with Stratton and APU skiers sweeping the women’s podium. GRP skier Liz Guiney took 11th in the 7.5k race; she will compete in OPA Finals in Chamonix, France this weekend.

Bretton Woods Marathon

Three GRP men made the trip to New Hampshire for the 2015 edition of the Bretton Woods 42k Classic Marathon. In the shadow of Mt. Washington, GRP skier Gordon Vermeer took the win over his former Dartmouth teammate David Sinclair, and Andrew Dougherty rounded out the podium. Pete Hegman was 6th with a strong final push. Congrats to the GRP men for a strong showing in one of the classic New England ski marathons!

Stay tuned for updates from the final weekend of World Cup racing and OPA Finals, as well as SuperTour Finals in Sun Valley starting March 21st.

Full Weekend Results:
Lahti- Skate Sprint/10k Classic

Eisenerz- 7.5k Classic