January 11, 2016PRESS RELEASE HOUGHTON, MI - Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) Nordic team returned from the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Michigan, with a national champion, podium finishes, and some exciting qualification news for several athletes.
Professional Nordic skier Jennie Bender became the 2016 U.S. National Champion in the Freestyle Sprint, dominating the women’s field at the U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Michigan. It was her third national title in four years.
Bender, a member of the Bridger Ski Foundation’s Nordic Elite Team, posted the fastest qualifying time in the morning 1.5 km skate race, and then proceeded to speed up in each heat to win her quarterfinal race, the semi-final heat, and then the finals.
"The sprint here was a longer course than usual, and had a long uphill finish,” said Bender. “I knew it was going to be taxing, so tried to ski calculated throughout the course and save a little for that stretch."In the finals, Bender and second place finisher Anne Hart separated themselves from the field on the final uphill. Bender finished in 3:44.79 while Hart (Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team) finished 0.61 seconds behind. Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) was third. Erika Flowers, who grew up skiing with BSF in Bozeman and now skis with Vermont’s SMS T2, finished sixth.
Bridger Ski Foundation’s Nordic Elite Coach Bernie Nelson said, “[It] was Jennie's day. I couldn't be more proud of her. Qualifier to Final, each sprint was tactically smart, powerful, and dominant—a clear testament to her fitness and growth as an athlete. We've been battling injury after injury over the last year, and yesterday … I'm speechless. It was an absolute joy to have been a part of her racing experience. She has put over a year of training, work, and energy into this week and it was exciting to watch her put together such a graceful and commanding race at U.S. Nationals—the highest level of domestic competition.”
Bender went into the final day of competition knowing she had to finish well if she wanted to qualify for the World Cup. While she skied well in the 20km skate race, another competitor had stepped on her pole midway through the race, breaking the basket off, and she was forced to ski with what BSF Nordic Head Coach Dragan Danveski describes as “almost one ski pole” for the remainder of the race, finishing 17th overall. When the heats began for the final day of classic sprinting, Bender proved she is one of the best sprinters in the country, progressing through the heats and finishing 3rd in the finals.
Danevski praised Bender for skiing so well in the classic sprints. “I know how difficult it is to produce good results under pressure,” he said. “She qualified for the World Cup and met her goal.” In February, Bender will depart to compete in period 3 of the World Cup in Europe, followed by period 4, when the World Cup travels to Canada.
Akeo Maifeld-Carucci’s goal going into nationals was to qualify for the FIS U23 World Championships in Romania. After a 15th place finish (and 2nd among U23) in the Men’s Freestyle Sprint, he continued to race strong through the last two days of competition, finishing 20th in the Men’s 30km skate race and 31st in the Men’s Classic Sprint, securing a spot to Worlds.
Maifeld-Carucci grew up skiing on the BSF junior teams and skied for Harvard University, graduating in 2015. Now, he’s back with his home team—competing at the Elite level for the first time and impressing his coaches. “Akeo skied really well, all and all,” says Danevski. “The qualification, that’s a big accomplishment for him. We expect that he will race well at the World Championships and also after that.”
Logan Diekmann, a member of the BSF PG team, posted strong finishes: a third in the Jr. Classic Sprint and a 4th in the Jr. Skate Sprint. While he narrowly missed qualifying for the Junior World Championships, he did automatically qualify for U.S. Junior Nationals. “I’m really, really impressed with how he handled racing,” says Danevski. “We will be planning what the best races are for Logan now.” That may mean racing SuperTour races in the U.S. or getting some experience racing in Europe prior to Jr. Nationals.
Ten skiers represented BSF at U.S. Nationals, with a number of comendable performances:
