I don't have much time to post so I'm just going to post what I sent to UW News Service. Hope it gives you some updates anyway.
We just finished some of the most difficult skiing and racing we have ever done. The weather in 5 hours has gone from snow, to sleet, to rain, to sleet, to rain and back to snow! It's been crazy!
So far things have gone extremely well. The first race was a 1.4km classic technique sprint. The way this race is run there is a qualifying round that everyone does and then the top 10 fastest times go on to the finals. Both men and women placed 4 athletes into the top 10 for the finals. There are two additional rounds where the top two go on to the A Final, the next 2 go on to the B Final and the last person in each heat places 9 & 10.
For the women Erin Hammer, Liz Turner, Katie Turner, Karyn Liebcsh and Marie Cartwright all qualified for the final rounds, in 10, 5, 6, 9 respectively. Erin and Marie were eliminated in the first round and ended up 10 and 9 respectively, Karyn was unable to compete in the final rounds. Liz qualified for the B final and Katie for the A final. At the end of two very exciting races Liz finished in 7th and Katie in 4th. Mae Peterson was the only other cowgirl, she managed a 16 place after falling twice in the qualifying round.
The men's race was also exciting. John Kirlin, Jacob Peterson, Brian Sebade and Justin Kinner all qualified for the final rounds in 4, 7, 9, 10. Brian and Justin were eliminated in the first round and finished 9 & 10 but Jacob went on to the B Final and placed 6th and John qualified for the A final and placed 2nd in a photo finish! The other men in the race were Michael Fitzgerald in 12, Adam Karges 29 and Patrick Richards in 32.
It was an amazingly successful day for both men and women. they both ended the day with podium team finishes of 3rd place!
Wednesday was the 15km classic mass start and it was really difficult conditions. As were were waxing skis it literally went from clear, to snow to sleet to snow to sleet and on and on. It was the most difficult conditions to wax for as well as to ski in, especially for Wyoming skiers who have never skied in sleet and rain! Despite this there were some great finishes.
The women started the day and despite having no one ranked in the top 10 two cowgirls manage to sneak in there. Mae Peterson lead the charge with an amazing 8th place followed closely by Katie Turner in 9th. Liz Turner finished 13th, Marie Cartwright 16 and Erin Hammer 17. This placed them once again in 3rd place behind St. Olaf and Clarkson.
The men's race went extremely well with John Kirlin once again leading the cowboys to a great 3rd place finish. He was backed up by a great race by Justin Kinner in 9th, Jacob Peterson 12, Brian Sebade 13, Nicholai Smith 22, Michael Fitzgerald 33, Patrick Richards 37 and Adam Karges 39. The men also had a strong 3rd place finish in and extremely competitive field. They followed St. Olaf and Clarkson.
It has been a bit of a struggle with the weather but the athletes are performing amazing and it's been a great nationals so far.
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