The twelve Americans competing in Falun, Sweden, as part of this year’s U18 Nordic Nations Cup trip had their first of, hopefully, three races earlier Friday with a skate sprint. Murphy Kimball (Alaska Winter Stars), uncowed by the stage of his first-ever FIS race outside this country, kicked things off with an eighth place in the qual, which left him as the fastest U18 athlete in the combined U18/U20 field. And that is also where his day ultimately ended, as cold weather led the race jury to first postpone junior racing, then cancel the junior heats entirely. Tomorrow’s distance race is also currently called off for the juniors.
Amelia Circosta (Craftsbury) led the way for the U.S. on the girls side, placing 22nd in the qual. Circosta was, by my unofficial calculations/reading of birth years on the results sheet, ninth among U18 athletes. She was joined in the top 30 by Maeve Ingelfinger (Glacier Nordic Club), 28th, and, nearly, by Lena Poduska (Jackson Hole Ski Club), 31st, 0.22 seconds out of qualifying.
Other Americans racing today were Niki Johnson (Tahoe Endurance) in 46th and Natalie Nicholas (BSF) in 47th. Ally Wheeler (Casper Nordic Ski Club) did not start.
On the boys side, Kimball was joined in the would-be heats by Lucas Wilmot (Jackson Hole Ski Club) in 26th. Other Americans racing today were Henry Magill (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club), who was 41st in the qual; Daniel McCollor (Minneapolis Ski Club), 60th; Cole Bothner (BSF), 93rd; and Zach Quesnel (Sun Valley), 124th.
Kimball’s eighth place today continues a strong string of sprint quals for the 17-year-old high school senior to start this season. He was fifth in the classic qual in Soho, and first in the classic qual in the Anchorage SuperTour in December (like, in the senior/overall fields). Kimball currently sits a heady fifth overall on the list of domestic sprint qualifiers for North American World Cup sprint spots.
The fields in today’s Bauhaus Cup race, the highest level of junior racing in Sweden (these races are used for selection to Sweden’s World Juniors team), were neither small nor slow. 149 athletes started for the boys, and 115 for the girls.
Second place in Friday’s girls qual, Elin Näslund, was an ohsoclose 34th in a World Cup sprint qual last March. Third place, Evelina Crusell, was 36th in a World Cup 10km skate last February. First place in the boys qual, Anton Grahn, has a World Cup start to his name; third place, Erik Bergström, was eighth in the classic sprint at last year’s World Juniors in Whistler. There was some talent in this field.
But there was also some cold air in the stadium, and Sweden has a tiered temperature cutoff for junior races. The standard cutoff for senior FIS races in Sweden is –17 C, with the jury retaining the option to hold the race down to the international FIS cutoff of –20 C, Expressen explains in its article on today’s races. For juniors, the standard cutoff is –15 C, with down to –17 C an option depending on the circumstances.
Ultimately, qualifying was held for both seniors and juniors; the senior heats were contested in full; and the junior heats were canceled entirely, with an eye to athlete safety.
Johanna Hagström won the qual while wearing an Airtrim (photos here) (no, two skate sprint finals in the Tour de Ski do not get you a World Cup start in Oberhof if you are a member of the embarrassment of riches that is the Swedish women’s sprint team) (no, Hagström was not happy about this), then ultimately took the senior women’s final over Moa Hansson and Elin Henriksson. Olof Jonsson won the men’s final, ahead of Måns Skoglund in second and a not-dead-yet Karl-Johan Westberg in third.
Racing in Falun was slated to continue tomorrow with a 10km classic interval-start. However, organizers have already canceled tomorrow’s juniors race due to the cold.
Results: junior boys qual | junior girls qual | senior men’s final | senior women’s final
— Gavin Kentch
