By Gavin Kentch
There was a reshuffling of the overall women’s podium, and larger changes to the men’s podium, in Saturday’s skate sprint at the Schützenski Festival rollerski races in Park City.
Jessie Diggins (USST/SMS), first today, and Rosie Brennan (USST/APU), second, swapped their positions from Friday’s 10km classic. Tilde Bångman (University of Colorado) was third for the second day in a row. The rest of Saturday’s women’s final saw Mariel Pulles (Team Birkie) cross the line in fourth, Renae Anderson (APU) fifth, and Erin Bianco (BSF) sixth.
Luke Jager (USST/APU), second today, was the only repeat podium finisher in the men’s field. He was 0.07 seconds behind winner Reid Goble of BSF, following a close finish in a tactical final that saw all six athletes finish within 0.57 seconds of each other.
Joe Davies (University of Utah) took third, 0.19 seconds behind Jager. (For perspective, Diggins won that gold medal in the 2018 Olympics by 0.19 seconds over Stina Nilsson of Sweden. 0.19 seconds is close, but it isn’t, like, boot-length close as in some lunges, a fact Diggins notes in her memoir.)
Michael Earnhart (USST/APU), in fourth, was 0.03 seconds ahead of Walker Hall (University of Utah) in fifth, which really is that close. Will Koch (USST/SMS) was another 0.12 seconds back for sixth.
[Read more: Luke Jager, Rosie Brennan Take Wins in 10km Classic Rollerski Race at Schützenski Festival]
The dedicated men’s and women’s junior finals were won by Justin Lucas (APU) and Britta Johnson (Tahoe Endurance), respectively. I think that the highest-ranking junior athletes on the day were Murphy Kimball (USST/Alaska Winter Stars) and Nina Schamberger (University of Utah), 9th and 10th in the overall men’s and women’s senior fields, respectively, but don’t quote me on that because I’m going off my sense of who’s still racing as a junior rather than looking at any results sheets that list DOB or classifications per se. But also I spend a lot of my life looking at results sheets, and I’m pretty sure that I’m right here.
The skate sprint was the final race of this year’s Schützenski Festival. Tomorrow is the final day of camp for most athletes. Jessie Diggins (above, accompanied by, from left, Will Koch, Zach Jayne, and Michael Earnhart) said goodbye with a fine photo showcasing the national team’s new Kappa loungewear.
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