NorAm Racing Recap

Our early season racing trip concluded with a classic sprint and a 10k classic in Silver Star, BC. My main racing goal for the past weekend was to put the hammer down from the start and make sure I had nothing left in the tank by the finish line.
I was happy with the way I raced my sprint prelim, and was encouraged to be the 1st American qualifier and finish 6th overall. Most of the top female qualifiers chose to double-pole the course on skate skis, so for the heats I switched to a double pole set-up and tried to hang with the best.
Katie Ronsse gettin' in some double pole action (photo courtesy of Andy Canniff at Swix Sport).

Double-poling was faster and I had the raw speed needed, however by the end of the day my arms were shot and I faded to 11th. There were tactical and technical improvements I could've made in the heats, but it was still a respectable day of racing for me.

My teammates were again impressive and the highlights of the day included Laura Valaas's 3rd place overall (2nd American) and Anders Haugen's 2nd place (1st American) finish after a a three-way lunge to the line.
Kate Arduser, Daria Gaiazova, Laura Valaas racing to the top-10 in the 15k skate.

As a whole, our Alaskan team was perhaps the most impressive in the 10/15k night time classic race. We were feeling snappy and we were in racing in our element -- it was cold (-17C, 1F) and dark. APU had the top 3 American finishers for the women AND men's races. Becca Rorabaugh, Laura Valaas, and Kate Arduser lead the American women (and were 5th, 7th,8th overall) and James Southam, Bart Dengel, and Brent Knight lead the American men (and were 3rd, 8th and 14th overall). Young Becca Rorabaugh and the Bart-man Dengel's stunning performances gave the team ample reasons to celebrate.

A view of the cloud-covered Vernon from the hot-tub on our roof in Silverstar.

I am home in Alaska after 3.5 weeks on the road. I'm looking forward to spending some time with the family and breathing in the thick air.