Women

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Nordic Heritage Sport Club in cooperation with the U. S. Ski and Snowboard Association has shortened the distance of the Women’s U. S. National Pursuit Championship from preciously published 20km to 15km. 15km is the standard FIS distance for the women’s pursuit competition with the first 7.5km leg skied classical and the second 7.5km leg in freestyle. The pursuit competition on March 30th is the first long distance event of the U. S. Cross Country Championships sponsored by The Aroostook Medical Center.
    This reduction in distance also creates a change in the loops the women will ski. Originally all the classes- men, women, juniors and masters- were scheduled to ski multiple laps of a 5 km classical loop followed by multiple loops of a separate 5 km freestyle loop. The women’s course will now ski a 7.5km classical loop before switching gear to attack a separate 7.5km loop in the freestyle leg.
Tim Roix, chief of competition for the pursuit, stated, “Having all athletes skiing the one 5km loop for classical and another 5km loop for freestyle does make the course very straightforward for everyone. However, we know the women are used to 15km in the pursuit, and that they will have a very tough 30km marathon on April 1 just two days after the pursuit. With the marathon right on the heels of the pursuit, we felt it best to use the extra 7.5km loops for the women so they only had to race 15km in the pursuit. And besides, this way we get to showcase more of our trails that are covered in plenty of snow right now.”
The pursuit is one of three competitions that make up the TAMC International Spring Series and U. S. National Cross Country Championships. The week gets under way with the Northern Skiers Cash Sprints starting at 5PM at the Caribou Ski Center. This is a team sprint in which two athletes partner together alternately skiing a 1 km loop before tagging their team mate. Each skier skis two laps for a team total of 4 km.
A great week of racing culminates on Sunday April 1 with the U. S. National Marathon Championships men’s 50 km and women’s 30 km competitions. In addition to the marathon a 12.5km citizen race will take place on the same course as the men’s marathon.