Randall's 7th Moves Her into Top 10 in Sprint Points
Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - By US Ski Team
Randall 7th, Moves into Top 10 Sprint Points
Newell 13th, retains sprint ranking in 5th
CHANGCHUN, China (Feb. 15) - Alaskan Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) finished seventh Thursday in a 1.1K classical technique sprint and moved into the top 10 in World Cup sprint standings while Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) was 13th but preserved his fifth-place ranking.
In the final sprint before the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
begin Feb. 22 in Sapporo, Japan, Randall - the lone U.S. woman racing -
was
edged out in the semifinal round after qualifying fourth; she then won
the so-called B Final. Evgenia Shapovalova of Russia won the women's
sprint.
Randall is ninth in the sprint standings, 26th overall in the points.
Norwegians led by Ola Vigen Hattestad took the top five places in the
men's 1.3K CL sprint while Newell his lowest finish of the season;
however,
since FIS rules mandate dropping a result after five races, the finish
was discarded and he stands fifth in the sprint points, 26th overall.
Torin
Koos (Leavenworth, WA) was 22nd and is 16th in sprint rankings, 40th
overall.
A year ago after the Olympics, as the World Cup was staged for the
first time in China, Newell finished third in the men's sprint - also
in Changchun
- for the first U.S. podium since 1983. Randall and Koos have skied to
sprint podiums this season.
The last races before the '07 Worlds are scheduled for Friday, the
women's 10K and men's 15K freestyle race. Kris Freeman (Andover, NH)
will be the
lone American racing. The championships begin next week with CL
technique sprints.
VIESSMANN CROSS COUNTRY WORLD CUP
Changchun, CHN - Feb. 15, 2007
Men's 1.3K Classic Sprint (6 make finals)
1. Ola Vigen Hattestad, Norway.
2. Boerre Naess, Norway, Norway
3. Tor Arne Hetland, Norway,
4. Trond Iversen, Norway
5. Simen Oestensen, Norway
-
13. Andy newell, Shaftsbury, VT
22. Torin Koos, Leavenworth, WA
--
Women's 1.1K CL Sprint
1. Evgenia Shpovalova, Russia
2. Natalia Matveeva, Russia
3. Guro Stroem Solli, Norway
4. Nicole Fessel, Germany
5. Lina Andersson, Sweden
-
7. Kikkan Randall, Anchorage, Alaska
For complete results:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?cal_suchsector=CC&event_id=22302