von Jess and Brennan win National freestyle sprint titles

Mon, Jan  12, 2015 - By USSA / CCSA

HOUGHTON, MI (Jan. 10, 2015) - Dakota Blackhorse von Jess (Bend, OR) and Rosie Brennan (Park City, UT) won the freestyle sprint event at the U.S. Cross Country Skiing Championships. For Blackhorse von Jess, it was his third national title and his second at this week’s U.S. Championships. Brennan also repeated as champion, having taken home the classic sprint and the 20K classic mass start.

Caitlin Gregg (Minneapolis, MN) and Jennie Bender (Bozeman, MT) finished second and third in the women’s race. Tyler Kornfield (Anchorage, AK) and Reese Hanneman (Anchorage, AK) took second and third, respectively in the men’s race.

Rosie Brennan stands atop her third podium of the week, winning the freestyle sprint to wrap-up the U.S. Cross Country Championships

Central Collegiate Ski Association

For Central Collegiate Ski Association skiers, Logan Hanneman of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Deedra Irwin of Michigan Tech led the CCSA Saturday on the final day of the US Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Michigan.

There was a strong Michigan contingent for the CCSA in Saturday’s freestyle sprint race. Leading the CCSA women were Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin and Alice Flanders, placing 18th and 19th respectively.

Northern Michigan University also had a strong showing with five women in the top thirty. Caroline Brisbois was 20th, Jordyn Ross 21st, Vivian Hett 22nd, Felicia Gresior 24th, and Kristen Bourne was 28th.

Logan Hanneman led the CCSA men, skiing the second fastest qualifying race overall with a time of 3:35.65. He advanced to the quarterfinal heats along with NMU’s Kyle Bratrud.

Hanneman won his quarterfinal heat, edging out APU’s Tyler Kornfield by a tenth of a second to advance to the semifinals. The day would end with Hanneman in 8th, and Bratrud 19th.

Overall it proved to be a great week for CCSA skiers at US Nationals, with several podiums and no less than seven CCSA skiers being named to represent the United States at the Junior World and U23 Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan during the first week of February.

Named to the Under 23 team were Michigan Tech’s Deedra Irwin, NMU’s Kyle Bratrud, and UAF’s Logan Hanneman. The Junior World Championship team will include Michigan Tech’s Tom Bye, and NMU’s Vivian Hett, Kristen Bourne, and Ian Torchia.

“It is a great reflection on our conference and our programs collectively to be so competitive at our national championships,” said CCSA President Chad Salmela. “The CCSA and Midwest region in general had one of their best US Nationals showings in recent memory.”

Full results at myrace.com