Koos, Brooks take opening U.S. Titles

US Cross Country Ski Championships

Mon, Jan  3, 2011 - By US Ski Team

RUMFORD, ME (Jan. 2) – Olympians Koos (Leavenworth, WA) and Holly Brooks (Anchorage) struck gold on opening day of the U.S. Cross Country Championships at Maine's Black Mountain, convincingly winning the 1.4k classic sprints.

The Methow Olympic Development Program's Koos charged the 1.4k course to win the race and title. He was followed by Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Michael Sinnott (Sun Valley, ID) in second and Stratton Mountain School's Skyler Davis (Jericho, VT) in third.

Lars Flora (Anchorage), who led the final rounds after the quarterfinals, finished fifth overall behind Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA) in fourth. U.S. Ski Team athlete Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO) finished 15th.

Koos, was all about the number one in the final rounds after finishing second in his heat in the quarterfinals. He proved strong taking both the semifinal and final victories. Koos bested Sinnott, Davis, Flora, Bjorsen, who also won his semifinal heat, and Eric Packer (Anchorage) in the finals.

U.S. Champ Torin Koos smiles after winning the 1.4k classic sprint. (Peter Graves)

In the women's race, Brooks led the surge with Czech Republic's and University of Colorado's Eliska Hajkova in second. Hajkova's result does not count towards U.S. Championships, awarding third place finisher Morgan Smyth (Vernon, VT) second in the championship standings. Sadie Bjornsen finished behind Smyth in fourth, taking bronze in the U.S. Championship results for an Alaska Pacific University podium sweep.

"I just went out pretty much as hard as I could from the start and there's definitely some recovery on the course, so I just charged every hill as fast as could and had a little bit of time for recovery on the downhill afterwards," said Brooks of her winning strategy. "My strength is probably the hills. I knew if I was going to win I needed to basically gap the field on the up hills and try to hold them off on the downhill and double pole to the finish and I was able to do that. It was a really great day."

Once in the final rounds, Brooks never looked back. Coming out of the quaterfinals, Brooks was in second behind Hajkova. Placed in separate semifinal heats, Brooks had only one gear – fast. She led her semifinal heat and kept the momentum going to clinch to victory in the six person final including Hajkova, Smyth, Bjornsen, Katie Ronsse (Anchorage) and Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT).

The 2011 U.S. Cross Country Championships will continue Wednesday with the men's and women's 15/10k classic. The race, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was postponed a day to make and move snow in order to create the best conditions for the course.

Nordic Program Director John Farra said, "Rumford Jury decision: Classic race scheduled for Tuesday is postponed until Wednesday to provide the best opportunity for course prep."

Fans can follow the event on the U.S. Cross Country Championships Facebook fan page as well as on Twitter at USSA Nordic.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
U.S. Cross Country Championships
Rumford, ME – Jan. 2, 2011
1.4k Classic Sprint

Men
1. Torin Koos, Leavenworth, WA
2. Michael Sinnott, Sun Valley, ID
3. Skyler Davis, Jericho, VT
4. Erik Bjornsen, Winthrop, WA
5. Lars Flora, Anchorage
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15. Noah Hoffman, Aspen, CO

Women
1. Holly Brooks, Anchorage
2. Eliska Hajkova, Czech Republic
3. Morgan Smyth, Vernon, VT
4. Sadie Bjornsen, Anchorage
5. Katie Ronsse, Anchorage

For complete results: www.chisholmskiclub.org
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