NewLow-pet Law-pet Challenge Coverage

January 12, 2025

A couple of inches of fresh snow overnight slowed the conditions just a little for the Low-pet Law-pet Challenge (aka Pre-Loppet) race on the snowmaking trails at Theodore Wirth Sunday morning. The men's 10K raced featured a fairly large pack before juniors Eli Andre, Dylan Little and Daniel Gladkov pulled ahead with Andre taking the photo finish over Little. The women's 10K race was a close battle for the two St. Olaf stars, Liesl Cope-Schaeffer and Lily Ward, vs. Laura Cattaneo, Cattaneo making her move in the final kilometer to take the victory, Cope-Schaeffer second, and Ward third. The 5K race was largely a junior race with Peter Schulz and Louisa Lindfors posting the top times. In the 15K fat bike race, Sean Cooley and Laura Bednarski were champions. Results linked in, photos from the 10K and 15K events posted.

NewSeeley Hills Classic Freestyle Results

January 12, 2025

For the first time in race history, the Seeley Hills Classic offered a freestyle race Sunday. And like Saturday, it was a family affair as Marit Ross-Sonnesyn and Nick Ross took the women's and men's titles out of a field of just over 150 skiers. Sarah Widder and Maggie Bowman rounded out the women's podium, with Sam Holt and Anders Sonnesyn second and third for the men. Results linked in.

NewMesabi East Invite Results

January 11, 2025

Utilizing the same man-made snow course as the previous season, the Mesabi East Invite still drew well over 750 skiers to race on Saturday at Giants Ridge. Owen Kalmes, Mounds View, took the boys 5K classic win, just 5.5 seconds ahead of Wayzata's Hudson McMillan while Eddie Snider, MPA, dominated the boys 5K freestyle event. On the girls side, Della Bettendorf, Proctor Hermantown, finished just 4.7 seconds in front of St. Paul Highland Park's Hannah Koch for the classical title, as Elsa Lindfors, St. Paul Central won the freestyle race just over 6 seconds ahead of Washburn's Chloe Angerman. Team score champions were the Brainerd boys and Highland Park girls. Full results linked in.

NewSeeley Hills Classic Coverage

January 11, 2025

Day one of the Seeley Hills races, held at the Birkie trailhead this year, as skiers pounded out laps on the 5K snowmaking loop for 20K and 35K classic races. The premiere 35K race came down to a three way sprint for the podium positions with Brian Gregg besting Dave Joda and Matt Liebsch for the victory by just two seconds. Caitlin Gregg completed the family sweep in taking the women's title ahead of Chelsey Youngberg and Vivian Johnson. Champions of the 20K race were Drew Huotari and Charlotte Brown. Sunday will feature first time freestyle races for Seeley Hills. Results linked in along with photos from Jackie Schneider.

Finn Sisu: Star Wax Clinic at Urban Growler, Jan 14th

January 9, 2025

Next Tuesday join Finn Sisu at the Urban Growler brewery off of University Ave for an evening of socializing and ski waxing. Star Wax rep Kevin Johnson will be there to demonstrate wax application and ski cleaning, and to answer any lingering questions. Grab a beer and stick around afterwards for a raffle with Finn Sisu swag and more!

Weekend Racing

January 8, 2025

Some big events on the calendar...
Jan 11-12 Seeley Hills Classic - Racing on the snowmaking trails at the Birkie trailhead, and adding a freestyle race on Sunday this year.
Jan 12 Law-pet Low-pet Challenge - One lap or two of the snowmaking trails at Theodore Wirth.
Jan 11 Mesabi East Invite - The biggest one day high school race in the nation, utilizing the snowmaking operations at Giants Ridge.
Jan 11 Loppet Invite - The Loppet's own one day mega high school race offers the full section format.
Read our latest updates in the Racing Outlook.

North Star Ski Touring Club Presentation: Doug Edmonson

January 8, 2025

North Star Ski Touring Club's January 14th meeting will feature speaker Doug Edmonson. Edmonson's book "The Inconspicuous Coach" tells the story of Norm Oakvik, who devoted 50 years to coaching North Star Ski Touring Club members and future champions. Meeting is open to the pubic and there is a Zoom call option as well.

US Nationals: Freestyle Sprints Results

January 7, 2025

Tuesday was the fourth and final day of competitions in Anchorage, Alaska for the 2025 US Cross-Country Ski Championships, and despite temperatures well above freezing the show would go on for the day's planned freestyle sprints. Although a national title was not up for grabs in the final event of the Championships, that did not deter athletes from competing like it was which was especially evident in the senior women's final. With just 4 hundredths of a second separating the two, Team Birkie's Mariel Merlii Pulles would take the win over Erica Laven of Sweden, while just a couple seconds back from them was the third place finisher, Kate Oldham, who was the first American. Oldham was joined on the all-American podium by Luci Anderson, another Team Birkie athlete and a Midwesterner, and Samantha Smith. A slightly more decisive race, the senior men's final finished with Michael Earnhart crossing the line first, followed by Walker Hall a half second back from him, and Carl Rune, another Swede, hot on Hall's heels. Earnhart and Hall would take the top two steps on the all-American podium, while Reid Goble, also a Midwesterner, would be promoted to the third and final step after finishing 4th overall. To note: two more athletes with Midwest ties made it at least as far as the semifinals—Kristoffer Alm Karsrud of Northern Michigan University in 8th, and Erin Bianco in 9th. Wrapping it all up, top junior times went to Mia Stiassny and Justin Lucas who both won with almost exactly 2 seconds to spare.

US Nationals: Classic Distance Results

January 5, 2025

The third of four days of racing at the 2025 US Cross-Country Ski Championships in Anchorage, Alaska took place on Sunday, with the focus of the day being a mass-start classic race. Senior skiers were subjected to a 20K course which largely led to close finishes across both the men's and women's competitions. Junior skiers on the other hand, had half that distance to handle. Andreas Kirkeng of Norway was once again the fastest of the senior men's field, winning out by just under 10 seconds over the top American and second place finisher, John Steel Hagenbuch, with Luke Jager finishing just behind him in third as the second fastest American. Finishing 5th, Will Koch completed the all-American podium, while Team Birkie's Christopher Kalev was the top Midwesterner in 12th. An even closer contest, the seniors women's race was decided by less than 3 seconds with Kendall Kramer crossing the line just ahead of Erica Laven of Sweden. A little over 30 seconds back from those two were Lauren Jortberg and Kate Oldham who, along with Kramer, made up the all-American podium. Narrowly missing the podium in a sprint finish with Jortberg and Oldham, Erin Bianco was the top Midwest woman in 5th, while Renae Anderson and Emma Albrecht also had strong showings in 7th and 14th respectively. Junior titles on the day went to Jack Leveque and Lena Ponduska. Another rest day will take place tomorrow before the final event of the 2025 US Cross-Country Ski Championships on Tuesday: freestyle sprints.

Tour de Ski: Stage 7 Freestyle Distance; Diggins Finishes Third in Tour

January 5, 2025

Seven stages later the Tour de Ski drew to a close on Sunday with one final climb up Alpe Cermis in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Covering a total of 10K, the race only really got underway once athletes reached the bottom of the downhill area, but that did not make the competition a sprint by any means. By the time they reached the summit, most were out of breath and on the ground, but not Norway's Therese Johaug, the women's winner both on the day and in the overall standings. Her all out blitz to the summit would leave her teammate Astrid Oeyre Slind behind to fight for second, which she did successfully, securing second in the overall standings as well. The third and final spot on the stage podium went to Heidi Weng, completing a sweep by Norway. Norway did not sweep the overall standings however, with that last podium position going to Jessie Diggins who dug deep to fend off the rest of the competition, finishing 6th and earning herself a piece of hardware. Taking home the overall title of the men's field was another Norwegian, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who was not the first to the top of the climb, but did enough to hold onto his lead. That honor of fastest man on the day went to Simen Hegstad Krueger who brought with him Mika Vermeulen of Austria and Friedrech Moch of Germany, rounding out the men's stage podium, with Vermeulen also being rewarded with a second place finish in the overall standings for his efforts. Just missing the stage podium in 4th, France's Hugo Laplas would instead make the men's overall podium, finishing third. Crossing the line in rapid succession, Zanden McMullen and Ben Ogden led the way for the US men in 19th and 20th respectively. Athletes now will have a chance to get some well earned R&R before gearing up for Period III of the World Cup which kicks off Jan 17th in France.

Battle Creek Fifty K Coverage

January 5, 2025

Nearly 90 skiers turned up Sunday morning to start in darkness and subzero temps, skiing 50K and accumulating 4000 ft of climbing, for the Battle Creek Fifty K race. Spencer Davis prevailed over the men's field in a surprisingly close finish as Isaac Wieber was just 59 seconds back with Ryan Rogers taking third. Callie Knapp was the women's champion, again in a tight contest with Kitty Earl-Tornianen only 59 seconds behind. Nicole Nueno took third. Results posted along with photos.