APU Head Coach & Director Erik Flora has recently been heard to say: "We are having success at all levels" and boy is it showing!
This week has felt like the busiest we've had all year with skiers everywhere in the world prepping to race the Birkie, the World Cup Races in Lahti, Junior & U23 World Championships, The AMH Anchorage Cup, and State Championships in Fairbanks. (to name a few!) All the while program members have been braving some interested weather in Anchorage for the week's practices! Coach Eric even found some crust skiing!
Below you'll read about the last two races of Olympic Winter Games, Olympic experience recaps from our athletes, a Junior World Championship 3rd place Medal for the Men's Relay, first place finishes at the ASAA Nordic Ski Championships, and a first place finish for one of our Master skiers in the Tour of Tsalteshi!
All we can do now is ride the wave and cheer on our skiers!
Be sure to follow APU Nordic Ski Center on our Facebook or Instagram to get the most up to date race results and behind the scenes fun from our athletes!
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MEN'S 50/30KM SCOTT PATTERSON
Scott Patterson, the lone U.S. skier, catapulted himself from bib 27 to finish 8th in the final men's race of the Olympics. Scott finished hungry for the grind of the 20 more km's he was supposed to race. However, due to harsh weather conditions the Men's 50km was shortened to a 30km just prior to the race. Scott rose to the occasion despite navigating a short return from a wrist injury and showed impressive poise and speed skiing with the Worlds best. Scott's 8th place finish is a historic best for any American in an Olympic 50k race. Photo by Getty Images To read more on Scott's last Olympic race, click here.
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WOMEN'S 30KM ROSIE BRENNAN
Rosie Brennan finished 6th place overall in the last Cross Country Olympic race in the Women's 30km Freestyle. With Jessie Diggins 2nd place finish and Rosie's 6th place finish, the two ladies continued to make history by having 2 American women finish in the top 10 in an Olympic Distance race. Rosie was covered head to toe battling through harsh weather conditions and charging forward by consistently staying with the top packs that lead the race! Photo by Nordic Focus To read about the Women's 30km race, click here.
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APU OLYMPIC EXPERIENCES!
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JUNIOR & U23 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS |
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It's been a stellar week for our skiers at the Junior & U23 World Championships in Lygna, Norway! The week started with an outstanding 10th place finish in the Mens' 30km by APU's Michael Earnhart followed by another US Men's Relay podium finish!! The US relay team of Michael Earnhart, Brian Bushey, Walker Hall, and Will Koch won the bronze medal at the 2022 Junior World Championships in Norway Wednesday. (photos above by flying point) We know without a doubt that those fast skis made by Coach Jack Novack and APU Alum Anson Moxness helped pushed the men to an outstanding finish for USA! Read more about the relay race here!
Another APU Skier, Zanden McMullen (photo right) had a stellar 14th place finish in the Men's U23 15KM Classic race to cap the weeks races! Zanden will be moving on to race in the upcoming World Cup races. We wish him best of luck and congrats on his recent U23 race!
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2022 ASAA NORDIC SKI CHAMPIONSHIP |
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2022 ASAA NORDIC SKI CHAMPIONSHIP
MARIT FLORA WINS STATE
State Championships is almost complete with fantastic results from our APU skiers!! Congratulations to all who raced this week in Fairbanks. We look forward to the relays tomorrow and to see final team standings! Full race results can be found here.
Photos by Jessie Menkens
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Thursday interval start skate 7.5 Boys
3. Oskar Flora - 1st Freshman
4. Hatcher Menkens
7. Justin Lucas
9. Ethan Howe
10. Liam Chisholm
14. Logan Cuddy - 2nd Freshman
5km Interval start Ladies
1. Marit Flora
3. Natalie Hood
7. Lily Pannkuk
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Friday Mass start classic 10km Boys
5. Hatcher Menkens
6. Justin Lucas
9. Ethan Howe
7.5km mass start classic ladies
1. Marit Flora
5. Lily Pannkuk
7. Emily Erickson
10. Natalie Hood
12. Piper Sears - 1st Freshman
13. Zoe Rodgers - 2nd Freshman
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APU MASTER SKIER WINS
20KM TOUR OF TSALTESHI!
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Congratulations to APU Master skier Anna Engel for winning the 20km freestyle Tour of Tsalteshi
in Soldotna this past weekend! At the ripe old age of 25, the "master" skier Anna won the women's 30km race! We had a good showing of APU Masters who raced in Soldotna. Congrats to everyone who made it out for the race! "The drive there and back was beautiful, the after-race soup amazing, and we ended up getting stopped by a moose on the trail that decided to charge us at one point. Alaska! It was fun to finally get some racing in to try out all the new movement patterns we had been learning in the master's program, and paid off with fast results! Thanks coach Galen!!"
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Sadie Bjornsen and Kikkan Randall getting ready to race the Birkie as "APU Retirees" joined by Caitlin Patterson!
APU Elite, APU Alum & Master Skiers are gearing up for tomorrow's Birkie Races!! We wish them luck and look forward to following along tomorrow!
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Upcoming Race Schedules
2/22 - 2/27 - Junior & U23 World Cross Country Championships, Lygna, Norway
2/23 - 2/26 - American Birkebeiner, Cable-Hayward, Wisconsin
2/26 - 2/27 - World Cup, Lahti, Finland
3/3 - World Cup, Drammen, Norway
3/5 - 3/6 - World Cup, Oslo, Norway
3/6 - 3/12 - Junior Nationals, Minneapolis, Minnesota
3/11 - 3/13 - World Cup, Falun, Sweden
3/18 - 3/20 - World Cup, Tyumen, Russia
3/20 - 3/27 - SuperTour Final/Spring National Championships, Whistler, Canada
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Support APU Nordic Ski Center Today |
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This Olympic year, please consider donating to APU Nordic Ski Center. Contributions from our community helps us to achieve our mission and vision of vision of developing world-class cross-country skiers while promoting the participation in the sport of cross-country skiing in the community! Photo right - Erik Flora and APUNSC coaches in wax trailer during U.S. Nationals!
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APU Nordic Sweatshirt For Sale! |
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As the Winter Olympics Approach let's support our skiers and wear our APU Blue! This year, APU Nordic Ski Center and Hulin Design brought back the hoodie sweatshirt that is loved by many. Hulin design placed a couple updates from the old sweatshirt to make a fresh, bright design. It’s the softest sweatshirt you’ll ever own. Part of proceeds go to support APU Nordic Ski Center.
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Thank You To Our Sponsors |
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APU Nordic Ski Center | Website | Follow Us on Social Media
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