With the Olympics clearly in their future, Kikkan Randall and Kris Freeman could afford to go out conservatively in Monday's freestyle races at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships at Kincaid Park.
With the Olympics a question mark in his future, James Southam didn't want to risk a slow start for fear he'd have too much catching up to do.
For Randall and Freeman, both veterans of two Olympic Games, the plan worked to perfection. Both trailed early but surged late to capture national championships — the second in two races at Kincaid Park and the 12th overall for Anchorage's Randall, and the 13th overall for New Hampshire's Freeman.
As for Southam, the Anchorage man who was the early leader in the men's 15-kilometer race?
"I blew up," he said.
Foiled by his fast start, Southam struggled in the last of three laps but still managed to finish third — behind Freeman and surprise silver medalist Tad Elliott of Durango, Colo. — and keep his Olympic hopes alive.
Southam, 31, was a member of the U.S. team for the 2006 Winter Olympics and, with two gold medals from last season's national championships and the No. 5 spot in the national rankings, thought Vancouver was well within his grasp when the season began.
"I thought it was a sure thing, and then we found out we have significantly less spots than we'd heard in September," he said.
Right now, based on its past international results, the United States can send eight skiers to Vancouver. That number could grow in the coming weeks when the final quotas are determined for each country, but there's no guarantee the Americans will earn more Olympic berths. So for now, Southam is operating on the belief four men and four women will make the team.
"And three men have already qualified, so that leaves one spot," he said. "So it's tight."
Although only Andy Newell of Shaftsbury, Vt., has prequalified for the men's team, Freeman, of Andover, N.H., and Torin Koos of Leavenworth, Wash., are all but guaranteed to make it. That leaves Southam and everyone else chasing a fourth, and possibly final, spot.
"I have two races here, so I'll do as much as I can with them," said Southam, a distance skier who didn't race in Saturday's freestyle sprint and probably won't race in Friday's classic sprint. That leaves Wednesday's 30-kilometer classical for him to make one last impression on U.S. Ski Team coaches.
Randall, 27, showed that she's not just a sprinter, even though sprint racing is what makes her a World Cup and Olympic contender.
She hammered the second of two laps to win the 10-kilometer women's race in 28 minutes, 40.1 seconds, beating runner-up Caitlin Compton of Minneapolis by 10 seconds and third-place Liz Stephen of Montpelier, Vt., by 23 seconds.
Anchorage's Holly Brooks, who, like fellow Alaska Pacific University nordic team member Southam is hoping to do enough this week to make the Olympic team, placed seventh in 29:57.9. Fifty-year-old Beth Reid of Palo Alto, Calif., the 1980 Olympic bronze medalist in speedskating who was sixth in Saturday's sprint, continued to impress with an eighth-place finish.
Randall trailed by about 10 seconds midway through the race but picked up her pace on the second lap.
"I was happy to find my legs over the second half," she said. "It wouldn't be a top 20 in the World Cup, but it was a solid race."
Randall, who said she's done significant training for distance racing this season, knew not to push the pace too early.
Freeman called the undulating course, which included portions of the Lekisch Trail, "a skier's course — you have to know how to ski, and ski fast."
Randall knew if she went out too fast, the course might eat her up.
"If you go out just a little too fast, this course really sucks you into it," she said.
Freeman, 29, had different reasons for his conservative start. During his early-season World Cup distance races, he worked hard to pace himself, to teach himself how to avoid what happened to Southam in his race Monday and what all skiers fear in a distance race.
"You don't want to go out and blow up early," Freeman said. "There's an edge you reach where you've got a lot of lactic acid built up, and then you pull back. It took me about 10 years to learn that."
For years, Freeman said, he went out strong at the start of his races and hope if he blew up, it would happen with the finish line in sight. That's how American skiers race, he said.
"I raced for years in the States, where it's fly and die," he said. "Then in the World Cup, I'd get splits where I'd be in the top 10, then the top 15, and then finish in the 30s.
"Now I can read my body. I know how hard I can go and still be able to pour it on at the end. When I was fourth in the World Cup this year, I was 32nd the first lap and 10th the second. That's when I knew I could be on the podium."
Men's 15-kilometer freestyle
Top 30
1) Kris Freeman, U.S. Ski Team, 37:17.6; 2) Tad Elliott, CXC Team Vertical, 37:42.1; 3) James Southam, APU, 38:15.2; 4) Matt Liebsch, CXC Team Vertical, 38:21.1; 5) Noah Hoffman, U.S. Ski Team, 38:37.7; 6) Lars Flora, APU, 38:52.1; 7) Leif Zimmerman, Bridger Ski Foundation, 38:55.2; 8) Chris Cook, Steinbock Racing, 39:04.0; 9) Brian Gregg, CXC Team Vertical, 39:06.5; 10) Simi Hamilton, Sun Valley, 39:22.3; 11) Anders Haugen, APU, 39:23.6; 12) Mike Hinckley, APU, 39:30.8; 13) Bryan Cook, CXC Team Vertical, 39:31.8; 14) Brayton Osgood, Fischer XC Oregon, 39:36.2; 15) Brent Knight, APU, 39:38.4; 16) Scott Patterson, Alaska Winter Stars, 39:45.7; 17) Garrott Kuzzy, U.S. Ski Team, 39:50.2; 18) Santiago Ocariz, University of Wisconsin, 39:54.9; 19) David Chamberlain, Maine Winter Sports, 39:56.1; 20) Glenn Randall, Bridger Ski Foundation, 40:03.7; 21) Sylvan Ellefson, Fischer Craft Team, 40:06.0; 22) Marshall Greene, Madshus-Alpina, 40:06.7; 23) Michael Sinnott, Sun Valley, 40:10.0; 24) Matthew Gelso, University of Colorado, 40:17.1; 25) Dylan McGuffin, University of New Mexico, 40:26.8; 26) Reese Hanneman, UAF, 40:39.6; 27) Justin Freeman, New England Nordic, 40:40.7; 28) Timothy Reynolds, Craftsbury Green, 40:41.8; 29) David Norris, UAF, 40:43.3; 30) Mark Iverson, APU, 40:48.9.
Women's 10-kilometer freestyle
Top 30
1) Kikkan Randall, U.S. Ski Team, 28:40.1; 2) Caitlin Compton, Go! Training, 28:50.5; 3) Liz Stephen, U.S. Ski Team, 29:03.7; 4) Morgan Arritola, U.S. Ski Team, 29:26.9; 5) Ekaterina Vinogradova, Auburn Ski Club, 29:31.7; 6) Rebecca Dussault, CXC Vertical Limit, 29:37.9; 7) Holly Brooks, APU, 29:57.9; 8) Beth Reid, Auburn Ski Club, 30:14.5; 9) Nicole DeYong, Sun Valley, 30:32.8; 10) Tazlina Mannix, U.S. Ski Team, 30:44.8; 11) Laura Valaas, APU, 30:45.4; 12) Caitlin Patterson, University of Vermont, 31:00.0; 13) Kristina Trygstad-Saari, Bridger Ski Foundation, 31:12.0; 14) Becca Rorabaugh, APU, 31:12.4; 15) Evelyn Dong, XC Oregon, 31:17.6; 16) Eliska Hajkova, University of Colorado, 31:19.6; 17) Kate Fitzgerald, APU, 31:29.8; 18) Joanne Reid, University of Colorado, 31:30.5; 19) Sadie Bjornson, Methow Olympic Development, 31:36.9; 20) Ida Sargent, Craftsburg Greebm 31:37.3; 21) Aurelia Korthauer, UAF, 31:43.2; 22) Rosie Brennan, Dartmouth, 31:44.9; 23) Maria Stuber, CXC Vertical Limit, 31:45.3; 24) Alexa Turzian, University of Colorado, 31:45.9; 25) Kate Arduser, APU, 31:47.9; 26) Katie Ronsse, APU, 31:57.8; 27) Hannah Dreissigacker, Craftsbury Green, 31:59.9; 28) Adele Espy, Sun Valley, 32:12.6; 29) Anna Coulter, UAF, 32:14.8; 30) Kasandra Rice, APU, 32:15.2.
