The first-ever Ski Orienteering World Cup races on North American soil just wrapped up in the Lake Tahoe region of California, and the women’s U.S. Ski Orienteering Team made history by placing two of their members in the top 15 in World Cup points.
Thirteen countries participated, including the historical powerhouses of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. The week’s racing opened with a mass start long distance race in which NENSA athlete Alison Crocker skied to 4th place, the best-ever World Cup result for an American. CSU teammate Alex Jospe followed in 11th place, within a second of a top 10 finish.
The week continued with a sprint, a middle-distance race, and then a mixed sprint relay. After these races, Crocker and Jospe are currently ranked 6th and 13th in the World Cup standings in ski-orienteering, by far the best placings the U.S. has had in this competition series. Teammate Adrian Owens (Craftsbury) had solid results on the men’s side, while junior Kestrel Owens won the concurrent U-16 national champs in all three distances (sprint, middle, long).
For full results, GPS tracking, and other info click <a href=<<a href=http://baoc.org/wiki/Schedule/2012/Ski-O_Tour” target=”_blank”>here.
