Anchorage Daily News

On the precipice of disaster, Anchorage's Kikkan Randall displayed the talent that has lifted her to unprecedented heights in nordic skiing Saturday at the U.S. Cross Country Championships.

Randall, who less than a month ago made history by becoming the first American woman to win a World Cup cross-country event when she defeated the reigning world sprint champion in a race in Russia, fell during her quarterfinal heat in what is her signature event, the freestyle sprint.

"The tip of her ski got caught in the powder," Alaska Pacific University ski coach Holly Brooks said in a cell phone interview from Houghton, Mich.

Spotters on the radio shouted, "Kikkan's down! Kikkan's down!"

Brooks wondered, "Is this the upset of the day?"

Turns out it wasn't.

Randall, who slid to the back of the pack of the six-racer field, recovered and powered through to a 1.52-second win in the heat, and went on to capture the national championship by winning the her semifinal and A final.

"I don't think any skier here could have done that," Brooks said.

Randall won four times overall at the Michigan Tech Nordic Training Center on Saturday, including the qualifying heat to win her second national title in three days and eighth overall.

Randall's week at nationals got off to a disappointing start with a 10th-place finish on Tuesday in the 5-kilometer freestyle.

But she rebounded to win the 10-K classic on Thursday, then won the freestyle sprint Saturday, the same World Cup race she won in Russia.

Randall's Alaska Pacific University teammate Laura Valaas also had a good day in the sprint, finishing second in qualifying and the A final, 2.16 seconds behind Randall. Valaas won her quarterfinal and semifinal heat.

On Thursday Randall said in a phone interview from Houghton, Mich., she and Valaas would pair up for Sunday's team sprint competition.

Kate Arduser, also of APU, took sixth in the B final.

In the men's sprint, Andy Newell turned in a similar performance to Randall, winning all four of his races. Anchorage's Lars Flora advanced to the A final and finished sixth out of six racers, 4.52 seconds behind Newell.

Flora won the 15-K classic race on Thursday for the fourth national championship of his career.

"They (Randall and Flora) made it look easy," Brooks said. "It was ridiculous."

UAF's Vahur Teppan was third in the A final and APU's Anders Haugen took second in the B final.

Alaska was well represented in the junior divisions as well. In junior men, Reese Hanneman won the A final and Eric Packer took second.

East High's Jaime Bronga finished second in the women's A final. South's Caitlin Patterson, the reigning Skimeister in Alaska, was third and Amy Glen finished fifth.

In under-23 men, UAF's Einar Often was third in the A final, followed by Justin Singleton, Aders Gillis and Robert Pakk.

Julia Coulter of Fairbanks finished second in the U-23 women's A final.