Anchorage nordic skier sets US pace

Southam recorded the third-fastest time in the 50-kilometer classical race but grabbed the gold because the two skiers ahead of him were both Canadians, and only Americans can win medals at the national championships.

Stefan Kuhn, a member of Canada's development team, used a strong finish to beat Ivan Babikov, a former Russian who is now a member of Canada's national team, for the overall title.

Racing in warm, sunny weather -- temperatures topped 30 degrees for the marathon-legnth race -- Kuhn turned in a fast final lap to claim victory.

Kuhn and Babikov had nearly identical times going into the final 7.5 kilometers, but Kuhn put down the hammer to pull away. He won in 2 hours, 30 minutes, 6.9 seconds, edging Babikov by 7.3 seconds (2:30:14.1).

Southam, an Olympic skier who trains at the APU Nordic Center, was more than a minute behind the Canadians in 2:31:40.5.

Earlier in the week, Southam won the 10-kilometer classical race, and on Friday, he placed third overall and was the second American to pick up the silver medal in the 30-K skiathlon -- a race that is half classical, half freestyle.

In the women's 30-K classical, Elizabeth Stephen of Vermont's Burke Mountain Academy captured her third gold medal in four races.

Stephen set the pace early to win in 1:38:20.5, 14 seconds ahead of Morgan Arritola (1:38:34.6).

Anchorage's Kikkan Randall showed that she's not just a sprint specialist, claiming bronze in 1:39:09.6.

The race was the final event in Fairbanks, which was supposed to host only the distances races but inherited two others -- the shorter classical race and the team sprint -- when two races at January's national championships in Anchorage were canceled because of sub-zero temperatures.

Women's 30-kilometer classical

1) Elizabeth Stephen 1:38:20.5; 2) Morgan Arritola 1:38:34.6; 3) Kikkan Randall 1:39:09.6; 4) Kristina Strandberg 1:40:03.6; 5) Rebecca Dussault 1:40:16.9; 6) Caitlin Compton; 7) Morgan Smyth 1:42:24.8; 8) Becca Rorabaugh; 9) Kate Pearson Arduser 1:42:39.4; 10) Holly Brooks 1:43:28.0; 11) Rosie Brennan 1:43:51.7; 12) Evelyn Dong 1:44:36.8; 13) Kristina Owen 1:44:51.4; 14) Aurelia Korthauer 1:45:54.4; 15) Kate Fitzgerald 1:45:57.8; 16) Tazlina Mannix 1:46:10.9; 17) Kristina Trygstad-Saari 1:48:02.9; 18) Adele Espy 1:48:32.0; 19) Katie Ronsee 1:49:17.5; 20) Jaime Bronga 1:49:21.5; 21) Theresia Schnurr 1:49:38.6; 22) Nicole DeYong 1:50:23.0; 23) Ky Eiben 1:50:30.3; 24) Martina Stursova 1:52:34.7; 25) Corinne Prevot 1:55:22.1; 26) Ingrid Olson 1:56:52.2; 27) Kate Backstrum 1:57:56.3; 28) Rebecca Konieczny 1:59:38.7; 29) Rachelle Kanady 2:01:29.4; 30) Sue Forbes 2:05:49.4.

Men's 50-K classical

1) Stefan Kuhn 2:30:06.9; 2) Ivan Babikov 2:30:14.1; 3) James Southam 2:31:40.5; 4) Noah Hoffman 2:32:21.2; 5) Glenn Randall 2:33:29.5; 6) Bryan Cook 2:34:11.7; 7) Toris Koos 2:34:48.2; 8) Graham Nishikawa 2:34:57.5; 9) Christopher Cook 2:36:34.8; 10) Garrott Kuzzy 2:37:00.9; 11) Max Treinen 2:37:38.2; 12) Patrick Johnson 2:37:44.5; 13) David Norris 2:37:56.7; 14) Brent Knight 2:37:59.7; 15) Marius Korthauer 2:38:08.0; 16) Lars Flora 2:38:10.2; 17) Leif Zimmermann 2:40:04.1; 18) Brian Gregg 2:40:06.2; 19) Dan Roycroft 2:40:16.5; 20) Phillip Violett 2:40:48.7; 21) Andre Watt 2:41:53.1; 22) Mike Hinckley 2:42:07.1; 23) Ray Sabo 2:42:17.7; 24) Mark Iverson 2:42:34.0; 25) Anders Haugen 2:42:45.3; 26) Colin Rodgers 2:43:04.6; 27) Mike Sinnott 2:44:28.6; 28) Bart Dengel 2:45:03.6; 29) Ben Sim 2:45:08.0; 30) Brayton Osgood 2:46:34.0; 31) August Kaeding 2:47:09.5; 32) Eli Enman 2:47:31.4; 33) Dylan Watts 2:48:36.0; 34) Peter Kling 2:49:13.7; 35) Erik Soderstrom 2:49:39.5; 36) Tim Cook 2:50:03.1; 37) Einar Often 2:50:40.1; 38) Erik Mundahl 2:51:13.0 39) Simi Hamilton 2:51:56.4; 40) Donald Haering 2:54:56.9; 41) Michael Brothers 2:55:29.4; 42) Erik Jacobson 2:56:51.3; 43) Dave Chamberlain 2:57:08.1; 44) Michael Matteson 3:01:08.2; 45) David Arvey 3:01:48.1; 46) Sam Tarling 3:02:51.8; 47) Tyler Kornfield 3:04:38.2; 48) Bobby Miller 3:05:07.8; 49) Stian Stensland 3:10:28.2.