Sports

Flora, Brooks claim crowns

On the final day of the cross-country ski season, Anchorage's Holly Brooks and Lars Flora earned the right to kick off next season on the World Cup circuit.

But neither has decided yet whether they'll join Alaska Pacific University teammate Kikkan Randall on the sport's biggest stage early next winter.

Brooks might choose to race in North America instead, with the goal of earning a spot on the World Cup team for the second half of the season, while Flora might choose to retire.

"I'll take the next month and think about it," said Flora, a two-time Olympian who is 33. "It's really hard for me to retire right now because I'm having a fun time, but at the same time, I've been doing this for a long time.

"Last year was supposed to be my last season, but after two hard years I had to make a comeback."

And what a comeback it's been. This season, Flora skied his way onto the World Championship, claimed three medals -- gold, silver and bronze -- at the national championships and captured the overall championship on the SuperTour, the top race circuit in North America.

The SuperTour title, which covers races from October through Saturday, comes with an automatic World Cup berth for the first half of next season, with expenses covered by the International Ski Federation.

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Flora and Brooks claimed the titles by turning in several podium finishes in early-season races in Canada and the Lower 48 and by skiing strongly in the four-race SuperTour Finals that ended Saturday in Sun Valley, Idaho,

Randall wrapped up the best season on record for an American woman by powering her way to a convincing victory in a 4-kilometer hill climb Saturday that gave her a sweep of the four races.

A three-time Olympian who finished third in this season's World Cup sprint standings, Randall crushed a field of 100 to deliver a reminder -- as if one is needed -- that she is the nation's undisputed nordic queen.

She won in 15 minutes, 4.4 seconds to lead an all-Alaska podium finish that included Brooks in second place (15:36.0) and Girdwood's Chelsea Holmes in third place (15:36.4). Alaskans claimed the top six spots in the women's race, with Nicole DeYong, who trains in Sun Valley, finishing fourth, followed by APU's Kate Fitzgerald and Morgan Smyth.

In the men's race, Tad Elliott of Durango, Colo., claimed victory and second-place Kris Freeman of Andover, N.H., grabbed the Finals overall championship. Flora placed ninth to lock up the season-long overall title.

His best finish of the series came in Friday's classic sprint, where he took the bronze medal by edging another Anchorage skier, Eric Packer. Held in 50-degree temperatures that made for challenging conditions, the sprint was the hardest race of the week, Flora said.

"Today was pretty easy," he said after Saturday's hill climb. "Yesterday was hard. It was a long day, and warm. Today was 13 minutes of pain and it was done."

The hill climb took skiers on a grueling ascent of Sun Valley's Dollar Mountain. Though she didn't know how much elevation gain the course featured, Brooks said the race ended at about 7,800 feet.

The thin air and arduous effort took its toll.

"I've never seen so much carnage at the finish line," Brooks said. "The muscles are aching, but for the most part it's the lungs. You were hyperventilating for 10 minutes after you crossed the finish line.

"Everyone just crashed. One of our teammates had to be carried down on a sled."

The teammate was Fitzgerald, a skier from Palmer who made a fierce charge up the mountain -- she had the second-fastest halfway time, trailing only Randall -- and hung on to finish a painful fifth.

"It really took her a long time to pull it together," Brooks said. "I don't think she remembers everything, although she never fully lost consciousness. It just goes to show how tough people are and how much they're willing to lay it on the line."

Brooks, Flora and many of the other Alaska skiers will return home later this week. Brooks, who was a full-time coach for APU until she launched a successful run at making the 2010 Olympic team, has been gone for two months, a period that included the World Championships in Oslo followed by a handful of late-season World Cup races in Europe.

Though the idea of more World Cup races is appealing, Brooks isn't sure if she wants to start next season overseas.

"I need to discuss with my coach whether I'm gonna take that opportunity or not, but it's great to have that option," Brooks said. "World Cup starts are hard to come by."

Brooks said she is tempted to follow the same schedule as this season -- race domestically in the SuperTour at the start of the season and hope her results earn her a World Cup berth for the second part of the season. That's how this season played out.

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As for Flora, he also plans to talk about the future with his coach, who happens to be brother Erik, the head of the APU nordic program.

"It's fun to have my brother running such a fun team. Each year it gets better and better," he said.

Flora spoke by cell phone during APU's post-race celebration, and in the background was the sound of teammates chanting his name. Buoyed by a strong week and an even stronger season, he didn't sound like an athlete ready to call it quits, but he said the end is near, whether it's now or a year from now.

"I won't make it to Sochi," Flora said of the city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. "That's a guarantee."

Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.

SuperTour Finals

Sun Valley, Idaho

Saturday's 4-kilometer hill climb

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Top 3 women -- 1) Kikkan Randall 15:04.4, 2) Holly Brooks 15:36.0, 3) Chelsea Holmes 15:36.6. Other Alaskans -- 4) Nicole DeYong 16:04.3, 5) Kate Fitzgerald 16:06.5, 6) Morgan Smyth 16:09.2, 16) Becca Rorabaugh 16:43.4, 21) Sadie Bjornsen 17:02.7, 28) Caitlin Patterson 17:44.6, 29) Jessica Yeaton 17:45.9, 41) Lauren Fritz 18:25.9, 43) Kalysta Schmidt 18:27.8, 71) Greta Anderson 21:26.7.

Top 3 men -- 1) Tad Elliott 12:46.7, 2) Kris Freeman 12:57.1, 3) Brian Gregg 12:57.4. Alaskan finishers -- 9) Lars Flora 13:17.8; 19) Mark Iverson 13:45.4, 24) Andrew Dougherty 13:53.9, 25) Brent Knight 13:55.6, 27) James Southam 13:56.2, 29) Patrick Johnson 13:59.9, 30) Bart Dengel 14:00.3, 47) Scott Patterson 14:24.9, 49) David Norris 14:27.8, 53) Jack Novak 14:31.3, 58) Eric Packer 14:39, 63) Dylan Watts 14:45.6, 65) Peter Kling 14:47.5, 73) Reese Hanneman 14:57.3, 81) Erin Phillips 15:09.8, 118) Carl Smith 16:15.2.

Finals standings

Top 3 women -- 1) Randall 54:48.4, 2) Brooks 56:49.1, 3) Jessie Diggins 57:22.5. Other Alaskans in top 25 -- 5) Fitzgerald 59:12.6, 7) Holmes 59:41.4, 8) Bjornsen 1:00:02.7, 9) Smyth 1:00:08.3, 10) Rorabaugh 1:00:25.4, 15) DeYong 1:01:18.4.

Top 3 men -- 1) Freeman 1:04:49.1, 2) Simi Hamilton 1:05:07.1, 3) Noah Hoffman 1:05:11.1. Alaskans in the top 25 -- 7) Flora 1:05:42.8, 15) Southam 1:07:24.2, 17) Knight 1:07:54.6, 22) Packer 1:08.36.

By BETH BRAGG

bbragg@adn.com

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