Anchorage Daily News

Two-time Olympic skier Kikkan Randall of Anchorage opened her 2008-09 World Cup campaign Saturday in Finland by finishing 33rd in a classic sprint. She was 0.6 seconds short of advancing to the quarterfinals.

Petra Majdic of Slovenia was the victor in the 1.4- kilometer race.

"Conditions were pretty darn near perfect for a classic race -- cold, dry powder snow around 24 degrees," Randall reported by e-mail from Kuusamo, Finland.

"The course featured one monster climb that was pretty decisive. I was disappointed ... but the times were really close and I gave it a good hard effort."

The best U.S. result of the day came in the men's race in which Andy Newell finished 11th.

"It was a really hard course -- harder than what they've had here in the past -- because they added another hill," Newell told The Associated Press. "It had the most vertical of any sprint I have done, so it was really hard. I had 12 minutes in between all my heats to recover, but that's not enough for me to get ready to race again."

Ola Vigen Hattestad led a Norwegian podium sweep in the men's race, with Tor Arne Hetland and John Kristian Dahl right behind him.

Southam notches second top-5 finish

APU skier James Southam recorded his second top-five finish in two days on Saturday as the U.S. Ski Association's SuperTour's opening weekend of racing wrapped up in West Yellowstone, Mont.

Southam was fourth in Saturday's 10-kilometer freestyle race, a day after his fifth-place finish in a 15-K classic event. His time of 22:18.1 left him about 44 seconds behind winner Ivan Babikov of Canada -- but less than two seconds behind third-place Garrott Kuzzy, who rebounded from 31st-place finish in Friday's 15-K classic race.

The SuperTour is a domestic race series for skiers a step below World Cup caliber.

Tyson Flaharty of APU was ninth and Lars Flora -- like Southam, a former Olympian who skis at the APU Nordic Ski Center -- was 11th in 23:01.

In the women's 10-K, APU's Laura Valaas was 10th in 26:44.4, and teammate Kate Arduser was 12th in 26:45.9. On Saturday in a 10-K classic race, Valaas was sixth.

2009 SuperTour 10-K

Freestyle

Saturday at West Yellowstone, Mont.

Men's 10-K

1) Ivan Babikov, Canada, 21:33.9; 2) Leif Zimmermann, Bozeman, Mont., 21:58.4; 3) Garrott Kuzzy, Hayward, Wisc., 22:16.4; 4) James Southam, APU, 22.18.1; 5) Tad Elliott, Durango, Colo., 22:36.0

Other Alaskans

9) Tyson Flaharty, APU, 22:57.6; 11) Lars Flora, APU, 23:01; 18) Jeff Ellis, APU, 23:27.2; 20) Brent Knight, APU, 23:35.5; 26) Anders Haugen, APU, 23:56.4; 44) Reese Hanneman, FAST, 24:44.4; 77) Jacob Remington, Fairbanks Cross Country, 26:18.8; 95) Simon Gilliland, Eagle River, 28:22.5;

Women's 10-K Freestyle

1) Morgan Arritola, Ketchum, Idaho, 25:30.8; 2) Shayla Swanson, Canada, 25:34.7; 3) Lenka Palanova, Czech Republic, 25:52.8; 4) Caitlin Compton, Minneapolis, 25:56.2; 5) Ma Mo Grevsgaard, Norway, 26:00.0.

Alaska Finishers

10) Laura Valaas, APU, 26:44.4; 12) Kate Arduser, APU, 26:45.7; 15) Taz Mannix, APU, 26:54.6; 18) Becca Rorabaugh, APU, 27:10.4; 19) Nicole De Yong, SVSEF, 27:15.8; 26) Kate Fitzgerald, APU, 27:55.1; 52) Emily Rogers, Alaska Winter Stars, 32:12.2.

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