Rosie Brennan

After a successful Tour de Ski, Rosie Brennan has earned a two-week break from World Cup competition.

Brennan’s “break,” of course, will include voluminous training as the Alaska Pacific University nordic skier builds towards next month’s World Championships in Slovenia.

Brennan capped the seven-race Tour de Ski on Sunday with sixth place in the brutal climb up Alpe Cermis, an Alpine hill in Val Di Fiemme, Italy. That elevated her to fourth place (and top American) in the Tour de Ski standings and sixth place in the overall World Cup.

“Overall, I had a very steady Tour which is sometimes enough for a good overall result so I’m happy with that,” Brennan told multiple media outlets. “I felt my best the last three days which is a good sign for the future and will hopefully allow the tour to act as a good training block for World Championships.”

Devon Kershaw, who hosts a nordic skiing podcast, was more emphatic about Brennan’s performance.

“I’m actually in awe. I think the performance of Rosie Brennan goes down as one of the most impressive performances of her career, and she’s won World Cups,” said Kershaw, a retired Canadian Olympic skier. “This was fantastic.”

The career-best Tour finish also earned Brennan 30,000 Swiss Francs (about $32,000).

During the Tour, the U.S. staff was left significantly shorthanded due to illness. Brennan said it took an “incredible effort” to keep up the quality performances, and that included her boyfriend Tyler Kornfield of Anchorage volunteering to test kick wax — Kornfield is spending the winter in Italy racing the ski marathon circuit — and the parents of an American racer provided in-race feeds.

“I’m immensely grateful for everyone’s support,” Brennan said.

Three Alaskan men from Anchorage also finished the Tour.

Scott Patterson

Scott Patterson took 22nd overall after wrapping up with 14th place in the Alpe Cermis climb, his best performance of the Tour.

“It’s been a long tour but it’s been pretty good. I am happy with it and I’m psyched for what’s next,” said Patterson.

Hunter Wonders placed 28th overall and Gus Schumacher was 35th among 53 finishers while dozens of others dropped out before the final stage.

Gus Schumacher

“Time to not ski race for a little bit,” Schumacher said on Facebook. “Didn’t really get the results I wanted out of those 7 races. There were definitely some bright spots but I generally felt a little overloaded.”

JC Schoonmaker, who raced at the University of Alaska Anchorage until this season, finished the first six stages. His highlight was placing seventh in the sprint classic on Saturday and narrowly missing the six-skier finals.

The World Cup resumes January 21-22 with sprints in Italy while distance racing resumes January 27-29 in France.

US Nationals wrap in Michigan

In a race that came down to three Alaskan friends, Luke Jager won his second U.S. Nationals championship in Houghton, Michigan last Friday — and did so by also crossing the finish line ahead of all foreign athletes.

Luke Jager

Jager, who qualified for the 2022 Olympics as a sprinter, outlasted two distance specialists — Fairbanks native David Norris and Anchorage’s Zanden McMullen — in the 20-kilometer classic mass start. His time of 51 minutes, 14 seconds was two seconds better than Norris and three faster than McMullen.

“I’ve tried really hard to not be super specialized as not just a sprinter these last few years, to be able to be competitive in all the events,” Jager told Fasterskier.com. “To hold with those guys until the end was really rewarding.”

Jager also won the U.S. title in the classic sprint at nationals on January 4. However, it came with a caveat because two Norwegians beat him to the line. That made the 20K outright win all the more satisfying.

Jager wrapped up the race series with second place in a freestyle sprint on Saturday that served as a SuperTour event (and not a national championship).

Jager, who skis for the University of Utah, and McMullen now look forward to the Under-23 World Championships in Whistler, B.C., Canada beginning Jan. 28.

For the women, APU’s Hailey Swirbul continued her domination by winning the 20K national championships by 0.4 seconds as well as the SuperTour freestyle sprint. She thus swept all four races in Houghton and is expected to soon rejoin the World Cup in Europe.

“I’m so stoked that I chose to have (Nationals) be part of my plan this year, instead of going to Europe at the start of the season,” Swirbul told FasterSkier. “So, win, lose, or draw, that’s what I’m really excited for. … I love this community.”

Besh Cup in Palmer, Lynx Loppet in Anchorage

In Alaska racing, high school competition resumes this weekend with the Lynx Loppet at Kincaid Park. The Besh Cup also continues at the Government Peak Recreation Area in Palmer with a classic sprint on Saturday and a freestyle interval start on Sunday.

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