March 15, 2008
Diggin' Deep:
Diggins' Performance Highlights Relay
By Dean Woodbeck
Minnesota’s Jessie Diggins ripped through the field in the last leg of the J1 girls relay to lead her three-woman team to a first place in the final day of competition at the 2008 Junior Olympics. Diggins posted the best time , by 30 seconds, of anyone – J1 or OJ – on the 5km course.
 Diggins moved up four or five places during her leg giving the Midwest a 30 second victory.
Team Alaska, however, holds the point advantage for the week-long team competition and will take home the Alaska Cup trophy, which has had a four-year stay in New England.
The Kincaid Park course was fast again today, as nighttime temperatures cooled into the teens and the daytime highs stayed below freezing. Organizers had the 3km (for J2s) and 5km courses in top condition for the final race of the week.
The individual highlight of the week goes to Scot Patterson, a J2 skier from Anchorage, who took home three gold medals. Patterson won both J2 distance races and his team took the sprint title in their age group. All told today, Alaska took gold in three of the six races.
Preliminary results show Alaska with almost a 200 point advantage over New England in the team competition. The Intermountain team was a distant third.
Next year’s Junior Olympics is scheduled to return to Truckee, California. |
