March 5, 2008
National Team Relays –
Day Five, Masters World Cup
By Ron Bergin
Competition shifted from individual events to team relays on Thursday at the Masters World Cup. Four-person teams skied five-kilometer legs - two classic and two freestyle.
One or perhaps two teams from each country were selected in most age class divisions to ski against other countries that could field a sufficient number of skiers to create a team. In some cases, countries combined their members to create a team. In the women’s divisions age classes were expanded to 10 years.
Each team’s national director, based on their performance during the week or previous competition, chooses relay teams.
Mother Nature continued to smile on the Masters World Cup (discounting day one) as conditions once again lead to fast times across the divisions. Numerous sub-13 minute 5Ks were turned in, with the fastest five-kilometer time of 11 minutes 22 seconds recorded by Alfio DiGregorio of Italy.
Americans continued to ski strong with several gold and silver medals and a bucketful of bronze. Taking home the hardware for the home team were: M1-1st, Adam Swank, Wilhelm Northrop, Borg Isaksen, Joseph Jensen; M2-3rd, Dan Streubel, Clay Moseley, Stephen White, Michael Brothers; M3-1st, Rune Harkestad, Dale Niggeman, Ian Harvey, Eric Jensen; M4-3rd, Barry Makarewicz, Milan Baic, David Maclean, Kent Murdoch; M5-3rd, David Edic, Robert Bradlee, Rick Reynolds, Jon Engen; M6-3rd, David Ford, Doug Armstrong, Randy Beckner, David Christopherson; M7-2nd, Peter Davis, Kenneth Rice, Del Pletcher, Murray Banks; M8-3rd, Bob Gray, Alec Davis, Odd Osland, Andy Andrews; M9-3rd, Tim Carter, Arthur Mitchell, Donald Gini, Donald Bilden; M10-2nd, Charley French, Charles Martin, Bjorn Lasserud, Mack Miller; F1-2nd, Inge Scheve, Melissa Lewis, Molly Zurn, Rebecca Rusch; F2-1st, Beth Reid, Judith Rabinowitz, Leslie Hall, Laura McCabe; F3-2nd, Kate Ellis, Muffy Ritz, Debbie Hakansson, Katie Meyer; F4-1st, Trina Hosmer, Beth Schluter, June Lane, Gabriele Andersen.
Individual competition resumes on Thursday with marathon distance (or shorter for women and older age classes) classic racing.
For complete results, visit www.mwc2008.com.
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