Gaellivare, Sweden – On a cold -11ºC day in Sweden, Jessie Diggins, of Afton, Minn., secured another win on Sunday in Gaellivare during a 10km freestyle FIS race, with Petra Novakova of the Czech Republic following closely behind to claim second and fellow Minnesotan Caitlin Gregg third. Vermonter Liz Stephen and Rosie Brennan, of Park City, Utah, just missed podium spots, grabbing fourth and fifth, respectively.

“I was really happy with today!” said Diggins after her win. “It’s a challenging course with lots of climbing, twisting downhills and not too much recovery, but my plan was to take it out hot from the start and hold the pace as long as I could.”

“Today was another brilliant race from Jessie. We weren’t firing on all cylinders as a team, so it really came down to Jessie going to battle with Petra Novacova of Czech for the win,” explained U.S. women’s head coach Matt Whitcomb. “I’m excited for Jessie and her great weekend here in Gaellivare. And she’s just getting started. I feel good about Caitlin, Liz and Rosie’s races as well, though it was still a step or two from what they would call a good race.

“Today’s effort is part of the solution to getting there. The girls are feeling good in training and have adjusted well to the travel demands. Now it is just a matter of racing our way into form. This weekend has shed light into where each athlete sits individually, so we know what type of work needs to be done,” Whitcomb concluded.

Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov also took his second win of the weekend in the men’s 15km freestyle race at Hellner Stadium in Gaellivare. Noah Hoffman, of Aspen, Colo., and Washington State’s Erik Bjornsen both earned top-10 finishes to conclude a successful first winter race weekend for team USA, a tune-up for the World Cup that kicks off this week in Ruka, Finland.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Cross-Country Skiing
Gaellivare, Sweden – Nov. 22, 2015

Women’s 10K Freestyle

Men’s 15K Freestyle