Canada and US Super Tour Finals
Whistler, British Columbia, March 20-27, 2022
The BSF Pro Team traveled to Whistler last week for the annual US Super Tour finals. This final race series of the season was particularly special this year as the best skiers from Canada and the U.S. came together for their championship races. This collaboration between the U.S. and Canada made for some of the most stacked and competitive fields of the season. The U.S. and Canadian Olympic contingents were in full force with Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern, Sophia Laukli, Luke Jager, Scott Patterson, and Graham Ritchie all taking to the start line.
The week-long championship series consisted of two individual start distance races, a classic sprint race, national championship team relays, and a 45k marathon. With all the best North Americans in attendance, there were more than 500 registered competitors.
Finn O’Connell was a real standout performer of the week, showing his strength, fitness, and consistency. Finn finished no worse than 8th place in any of the distance competitions, including finishing as the 2nd best American in the 10k skate and 15k classic. Finn will conclude the season ranked as the 2nd best distance skier in the country on the US Super Tour distance overall standings.
Mariah Bredal also posted two top-15 performances, placing 14th in the 10k classic and 10th in the grueling 45k marathon. These excellent races helped Mariah finish the season ranked 4th in the country in the overall Super Tour distance standings, just one point behind Olympian Caitlin Patterson.
The pressure was on Logan Diekmann during Wednesday’s classic sprint competition. Logan went into the day leading the US Super Tour sprint standings and advanced all the way to the final, finishing 7th (2nd American behind Olympic team member Luke Jager). Logan’s top finish and consistent domestic sprinting this season earned him the title of U.S. Super Tour Sprint Champion 2022!
Teammate Lauren Jortberg also had a strong classic sprint day finishing 14th just a week after recovering from sickness. Lauren caps off her season ranked 6th in the overall Super Tour Sprint standings.
