Americans Shine Under the Lights in Davos Night Sprint
The excitement of World Cup cross country skiing lit up the Swiss Alps as eight Americans advanced to the sprint heats in a thrilling evening under the lights, with Jessie Diggins and Ben Ogden both skiing to sixth-place results and two career-best performances by Jack Young in 12th and Alayna Sonnesyn in 22nd. Eight Americans clinched a top 30 result.
On the second day of racing in Davos, Switzerland, eight Americans qualified to the skate sprint heats, including four women and four men.
For the women, Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern and Sonnesyn put their speed on display, all advancing to heats. Brennan, Sonnesyn and Kern were ultimately knocked out of the quarterfinals, but Sonnesyn still nabbed a career-best individual result. For Diggins, she skied a stellar race and finished sixth overall in the day, skiing through to the final heat. With her result today, Diggins retains her lead in the overall World Cup standings.
"We're powered by sunshine and mountains," said Brennan when asked about what made today so successful. "It was awesome to see the results today and to have some career bests from Alayna and Jack! And, it was a really solid day. I think we are still not quite where we want to be as a team but we're working on gaining some speed and today was a good step in the right direction! The momentum is there."
On the men’s side, Ben Ogden, Gus Schumacher, JC Schoonmaker and Jack Young moved on to the sprint heats. Ogden and Young Schumacher delivered strong performances, advancing to the semifinals, but Schoonmaker did not advance.
"It's really awesome to have a big crew advance to the heats," said Ogden. "I think we all ski better when our teammates are there as well. We bounce tactic ideas off each other a lot and are able to learn from each other's experiences. Makes ski racing really fun!"
Jack Young, a 21-year-old from Colby College, delivered a career-best performance, finishing 12th. In only his fifth World Cup start, Young showcased his potential by qualifying again for the heats and battling to the end alongside his teammates. To wrap up the results, for the men, Schumacher was 11th, Schoonmaker was 16th, and for women, Brennan was 18th and Kern 28th, respectively.
"This result means so much," Young said. "One of my biggest goals for the year was to make it to a World Cup semi final, and now I have achieved that. More so, this result gives me so much confidence moving forward skiing heats at the highest level. I’m always a little bit scared to take it out hard in sprint heats, but today was a real confidence boost."
"It was really cool to see so many USA athletes in the heats today," reflected Schmacher. "It's great to see JC back in form and Jack proving to everyone that he's ready to be here and show up. And for Ben - he got us through! As for me, for the second sprint of the season - it's great to be back and nice to know i'm still sprinting well!"
With Diggins leading the overall World Cup standings, two career bests from Young and Sonnesyn and eight athletes advancing to the heats, the U.S. squad continues to make its mark on the international stage and is putting together the momentum each race day. Tomorrow, the team is back at it for the Davos 20k classic. Watch LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live.
