Koos, Simons victors Cold, wind slow Sprints

CARIBOU – A little bit of jet lag didn’t keep Torin Koos from a big finish in the men’s final of the Northern Skiers Cash Sprints cross-country ski race Wednesday evening at the Caribou High School Ski Center.

Koos, a U.S. national team member who arrived here Tuesday from Sweden, and relay partner Zack Simons, won the men’s race while relay partners Laura Valaas and Caitlin Compton easily won the women’s race.

“It’s good to be back in the U.S.,” said a smiling Koos, who hasn’t been home since Jan. 1. “I was a little jet-lagged, so who knew [what was going to happen].”

Each member of the relay team skied a loop of about 1.1 kilometers, alternating legs so they skied two legs apiece with a tag in between. There were two semifinal heats for both the men and the women, with the top three teams in each heat advancing to the finals. There were no official times for the finals.

The winning relay teams received $250 and worked for it, considering the biting wind that blew all evening. The second-, third-, and fourth-place teams also received cash prizes.

In the men’s race, Koos was pitted in the second leg against Leif Zimmerman, who Koos called one of the top skiers in the world, and up-and-comer Alex Harvey. Those three were within seconds of each other as they left the exchange area for the anchor leg.

Zimmerman was in front of Koos as they left the stadium but Koos took the lead on a downhill and held it from there. He had enough of a gap with 150 meters left to hold off Harvey, who finished second with partner Brent McMurtry.

“I knew it was going to be a good race,” said Koos, who is from Leavenworth, Wash., and is a six-year U.S. national team member. “It’s a really tight course with a lot of turns, really fast and tight. I had really great skis today. The wax techs did a great job for me. I just put myself in position and then really, it was kind of over in the last 150 meters.”

Simons, who is from Park City, Utah, and skied with Koos on the University of Utah team, is also one of the top skiers in the nation, although he’s not on the national squad. Simons recently won the American Birkebeiner, one of the most prestigious cross-country races in the U.S.

The duo set up their relay so that Koos would ski the anchor leg.

“Zack’s done really good with the long-distance stuff and I’ve been good with the sprints, so we thought that [order] would give us the best opportunity to win it,” Koos said.

In the women’s race, Valaas took advantage of some misfortune on the part of another skier to take a big lead in the second leg of the relay.

Dasha Gaiazova led after the first leg and handed off to her teammate Brittany Webster. But Webster fell on a downhill, which allowed Valaas to pass her. Compton maintained the lead.

“I don’t know how much time I had to make up but Brittany fell on the first downhill so I had a little advantage,” Valaas said. “I went right by her when she fell and then I managed to hold on to that.”

Compton of Minneapolis and Valaas, who is from Wenatchee, Wash., both ski for the CXC team based in Hayward, Wis., and competed together in the world championships in Sapporo, Japan.

They had the second-fastest time from the semifinals, which was a strategy to save some energy for the final. They also used the semifinal heat to get a good look at the course and decide how to deal with the wind.

“We wanted to be in second or third [of the heat] and just move on,” Compton said.

Gaiazova and Webster took second place. A Maine Winter Sports Center duo of BethAnn Chamberlain and Haley Johnson, the only MWSC team to make it into the finals, placed fifth overall.