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Palmer-Leger Battles to Photo Finish in 15K Classic at Sun Valley
12/8/2022 2:10 PM | Skiing
Mass start events begin Sun Valley leg of SuperTour racing
SUN VALLEY, Idaho – Utah's Sydney Palmer-Leger battled to the wire against Hailey Swirbul in a photo finish for victory, and Karianne Dengerud rounded out the women's top-five, highlighting a pair of 15K classic mass start races at the Sun Valley Invitational on Thursday at Lake Creek Nordic Center.
Both the men's and women's classic races today serve as part of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard SuperTour schedule and are among an additional layer of competition for select Utes, complementing the team's traditional RMISA schedule which begins in January. A full rundown of that additional schedule is available here.
:"Despite the tough travel and racing schedule lately, I was pleasantly surprised with the team's performance today," said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick. "Both the men's and women's races were a battle from start to finish. Sydney's battle for the victory was certainly the highlight of the day, and hopefully we can build on these results in the next few days. It sounds like there is a change in the weather coming with some heavy snow in the forecast. We will have one day to regroup and prepare for what will certainly be a wild classic sprint on Saturday."
Palmer-Leger and Swirbul officially were clocked at 47:31.1 and Dengerud checked in with a time of 50:12.3. Celine Mayer placed 11th and Ezra Smith rounded out the Utah quartet in the women's race, tabbing 17th. Former Ute and two-time NCAA All-American Mariah Bredal was also among the field, taking fourth.
"This race is my strong suit, so my goal was to stay relaxed and sit behind people the first couple laps," said Palmer-Leger. "After the second lap, I took off from the lead group in hope to break the group up. The last couple laps were exciting because Hailey Swirbul and I worked together. We switched who lead each part of the course to conserve energy...The last stretch into the finish was just Hailey and I sprinting it out. I had her until the last couple seconds. It was an amazing day having the Utes, my family, and Sun Valley supporters out there to cheer everyone on."
In the men's race, Utah was led by Samuel Hendry in a 5-6-7 finish that also featured Tom Mancini and Brian Bushey. Walker Hall took 11th and Noel Keeffe placed 23rd.
The Utes will be off from competition on Friday, and return to action on Saturday, Dec. 10 with a slate of sprint events in Sun Valley.
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
Both the men's and women's classic races today serve as part of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard SuperTour schedule and are among an additional layer of competition for select Utes, complementing the team's traditional RMISA schedule which begins in January. A full rundown of that additional schedule is available here.
:"Despite the tough travel and racing schedule lately, I was pleasantly surprised with the team's performance today," said head Nordic coach Miles Havlick. "Both the men's and women's races were a battle from start to finish. Sydney's battle for the victory was certainly the highlight of the day, and hopefully we can build on these results in the next few days. It sounds like there is a change in the weather coming with some heavy snow in the forecast. We will have one day to regroup and prepare for what will certainly be a wild classic sprint on Saturday."
Palmer-Leger and Swirbul officially were clocked at 47:31.1 and Dengerud checked in with a time of 50:12.3. Celine Mayer placed 11th and Ezra Smith rounded out the Utah quartet in the women's race, tabbing 17th. Former Ute and two-time NCAA All-American Mariah Bredal was also among the field, taking fourth.
"This race is my strong suit, so my goal was to stay relaxed and sit behind people the first couple laps," said Palmer-Leger. "After the second lap, I took off from the lead group in hope to break the group up. The last couple laps were exciting because Hailey Swirbul and I worked together. We switched who lead each part of the course to conserve energy...The last stretch into the finish was just Hailey and I sprinting it out. I had her until the last couple seconds. It was an amazing day having the Utes, my family, and Sun Valley supporters out there to cheer everyone on."
In the men's race, Utah was led by Samuel Hendry in a 5-6-7 finish that also featured Tom Mancini and Brian Bushey. Walker Hall took 11th and Noel Keeffe placed 23rd.
The Utes will be off from competition on Friday, and return to action on Saturday, Dec. 10 with a slate of sprint events in Sun Valley.
Follow the Utes on social media (@utahskiteam).
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