RUMFORD — Tad Elliott pushed so hard for the finish line that he barely finished standing up.
He landed on his back and in a heap, but it proved to be worth the tumble.
The Durango, Colo., native won Thursday’s men’s 30k race at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championship by a mere 10th of a second.
“I lunged so hard to finish I actually crashed,” said Elliott. “They judge your time from when your boot crosses, and I’m not the most flexible guy in the world. So I usually get a little more oomph when I fall.”
Elliott finished the 11-lap race at Black Mountain in 1:10:16.2. Lars Flora was second in 1:10:16.3. Noah Hoffman took third in 1:10:19.2.
“I got a lot of information from a lot of people,” said Elliott. “I knew it would be close between Lars and Noah. I was getting splits, and my splits kept dropping. So I knew it would be close at the finish.”
Liz Stephen won the 20k women’s race by a full two seconds. Holly Brooks was second followed by Morgan Arritola.
“It feels good to put one together today,” said Stephen, a Vermont native and member of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team. “Skating is definitely a better technique for me. So my focus was today, and it turned out well for me.”
The men’s race was a battle from the outset. Elliott, Flora and Hoffman were trading positions throughout the entire race. The race used an interval start because of the 100-plus racers. That worked well for Flora and Hoffman, who started in close proximity to each other.
“Noah started 15 seconds behind me,” said Flora, of the U. S. Ski Team member. “So that was a huge advantage. We just worked together.”
Elliott knew he had work hard to keep pace. His start was later than the other two. Reports he got along the course was telling him to keep up.
“You obviously try to go hard, but you want to be smart and relaxed,” said Elliott, whose father Mike Elliott was a three-time Olympic cross country skier. “It’s actually really hard for me to do that. I tried to accomplish that. It makes it fun because Lars is a great friend of mine. He’s been my mentor.”
When Elliott discovered that he won, he was thrilled. He couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about his slight margin of victory.
“It’s kind of one of those shy smiles on your face,” said Elliott, whose also a champion mountain bike racer. “You’re really happy for yourself, but also a little disappointed for somebody that is that good and such a nice person. It’s such a small margin. There’s so many people on the course, and you don’t know how things shake out, but I’ll take it.”
Flora, who won Wednesday’s 15K race, said he was disappointed with the near miss Thursday but glad for Elliott. It still made for a bittersweet birthday present.
“I felt good about how it panned out,” said Flora, a former Olympian and current SuperTour points leader. “Looking back on it, I wish I had a little more to give. I got a little too relaxed behind Noah. That was probably the only mistake but after it comes down to it, Tad skied most of the race by himself. So he deserved it.”
Stephen had control of the women’s seven-lap race early on. She learned that she was ahead midway through but already knew it had the potential to be a good day.
“At this level, you know when you’re having a pretty good one,” said Stephen. “It helps to have a split to verify it, but I knew it was going well today.”
Stephen finished 10th in Wednesday’s 10k but felt better in the fast conditions of Thursday’s race.
“Some days the body is a little better than other days,” said Stephen. “Also, I was more mentally prepared today than I was (Wednesday). My warm-up was a little better. It’s all those little things, but mostly it was just pushing hard and the body showed up.”
For Brooks and Arritola, it was obvious that catching Stephen was going to be a challenge.
“She blew past me,” said Arritola, a Fairfield, Idaho native and 2010 Olympic Team member. “I knew she was having a great one. She’s one of my best friends and teammates. So I was happy for her.”
Arritola also finished third in Wednesday’s 10k while Brooks was seventh.
“I knew today that I didn’t have that pace in me,” said Arritola. “I didn’t think I had it. I had to just keep plugging away and just try to get it done.”
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