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Joensson Captures First World Cup Victory, Kuzzy 9th
Updated: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:57 AM MST Emil Joensson of Sweden won the first World Cup race of his career, outsprinting last year’s World Junior Sprint Champion, Ivan Ivanov of Russia. Matias Strandvall (FIN) gained his first World Cup podium in the third spot.  Emil Joensson leads off the start Joensson posted the fastest qualifying time of the day, just edging American Andy Newell. “A perfect day,” the Swede told assembled reporters. “Everything was perfect — my skis, my body. My goal this season was to win a World Cup race. Now I will try to finish as high as possible in the overall standings.” The young Finn also described his day as perfect, winning a photo finish for the final podium position. “I am lucky to have such large feet,” said the grinning Strandvall. Josef Wenzl (GER) in his first race since requiring shoulder surgery after a collision during training in early December, finished an impressive 5th. At the time of the accident, doctors told the German that he would miss the rest of the season. Apparently he has several screws and a plate holding the shoulder together. American Garrott Kuzzy raced to a stunning 9th place finish in his first World Cup sprint. Kuzzy struggled in the pursuit, but came back with a strong race in the 15km freestyle, finishing 34th. But he saved the best for last, just making the heats with the 29th fastest qualifying time.  Kuzzy talks strategy before the B-Final  Torin Koos and Garrott Kuzzy during the men's B-Final The short, fast course resulted in extremely tight qualification times. The top-30 were all within four seconds, and the next 12 were within one second of the final qualification spot. The speed-oriented course suited Kuzzy’s style, and a fast quarterfinal put him through to the semis as a “lucky loser.” In sprint racing, the top two finishers in each quarterfinal automatically advance and the next two fastest times from all heats combined advance as “lucky losers.” Both Kuzzy and fellow American Torin Koos advanced in this way. Kuzzy did not look intimidated and stayed free of trouble in the tight 180-degree turn leading to the final 300 meters. “Once I reached the flat,” Kuzzy told FasterSkier, “I skied big, taking advantage of the strong tailwind.” The tall CXC racer made up significant ground on the finish stretch in each of his heats, and appeared to be headed for the A-final when the stadium announcer listed Kuzzy as a lucky loser yet again. But review of the photo finish relegated him to the B-Final and a matchup with teammate Koos. Koos qualified in 11th after posting the 7th fastest time in the classic sprint qualification. That day came to a premature end with a broken pole. Things went better with the veteran sprinter advancing to the B-final where he led coming in to the last 200 meters. Still in position in the top 3 with 40 meters to go, Koos ran out of gas. “I just ran out of legs at the end,” said the Winthrop, WA native. Still it was a successful return to World Cup points for Koos Andy Newell appeared headed for a big day when he finished the qualification with the 2nd fastest time. Racing in the same quarterfinal as Kuzzy, Newell was never able to break free. Kuzzy hung back on the 180 turn and had the far right finish lanes clear for the final sprint. Newell, on the other hand, skied the corner wider and was pushed to the outside. He entered the finish straight with nowhere to go – pinned to the left rail with a skier in front and another to his right. He finished the day in 17th.  Andy Newell comes into the first corner during his quarter final heat "Andy went to the right and they moved him out while I went into the first lane and I had a clean shot to the finish," Kuzzy explained. "Andy had been in first or second most of the heat, but in the final 300 meters or so, where it's all-out drag racing, I picked my lane and was all alone while he was boxed out." USST Head Coach Pete Vordenberg was pleased with the final day's racing, although he would have preferred to see Newell in the semis and finals. "It looked like a tactical error for Andy, which was too bad," he said. "This was the race I was looking at all week," said Kuzzy, who also leads the USSA Cross Country SuperTour. "I was hoping to get into the top 30. If that happened, I had no idea what to expect in the heats. In the semifinal, I thought I'd made the final, but then they said no, I'd lost the photo finish. It was still a great day. I know what I need to work on. The Olympics are always the dream, but now I know what I still have to do." The Candadian men had a solid day. Drew Goldsack joined Kuzzy and Koos in the B-Final, finishing 12th overall. Phil Widmer delighted the crowd with the 5th fastest qualification, but all that got him was a quarterfinal date with Tor Arne Hetland (NOR), Bjorn Lind (SWE), Christian “Zoro” Zorzi (ITA), Ivan Ivanov (RUS), and Oystein “The Sausage” Pettersen (NOR) – some of the biggest names in World Cup sprinting. Widmer battled valiantly and though he was knocked out, he finished 13th overall. Devon Kershaw rounded out the Canadian trio in the heats in 20th. Chris Cook (USA) missed qualifying by .16 seconds and finished 33rd. The skate sprints featured the largest field of the week, with 72 athletes competing in the men’s race. The Norweigans, who dominated the classic sprint, qualified six, but struggled in the heats, with Tord Asle Gjerdalen posting the best finish in 16th. Vordenberg commented on the week as a whole. "We didn't reach our goal, which was to have someone on the podium here in Canmore, and that's disappointing," he said. "We have to improve the program so we can target an event and capitalize on it. We had everything going for us here. We had great skis, a good living situation, good health, a kind of 'home field advantage' - and we couldn't get that podium. "We have the athletes to get it done, and the staff to get it done. Now, we just have to do it. We've got some serious work to accomplish, but I'm really revved about getting done what we need to do so when we get to Vancouver in 2010, we know we've done everything to make things happen." The Viessman FIS Cross Country World Cup schedule resumes Feb. 9-10 in Otepaeae, Estonia. The American World Cup team leaves immediately for Europe. Kuzzy, Leif Zimmermann (Bozeman, MT) and Laura Valaas (Wenatchee, WA) will join the U.S. Ski Team later in the season to get some more World Cup experience. Men's 1.1K FR Sprints (30 qualify; six make finals) 1. Emil Joensson, Sweden 2. Ivan Ivanov, Russia 3. Matias Strandvall, Finland 4. Nikolay Morilov, Russia 5. Josef Wenzl, Germany 6. Vassili Rotchev, Russia - 9. Garrott Kuzzy, Hayward, WI 11. Torin Koos, Leavenworth, WA 12. Drew Goldsack, Red Deer, Alta 13. Phil Widmer, Banff, Alta 17. Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, VT 20. Devon Kershaw, Sudbury, Ont 33. Chris Cook, Rhinelander, WI T39. Stefan Kuhn, Canmore, Alta T39. Sean Crooks, Thunder Bay, Ont 46. Brent McMurtry, Calgary 52. Graham Nishikawa, Whitehorse, Yukon 54. Leif Zimmermann, Bozeman, MT 55. Colin Rodgers, Sun Valley, ID 57. Anders Haugen, Anchorage, AK 58. Lars Flora, Anchorage, AK 61. Ian Murray, South Harbour, N.S. 64. Mike Argue, Yellowknife, N.W.T. 65. Skeets Morel, Parry Sound, Ont 67. Marshall Greene, Bend, OR 69. Brian Gregg, Winthrop, WA 70. Jesse Winter, North Bay, Ont Complete Results  Torin Koos holds his line around the first corner during his quarter final  Oystein Pettersen through the first corner  Harald Wurm stretch for the finish line
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