Pair of Alaska Pacific University students win national cross-country titles Saturday

SOLDIER HOLLOW — Soldier Hollow isn’t Eric Bjornsen’s home turf, but he feels pretty comfortable on the course where he won his second national title in two years.

“I love skiing races here at Solider Hollow,” Bjornsen said after winning the men's 15K classic Saturday. “I’ve been racing here since I was quite young, trying to qualify for Junior Olympics. I had good memories from the 15K last year at U.S. championships, and I tried to go out feeling a little confident. But also I was trying to ski smooth and strong and not be too confident.”

He said that while he gave Saturday’s race his best effort, he didn’t expect another national title.

“I didn’t actually expect to win, but I’m really happy that it worked out that way,” he said. “It’s a super challenging course. ... This is my favorite race, but I also feel like I can do well in some other races this week.”

Bjornsen’s Alaska Pacific University teammate Becca Rorabaugh won the women's 10K classic title. It is the Fairbanks, Alaska, native’s first national title.

“I was having trouble believing splits halfway through that I was in second,” Rorabaugh said. “I felt really strong, but mostly I felt like I was racing really hard at altitude, trying to hold it together. So I’m pretty amazed. It was an awesome day.”

Both Bjornsen and Rorabaugh admit the Soldier Hollow course, while beautiful, can be very challenging.

“It can be a difficult course, but because the grooming was so nice and the tracks were so firm, you really could just stride and glide a lot,” Rorabaugh said. “The hills become a lot less intimidating when you can really ride up into the bottom of them and work all the transitions and not worry about how huge every hill is.”

The U.S. national cross-country championships continue Sunday with skate sprints. All events are free to the public.

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