Alaska Pacific University Elite team athlete Tyler Kornfield is the 2018 30k Classic National Champion

Anchorage, AK. It was another exhilarating day at Kincaid Park for day 3 of the U.S. National Cross-Country Ski Championships. In the Women’s 20k Classic Mass start, Rosie Frankowski skied an impressive race finishing 3rd overall and 2nd American on the day. APU athlete, Jessica Yeaton skiing for Australia, finished 4th overall. Chelsea Holmes finished 7th overall and 5th American.

In the Men’s race, it was truly anyone’s race until the final stretch. And in the end it was APU athlete, Tyler Kornfield, known for his sprinting, with the overall win and the national championship title! Teammate Eric Packer, also an impressive race, finished with the silver. Both Tyler and Eric, as underdogs turned a lot of heads today with their impressive performances. David Norris just 2.5 seconds back from 1st finished 5th and Scott Patterson another 1.1 seconds back was 8th in what was an extremely tight top 8!

In the Junior Girl’s race, APU Student-athlete Hannah Halverson took her 2nd junior win of the week, winning by over 10 seconds. In the Junior Boy’s race, it was APU Student-athlete Hunter Wonders with the win besting 2nd place by .6 seconds. Canyon Tobin finished with the bronze and Luke Jager finished 5th. Hannah Halverson, Hunter Wonders, Canyon Tobin and Luke Jager all qualified for World Juniors based on their performances from this week. World Juniors will take place in Gom, Switzerland January 28th-February 3rd.

Final race of the Championships takes place on Monday- Classic Sprint. Qualification begins at 10a.m. and the heats begin at 12:45p.m.

More info on the races can be found here.

Full results from US Nationals can be viewed on Superior Timing.

Rosie Frankowski on her runner-up National title

“Out of all the U.S. Nationals races, honestly any race I’ve raced, I had more people cheering and screaming my name today. Especially for someone that didn’t grow up in Alaska, not just APU members and fans, but many other people cheering for me. I honestly didn’t think finishing up as the runner-up national champion was possible. I know that on any day the top 5-10 women in this field could pull off a win as it is a super competitive field. I went for it from the gun and that’s the way you have to race at a championship!”

Eric Packer on his runner-up National title

“It was an amazing race- the crowd was so supportive, and gave me the energy to really go for it! It was just so incredible to ski here on the home trails and have so many people cheering! I couldn’t be happier with the day!”