Houghton, MI – In the first race of the 2016 U.S. Cross Country Championships, Scott Patterson of Alaska Pacific University won the men’s 15 kilometer individual classic race. This is Scott’s first National Championship title as a senior athlete.
Patterson normally a fast starter, took a little while to get going but once he was rolling, he rode the momentum of fast skis and a fit body to take the win. “By 7.5k, I got a few splits that I was in the lead”.
Receiving mixed splits as to where he was for the remainder of the race, he tried to take as many seconds every place he could. “I knew my fitness was good and I just had to execute.,” stated Patterson in a post race interview.
Patterson’s teammate Eric Packer took fourth place overall, third place American. Packer took the opposite approach to Patterson, starting really hard and holding on for dear life in the final kilometers.
“I started falling apart in the last few k, but it was good enough to hang on for a top-5.,” said Packer.
