US Women’s XC Intensity Camp Returns To Lake Placid

The U.S. Women’s Cross Country Team returned to Lake Placid, N.Y., for the first time since 2015 for 10 days of intensity training and adventure running. The group consisted of Ida Sargent (Craftsbury, Vt.), Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain, Vt.), Jessie Diggins (Stratton, Vt.), Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.), Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.) and visiting German National Team member Steffi Böhler.

Also attending the camp were several New England-based club members including Liz Guiney, Kaitlynn Miller, Caitlin Patterson, Alayna Sonnesyn, Kelsey Phinney, Kyle Bratrud, Ben Saxton, Adam Martin, Ben Lustgarten, Akeo Mayfield-Carucci along with members of U.S. Biathlon.

“We’ve had an excellent week of weather, intensity training, and a bit of adventure running,” noted Head Women’s Coach, Matt Whitcomb. “It has been encouraging to watch our veteran athletes like Ida, Sophie, and Jessie handle our first intensity camp of the year. We used to make special training adjustments so that they could survive a camp like this.  Now we just sit back and watch them handle the load. It’s a natural progression and is an important reminder for the younger athletes that they can be confident in a patient, stepwise approach.”

“We have had an awesome Lake Placid camp this year where we’ve been able to take advantage of training together by getting in a lot of intensity sessions in addition to going for some long adventures in the Adirondacks,” Caldwell said. “It’s nice to return to Lake Placid after a couple years off because everything is familiar but fresh. The team is looking strong and we’re looking forward to our next camp in New Zealand in a few weeks!”

The men’s and women’s team come together next for the New Zealand camp beginning August 18 at the Snow Farm.

“I feel strong, healthy and happy with how my training season has been going, and I’m very much looking forward to New Zealand camp,” Diggins said. “It’s my all-time favorite camp because it’s such high-quality training and living with 50k of ski trails right out the door and some good racing opportunities to fire up the engines again.”

The 2018-19 World Cup season opens Nov. 24-25 with men and women’s classic sprint competition, women’s 10k classic and men’s 15k classic events in Ruka, Finland.