Nordic skiing: Hagenbuch, Sonnesyn win 47th American Birkebeiner

Duluth News Tribune, Minn.
·1 min read

Feb. 28—Johnny Hagenbuch and Alayna Sonnesyn were the men's and women's winners of the 47th American Birkebeiner cross-country ski marathon Saturday in Cable, Wisconsin.

Hagenbuch, a 19-year-old from Ketchum, Idaho, covered the 43-kilometer freestyle race in 1 hour, 54 minutes, 15.2 seconds to edge 24-year-old Sam Wood, also of Ketchum, by just over three seconds to win his first Birkie.

Sonnesyn, a 24-year-old from Plymouth, Minnesota, won her second Birkie in the past three years, this time finishing in 2:06:45.0, just ahead of 29-year-old Rosie Frankowski of Anchorage, Alaska, in 2:06:49.1 and five-time champion Caitlin Gregg of Minneapolis in 2:08:17.6.

With COVID-19 protocols in place, the event had a new look, with no finish down Main Street in Hayward this year. And it was certainly a warm one, with the temperature topping out at about 40 degrees in Cable.