U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships

newsminer.com • Southam, Rorabaugh pace Alaska skiers on first day of U.S. National Championships

FAIRBANKS — Becca Rorabaugh used a little home-course advantage to land on the podium for the 5-kilometer classic race that opened the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships Tuesday night at Birch Hill Recreation Area.

“Striding at Birch Hill I think will always be something that I enjoy,” said Rorabaugh, a 2007 graduate of West Valley High School who now trains and races year-round with the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center in Anchorage.

The Jim Whisenhant Trails are practically ingrained for Rorabaugh, now 19.

“I believe I was probably (age) 3, or 2 perhaps,” she said when asked when she first strode at Birch Hill.

So when faced with the grinding Tower Direct uphill at the 2-kilometer mark, Rorabaugh was hardly intimidated. She ate it up.

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