Excerpt from Sawyer County Record 2/26/25
by Matthew Baughman
HAYWARD — Just before crossing the finish line, first place winner of the Elite Men’s race for the 51st American Birkebeiner Gérard Agnellet, from La Clusaz in France, skied over to the crowd on his right to give some high fives. Answering in French, Agnellet said it was something that just happened in the heat of the moment.
“I came around the corner and I didn’t know how much of a lead I had or if I had time to stop or not,” he said, as interpreted by a translator. “I turned around, didn’t see anyone and then I wanted to start thanking some people and greeting people who were cheering for me.”
Agnellet was the first to cross the finish line on Saturday, completing the 50k course with a time of 2:27 and a gap in the lead. Following only a couple minutes behind, David Norris from Steamboat Springs, Colo., placed second in the Elite Men’s race with a time of 2:29.
The next group of racers to cross the finish did so in a sprint. Sydney Palmer- Leger from Park City, Utah, passed first with a time of 2:54, securing first for the Elite Women’s race at her first ever American Birkebeiner. Following in the sprint, Jessica Yeaton from Steamboat Springs, Colo., placed second for women with 2:54, Lauren Jortberg from South Londonderry, Vt., placed third for women with 2:54 and Michael Earnhart from Eagle River, Ark., placed third for men with 2:30. For the group of elites, it was a mad dash to cross the finish.
“We had about nine girls the whole race, working and taking leads from each person a little bit,” said Palmer- Leger, describing how the head-to-head race came to be. “I tried going at the fish hatchery, that is about 8k to go… and that is where it spread out a tiny bit. It came back together, as I wanted to have a lead a little later in the course and that didn’t really play out, so it was a sprint to the end. It played out pretty well.”
Sharing her perspective, Yeaton said, “Going over the bridge, I was like, ‘I’ll go for it.’ Then I saw myself in second; Lauren was there but her pole was broken… She was really impressive with one pole. But honestly, I am in shock over it. I did not think with the group that was there I would end up in second.”
Jortberg added more onto the story and said that it was somewhere around the lake as Norris passed them that her ski pole broke.
“So, I skied the whole lake with one pole,” she said. “Thankfully there was a very speedy and kind, super tall junior boy, and I was screaming my lungs out to try and get someone to get a pole.”
But it was still a challenge for her to keep pace, as she said the pole was likely designed for someone much taller than herself. Despite that, she said it helped her secure third place.
