Jessie Diggins already had more world championship medals than any American cross-country skier in history. Sunday, the Afton native added another, teaming with Julia Kern to take bronze in the women's freestyle team sprint at the FIS Nordic world ski championships in Planica, Slovenia.
The medal was the fifth in world championships competition for Diggins, a three-time Olympic medalist. She and Kern were the top team in the qualifying round and led for much of the final. They were in first place when Diggins handed off to Kern for the last 1.4-kilometer lap, but Sweden and Norway skied masterfully on the final hill climbs to overtake the Americans.
Sweden's Emma Ribom and Jonna Sundling won in a time of 19 minutes, 40.73 seconds. Norway's Anne Kjersti Kalvaa and Tiril Udnes Weng were second in 19:43.15, with Diggins and Kern third in 19:46.06.
"I love team sprinting,'' Diggins said. "Any time you race for the team as a whole, you really bring your best, and that is what we did [Sunday]. It was really special.''
Next up for Diggins is the women's 10k freestyle on Tuesday, a race in which she will be among the favorites.
RACHEL BLOUNT
Whitecaps lose fourth in row
Dominika Laskova and Shiann Darkangelo each had two goals and Michela Cava had a goal and two assists to lead the Toronto Six to a 7-1 victory over the Minnesota Whitecaps in a Premier Hockey Federation game on Sunday at Richfield Ice Arena.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the Whitecaps, who lost to Toronto 1-0 on Saturday. With the sweep, Toronto, which outshot the Whitecaps 40-23, took over first place in the PHF standings.
Natalie Snodgrass scored 2 minutes, 42 seconds into the game for the Whitecaps' only goal.
Etc.
- The Gophers baseball team fell to 0-7 on the season with a 16-9 loss to St. Louis in Fort Myers, Fla. Both teams scored nine runs in the ninth inning. The Gophers play at home for the first time this season when they play host to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Wednesday.
- Taylor Krapf hit a two-run homer to give the Gophers softball team an early lead, but host and 25th-ranked Baylor scored 15 times over the next three innings for a 15-2 victory.
- The Gophers tennis team lost 4-1 to Memphis at Baseline Tennis Center, falling to 5-5 on the season.
