Diggins Fifth, Schumacher Seventh in Lake Placid World Cup 10k Classic

Battling heavy, wet snowfall and backed by a roaring home crowd, Jessie Diggins and Gus Schumacher led the charge for the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team in the 10k classic at the Stifel Lake Placid Cup, taking fifth and seventh place, respectively. Ben Ogden was just out of the top 10 in 11th place. Diggins also clinched the Overall World Cup Crystal Globe, the fourth of her career and third in a row. Diggins clinched the Distance Crystal Globe last weekend in the Holmenkollen 50k. This was Ogden's best distance race of the 2025-26 season, John Steel Hagenbuch's best classic race of his career, among other fantastic results. 

The Stifel Lake Placid Cup marked just the second time in two years that the COOP FIS Cross Country World Cup has returned to U.S. soil, following the Stifel Loppet Cup in Minneapolis in 2024, and the fans showed up in force once again, battling cold temperatures and snowfall throughout the day.

The women’s race proved especially demanding, with heavy snow falling throughout the competition and quickly deteriorating track conditions as snow caked the tracks and forced athletes to fight for every stride. Diggins stayed composed throughout, navigating the tough conditions to secure a commendable fifth place finish. 

“I had so much fun out there!” said Diggins. “It was so cool. The crowds were amazing. The fact that so many people came out here in a snowstorm and were out in the woods just cheering, screaming. It was so exciting. I felt so loved. And my big goal was to have fun and to just go as hard as I could one last time in a classic race and to really be present and involved.”

It was the first race of Diggins’ last World Cup race weekend of her career, having announced that she is retiring at the end of the season. “I think it was one of my best 10K classics of my life and that's a great way to end it,” she added. 

Sweden’s Lina Svahn took the victory with teammate Frida Karlsson in second, while Norway’s Heidi Weng rounded out the podium in third. 

Rounding out the Americans in the points, Rosie Brennan was 19th, followed by Kendall Kramer in 25th and Novie McCabe in 28th. Ava Thurston finished 33rd, Hailey Swirbul 34th, Alayna Sonnesyn 35th, Sammy Smith 47th, Emma Albrecht 48th, Renae Anderson 50th, Emma Reeder 53rd and Katey Houser 58th.

On the men’s side, Schumacher once again demonstrated his strength on home snow, building on momentum from his victory in the 10k skate at the 2024 Stifel Loppet Cup, as well as the team sprint silver medal in Milano Cortina with Ogden. Schumacher pushed to seventh place, a particularly impressive result in a classic race, while Ogden narrowly missed the top 10 in 11th. 

“Especially wearing my hat, people recognize me really easily, so they get fired up in the warm up,” said Schumacher, who sports a cow-print Skida hat. “The race was cool. It was really easy to push hard with the people cheering so close, like a bike race or something.” 

The rest of the American field saw John Steel Hagenbuch finish 32nd, Zanden McMullen 40th, Zachary Jayne 49th, Brian Bushey 50th, JC Schoonmaker 53rd, Reid Goble—fresh off guiding Jake Adicoff to double Paralympic gold—56th, Benjamin Dohlby 62nd, Hunter Wonders 63rd, Michael Earnhart 67th and Luke Jager 70th. 

Norway dominated the men’s race, sweeping the top five positions, with Johannes Høsflot Klæbo taking the win ahead of Andreas Fjorden Ree in second and Mattis Stenshagen in third.

Following the podium, the day concluded with a celebratory final lap featuring former U.S. Ski Team legends, including Olympic gold medalist Kikkan Randall, many of whom wore retro race suits representing different generations of the team dating back to 1976.

Racing continues on Saturday with the men’s and women’s skate sprint starting at 10:30 a.m. ET for qualifiers and 1 p.m. ET for heats. 

RESULTS
Women’s 10k classic
Men’s 10k classic

HOW TO WATCH STIFEL LAKE PLACID FINALS
(all times ET)

SATURDAY, MARCH 21
10:30 a.m. - sprint qualifiers - LIVE on Outside TV (free)
1:00 p.m. - sprint heats - LIVE on Outside TV & NBC, Peacock 
3:00 p.m. - women & men's 10k - TAPE DELAY on CNBC, Peacock

SUNDAY, MARCH 22
12:30 p.m. - men's 20k skate mass start - LIVE on Outside TV (free)
2:30 p.m. - women's 20k skate mass start - LIVE on Outside TV (free)

SUNDAY, MARCH 29
1:00 p.m. - women's 20 skate mass start - TAPE DELAY on NBC, Peacock