Park City native Rosie Brennan wins her first national cross country title

He said it was the race's third-place finisher who helped him ski the winning race.

"I was kind of dying the second lap, and then the last lap I pulled a couple of times for (third-place Matt) Gelso and just felt like we were hammering that last lap."

Then it was just a matter of staying upright.

"Coming down that last hill, I was just thinking, 'Don't fall; don't lose it!' because my legs were so filled with lactate," he said. "Then I just hammered into the finish and I couldn't believe it."

The U.S. Championships continue with sit-ski adaptive races at 2 p.m. Saturday. Sunday, Brennan will race again in the Classic Mass Start, which begins at 10 a.m. Women ski a 20K race, while men ski 30K.

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