5 Alaskans named to US world championship teams 1 snowboarder and 4 APU nordic skiers to compete.

Bring on the worlds.

Five Alaskans -- four cross-country skiers and one snowboarder -- were named to U.S. Ski Team squads that will compete in the world championships for cross-country skiing and snowboarding.

Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, a 21-year-old from Girdwood, will compete in the rollicking sport of snowboardcross at the FIS World Championships for snowboarding in La Molina, Spain. The championships begin Saturday; Chythlook-Sifsof is scheduled to compete Tuesday.

In late February, Kikkan Randall, Holly Brooks, Sadie Bjornsen and Lars Flora -- all members of the Alaska Pacific University nordic program -- will compete in the FIS World Championships for cross country in Oslo, Norway.

Chythlook-Sifsof is one of three American women who will compete in snowboardcross in Spain. Practically a contact sport, snowboardcross typically features four riders who race simultaneously and jockey for position on an inclined course that includes banked turns, jumps, berms and varying terrain

At the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last year, Chythlook-Sifsof crashed hard in both of her qualifying runs and failed to advance. Crashes aren't uncommon in the sport because of the technical course, the speed and the possibility of contact with another racer.

Knowledge of the course is important. The Americans have competed on the La Molina course once, but they hope practicing on a facsimile will make up for that.

"We kind of tried to re-create the start in our training course in Telluride, so we spent a lot of time on similar features so I feel like we might have picked up some speed there," U.S. snowboarding coach Peter Foley said in a press release from U.S. Snowboarding. "I'm hopeful that will pay off. Those guys are all big-game players. They show up when it's a big event."

Those big-game players who are Chythlook-Sifsof's teammates include Lindsey Jacobellis for the women and Seth Wescott and Nate Holland for the men. All three have earned either Olympic or X Games medals in snowboardcross.

The U.S. cross-country team doesn't have that kind of track record for success, but the American team headed to Oslo is one of the best.

Leading the way is Randall, 28, who captured the silver medal in the sprint race at the 2009 World Championships. She's the only American woman to win a medal at worlds and just the second American, period. The only other came in 1982 when Bill Koch earned a bronze medal. Randall has reached the podium in two World Cup sprint races this season.

Randall skipped the recent U.S. Cross Country Championships to race the eight-stage Tour de Ski in Germany and Italy, but most skiers named to the 14-member team qualified with their results at the national championships in Rumford, Maine.

Bjornsen, 21, and Flora, 33, both won three medals at the national championships and Brooks, 28, won two.

Randall, Flora and Brooks were all members of last year's Olympic team. As for Bjornsen, she's now been named to two international teams; last week, she won a spot on the U-23 Championships team for skiers 23 and younger.

If there was a surprise among the Alaskans who made the team, it could be Flora, an Olympian in 2002 and 2006 but not last year.

Flora sort of fell off the radar after struggling through the last two seasons but is back in a big way this season. He impressed in early season races and then stormed the national championships by winning gold, silver and bronze medals. In the one race he didn't win a medal -- the classic sprint -- he turned in the fastest qualifying time and went on to finish fifth in the six-man final.

Other than staying healthy this season, Flora can't pinpoint the reason why he's at the top of his game again.

"Nothing specific," he said last week. "I paid a lot of attention to my health. I made sure I didn't do intervals when I was feeling run down.

"I haven't had a cold all year. That's super-rare. I can't remember the last time that's happened."

Flora did make one specific change this season -- he stayed off airplanes as much as possible. Planes are a good place to catch a bug, especially for elite athletes who push their bodies to the limit.

"If you do a hard race one day and jump on a plane the next, it can hit up the immune system," he said.

And so Flora opted not to return to Alaska to spend the holidays with his family, and he has been able to do much of his traveling by car, although sometimes getting on a plane is inevitable. Flora flew to the national championships in Maine and he'll be flying again soon to get to Europe for a World Cup race in Estonia, followed by the World Championships.

"Not flying," Flora said, "is not a realistic plan for a nordic skier."

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4335.

World Championship snowboardcross team

Women -- Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, Girdwood; Faye Gulini, Salt Lake City; Lindsey Jacobellis, Stratton Mountain, Vt. Men -- Jonathan Cheever, Saugus, Mass.; Alex Deibold, Manchester Center, Vt.; Nate Holland, Squaw Valley, Calif.; Seth Wescott, Sugarloaf, Maine.

2011 FIS World Snowboard Championships

La Molina, Spain

Saturday -- Men's big air

Tuesday -- Men's and women's snowboardcross

Wednesday -- Men's and women's parallel giant slalom

Thursday, Jan. 20 -- Men's and women's halfpipe

Friday, Jan. 21 -- Men's and women's parallel slalom

Saturday, Jan. 22 -- Men's and women's slopestyle

World Championship cross-country team

Women -- Morgan Arritola, Fairfield, Idaho; Holly Brooks, APU; Sadie Bjornsen, APU; Jessie Diggins, Afton, Minn.; Kikkan Randall, APU; Ida Sargent, Orleans, Vt.; Liz Stephen, East Montpellier, Vt.

Men -- Tad Elliott, Durango, Colo.; Lars Flora, APU; Kris Freeman, Andover, N.H.; Simi Hamilton, Aspen, Colo.; Noah Hoffman, Aspen, Colo.; Torin Koos, Wenatchee, Wash.; Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, Vt.

2011 FIS World Nordic Championships

Oslo, Norway

Thurs., Feb. 24 -- Men's and women's free sprint

Sat., Feb. 26 -- Women's 15-K pursuit

Sun., Feb. 27 -- Men's 30-K pursuit

Mon., Feb. 28 -- Women's 10-K classic

Tues., March 1 -- Men's 15-K classic

Wed., March 2 -- Men's and women's team classic sprint

Thurs., March 3 -- Women's 4x5-K relay

Fri., March 4 -- Men's 4x10-K relay

Sat., March 5 -- Women's 30-K free

Sun., March 6 -- Men's 50-K free

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