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Vancouver Bound, or Still Hoping WINTHROP, WA (N3) - It was a good weekend for fans of the Winter Olympics. At the Spokane Arena, a packed house watched figure skaters Jeremy Abbott, Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir punch their tickets to the Vancouver Games. The pre-competition favorites finished one-two-three in the men's final at the U-S figure skating trials in Spokane.
Over in Europe, bobsled driver Bree Schaaf of Bremerton clinched a spot in next month's Olympics. She did it by laying down two clean, fast runs in a World Cup race in Switzerland.
Meanwhile near Winthrop, Washington, some of North America's best cross-country skiers raced their hearts out. KPLU's Tom Banse reports from the race course on how Northwest athletes fared.

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Methow Valley SuperTour results

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Tomorrow [Tuesday], the U-S ski team's coaches will announce who they're naming to the 2010 Olympic team in cross-country skiing. For Olympic hopefuls, the Methow Valley SuperTour races offered a last chance to leave a strong impression.
Wenatchee native and Whitman College grad Laura Valaas is on the cusp of making the U-S team. She did herself a favor by winning the freestyle sprints and then placing second in a subsequent 10 kilometer distance race.

Laura Valaas: "I feel like I have given this dream 100 percent. Either it pays off or it doesn't, but I've given it my all. When it comes down to it, that's all you can ask yourself to do."

On the men's side, Torin Koos showed why he's clinched a spot on the U-S Olympic team. Koos is a Leavenworth, Washington native now living in Bend, Oregon. He finished first in the sprints and then triumphed again in the 15 kilometer distance event. I'm Tom Banse near Winthrop, Washington. © Copyright 2012, N3