Cut Line Heroes: Sager and Dahlstrom Take Advantage of Event 10, Extend Their Competition

Following the first round of cuts Friday night, 30 athletes lined up for Event 10, which featured 90 toes-to-bar and three miles of running. Only 20 of the 30 men and women who began that event would advance and be able to finish the rest of the competition this weekend.

Before the start of the event Alessandra Pichelli was the gatekeeper for the women sitting in 20th with 413 points. Five women were all within 21 points of that looking to make a move and sneak into that coveted top 20. They were Laura Clifton, Ellie Turner, Jacqueline Dahlstrom, Mekenzie Riley and Sydney Michalyshen.

• Of those women, Dahlstrom had by far the best performance.
• Despite being in 23rd to begin the event, she placed 9th overall, racking up 68 points.
• The next closest finisher amongst that group was Riley in 20th.
• Those 68 points gave Dahlstrom the boost she needed on the leaderboard to move into 20th; she will be around for the weekend.

For the men, it was extremely tight 17th through 22nd with 46 points between them. In order: Chandler Smith, Jayson Hopper, Jeffrey Adler, Will Moorad, Samuel Cournoyer, and Cole Sager.

• The first finisher among them was Sager in 4th, followed closely by Moorad in 5th, and Hopper in 7th.
• Immediately, eyes began scanning the field for Adler and Smith who would need to come in quickly if they didn’t want to be leapfrogged by the impressive performance of Sager.
• Adler finished 12th, which secured his position, Cournoyer was next in 16th, and when Smith crossed the line in 19th position, it meant that everything was going to be way too close to call on the fly.
• When the dust settled, Sager had done enough jumping past Cournoyer and Smith into 20th, eight points ahead of Smith and making Sager the final man on the leaderboard who advances to compete in events 11 through 15.

Big Picture: According to Dave Castro, the 20 remaining men and women have done enough through ten events to earn the right to finish the remaining five events and battle for their finishing position throughout the remainder of the competition. The test so far has been significant and difficult, it is no small feat to make it this far, and the reward of finishing the weekend is well deserved for all remaining athletes.