Canada's Stewart-Jones, Browne post top-30 efforts at nordic ski worlds in Germany

Canadians Katherine Stewart-Jones and Cendrine Browne posted top-30 finishes Saturday in the women's 30-kilometre classic-ski race at the world nordic ski championships.

Stewart-Jones, of Chelsea, Que., was 23rd while Browne, of Saint-Jerome, Que., finished 27th. Dahria Beatty of Whitehorse ended up 34th.

"It was a good day," Canadian team head coach Erik Braten said. "Katherine went for it from the start but was really tired and did not have it in her today [but] she showed her mental strength by hanging in there.

"Cendrine is showing she can also be strong in classic. A top-30 in classic in conditions like this is impressive. Dahria also had a very smart race, pacing herself and holding steady speed all the way through."

Stewart-Jones posted a time of 1:31:02.0.

"I'm happy with my race," she said. "I went for it from the start, hoping I had a top-15 in me, but I wasn't able to hold on.

"I'm proud of myself for being gutsy even if I didn't quite get the result I was looking for. I'm happy with my improvement this year, and knowing that I'm able to make that kind of jump gives me confidence going into the Olympic year."

Browne registered her third top-30 finish with a time of 1:32:53.9.

"I'm so happy [with result]," she said. "I had no expectations for today because I didn't know how my body would react after so many hard races, but I still had some energy after all.

"It was a good hard fight. It's by far my best world championships, having top-30 results in every distance race."

Beatty's time was 1:34:57.3.