• Jake Adicoff and guide Sawyer Kesselheim record top-5 finish in the 20-kilometer cross-country race
• Mia Zutter and guide Kristina Trygstad-Saari, and Grace Miller finish among the top 10 in the 15km cross-country event

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – On the third day of competition at Alpensia Biathlon Centre, the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team secured three top-10 finishes at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

Two-time Paralympian Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho) and guide Sawyer Kesselheim (Bozeman, Montana) finished fifth in the visually impaired classification of the men’s 20-kilometer freestyle event. Their result was an improvement over Adicoff’s effort in Sochi, where he finished sixth in the long-distance cross-country classic event. Adicoff also competes on the ski team at Bowdoin College.

Making their Paralympic debuts were Mia Zutter (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) and guide Kristina Trygstad-Saari (Bozeman, Montana), and Grace Miller (Palmer, Alaska). Zutter, who competes in the visually impaired class, completed the 15km course with Trygstad-Saari in a time of 1:02:20.2. Miller, whose previous longest competition distance was 10km, raced through the 15km course in 1:08:51.5 for a 10th-place finish in the standing classification.

Three of the youngest members of the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team competed. Mia and Grace: 18, Jake: 22

U.S. Paralympic Nordic Team Medal Count: 6
Gold: 3 - Kendall Gretsch (cross-country 12km, biathlon sprint); Dan Cnossen (biathlon sprint)
Silver: 2 - Dan Cnossen (cross-country 15km); Oksana Masters (biathlon sprint)
Bronze: 1 - Oksana Masters (cross-country 12km)

TODAY’S CROSS-COUNTRY LONG-DISTANCE FINISHES
5th: Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho/men’s visually impaired)/Sawyer Kesselheim (Bozeman, Mont./guide)
8th: Mia Zutter (Sun Prairie, Wis./women’s visually impaired)/Kristina Trygstad-Saari (Bozeman, Mont./guide)
10th: Grace Miller (Palmer, Alaska/women’s standing)

QUOTES
Jake Adicoff - 5th
On how today’s race felt...
“First lap felt pretty good. We were right in it. I just got tired and started to slow down, ended up getting bumped from the podium. We have another race in a couple days.”

On the course conditions…
“It’s pretty warm out, but the skiing stayed fast. It was awesome out there.”

On how to get ready for future races…
“I try to rest, drink a lot of liquids, eat a lot in the next few days. Try and reset mentally to get ready for another hard day.”

Mia Zutter - 8th
On how the race went today…
“It was so much fun. I competed here last year, so I kind of had an idea of what to expect, but definitely the big “Games” title made it a lot more nerve-wracking but also really fun.”

Grace Miller - 10th
On how her first Paralympics is going...
“It’s really fun. I really love the community of people, they’re all really supportive. Even coaches who are not on the same nation as me still cheer for me, which is amazing.”

LOOKING FORWARD
Competition resumes Tuesday with the men’s and women’s middle-distance biathlon. Skiing starts at 10:00 a.m. KST (Tuesday, March 12)/7:00 p.m. EDT (Monday, March 11).

TUNE-IN DETAILS
NBC Olympics is providing 250 hours of coverage from PyeongChang, including 94 hours on television, which is NBC Olympics’ most ever for a Paralympic Winter Games. View the complete TV and streaming schedule here.

RESULTS
Full results from the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 can be found here. Follow U.S. Paralympics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updated information during the event.