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Elliott and Brooks emerge as champions at the Birkebeiner

Tad Elliott and Holly Brooks both held off Minnesotans to win the Cable-to-Hayward, Wis., race.

February 26, 2012 at 2:35PM

Former Olympian Holly Brooks, right, was the women’s freestyle winner at the American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wis. (Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

HAYWARD, WIS. — Tad Elliott of Durango, Colo., and Holly Brooks of Anchorage, Alaska, won the men's and women's freestyle races in the American Birkebeiner on Saturday.

Elliott won the 50-kilometer race from Cable to Hayward in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 48.5 seconds, finishing ahead of Orono's Matthew Liebsch at 2:05:02.3 and Minneapolis' Brian Gregg at 2:05:03.4.

Brooks, a former Olympian, won in 2:18:53.2, edging defending champion Caitlin Gregg by half a second. Gregg, who is Brian's wife, was at 2:18:53.7, followed by Jennie Bender of Maple Plain, Minn., in 2:21:46.4.