And Sun Valleys top J1 (ages 16-17) cross-country
skiers along the Wasatch Mountain State Park tracks were selected for an international
traveling team.
Matt Stevenson, Jedd Young, Jess Kiesel and Kelley Sinnott were chosen for
the 12-racer U.S. team competing in the Scandinavian Cup developmental series to be held
in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia.
The four Sun Valley skiers left Sunday for Mora, Sweden. Theyll
train for a week, and start competing at the end of January.
Sun Valley head coach Rick Kapala said, "They pick the best J1 kids
in the country for this preparatory high-level competition series, which is the step
before they start making World Junior teams."
Stevenson, Young, Kiesel and Sinnott had the best Sun Valley ski team
placings for the two-day pursuit event at the 2000 U.S. Nationals.
The two-day mens pursuit included Wednesdays 10-kilometer
freestyle and Thursdays Thursdays 15k classic event. The womens pursuit
courses on the same days were 5k freestyle and 10k classic.
Overall U.S. winners were Marcus Nash, 28, of Maine and Nina Kemppel, 29,
of Anchorage, Ak. It was Nashs ninth national title.
Top female racer of the week was Beckie Scott, 25, of Canmore, Alberta,
Canada. Scott was bulletproof, winning her four races at Soldier Hollow.
Here are Sun Valley overall placings for pursuit, also covering current
collegians and former ski teamers:
Men (183 racers): 32Lars Flora. 51Matt Cleveland.
72David Lloyd. 87Ian Skinner. 105Matt Stevenson. 106Jess Kiesel.
111Jedd Young. 118Michael Lloyd. 127Andrew Slough. 129Patrick
Sinnott. 134Bryce Turzian. 166George Collier. 180Will Resko.
Robert Parker finished 118th freestyle and Chad Cleveland was 174th.
Women (96 racers): 38 (tie)Morgan Hogue and Davina Webb.
64Kelley Sinnott. 65Heidi Poehling. 73Ashley Wells. 79Crystal
Ward. 84Josie Bradford.
Also competing in freestyle were Ashley McQueen, with a promising 73rd
place and Kaelin Kiesel 95th. Middlebury Colleges Hilary Patzer was highly placed at
23rd in 5k freestyle pursuit, just 1:50 behind winner Scott. Patzer didnt start
classic.
Saturday, Carl Swenson (1.59:55) earned his third national title by
winning the mens 50k freestyle in a close finish over runner-up Nash and Kemppel
(1.25:03) captured her 13th national championship by nearly three minutes in womens
30k skate.
Ketchums Peter Webb (2.09:21) finished 16th overall in mens
50k.
Lake Creek races
The rest of the Nordic kids are gearing up for the Wood River Cross
Country Ski Championships Jan. 22-23 at the Lake Creek trail system north of Ketchum. It
will be an Intermountain Division qualifying race for Junior Nationals.