Friday — March 12, 2004

Junior Olympic
Championships
at Lake Placid

Arritola fourth in classic race

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Sun Valley Nordic Ski Team racers get a little history thrown in with their competition this week.

Lake Placid, New York is the site of the Chevy Truck U.S. Cross-Country Junior Olympic Championships, March 8-13.

The cross-country trails at the Verizon Sports Complex were created for the 1968 John F. Kennedy Games, and were also the site for the 1980 Winter Olympics. The venue has also played host to World Cup races and World Championships.

As part of the 44-member Intermountain Team, 16 Sun Valley skiers got a real taste of competition in classic races on Wednesday. Distances were 5, 10 and 15k.

Morgan Arritola led the way with a fourth place finish in the girls’ J1 class (16-17). Erin McQueen was 26^th, Fraiser Opel 47^th, and Ruth Anderson 59^th.

In the J1 boys’ class, Jackson Harris’ 11^th was the top by a Sun Valley and Intermountain Division racer. Luke Pletcher crossed the line six seconds later for 12^th. Chase Cleveland was 22^nd, Delamon Rego 25^th, and David Vanderpool 44^th.

In the J2 boys’ class, Reid Pletcher skied to sixth place and was the fastest Intermountain racer. Artie Livingston was 52^nd.

Alexa Turzian was 13^th in the girls J2 (14-15) division. Mali Noyes was 36^th and Courtney Perry 39^th.

In an OJ (18-19) field full of collegiate racers, Erin Magee was 30^th. Alex Hamlin was 37^th in the OJ boys’ class.

Freestyle races will be staged today, Friday, and relay races on Saturday.

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