The Sun Valley Nordic Ski Team has a new national champion.
18-year old Morgan Arritola skied to first place in the 10k freestyle at the 2005 Junior Nationals at the Auburn Ski Club Training Center in Truckee, Ca. Wednesday.
Racing in the Older Junior class (18-19) Arritola completed the skate race in 27:32 to top runner-up Julia Coulter (Traverse City) by 56 seconds. Sun Valley's Eric McQueen was ninth in 29:43.
Another Sun Valley medalist was Alexa Turzian, who skied to second place in the girls' J1 division.
Classic racing is today and relays Saturday. For a complete series wrap up, check the Wednesday, March 16 edition of the Mountain Express.
Freestyle results
OJ (18-19) girls (10k): 1—Morgan Arritola 27:32. 9—Erin McQueen 29:43 (42 racers).
OJ boys (15k): 6—Luke Pletcher 37:23. 36—Jackson Harris 39:50. (56 racers).
J1 (16-17) girls (10k): 2—Alexa Turzian 29:06. 16—Ruth Anderson 30:32. 41—Tess Dahlgren 31:48. 61—Courtney Perry 33:11. 74—Margii Driscoll 34:32. (83 racers).
J1 boys (10k): 22—Delamon Rego 38:51. 30—Michael Matteson 39:12. 38—Reid Pletcher 39:19. 58—Max Danielson 40:12. (88 racers).
J2 (14-15) girls (5k): 55—Chelsea Vanderpool 17:50. 58—Devyn Parnes 18:27. DNS—Mali Noyes. (63 racers).
J2 boys: 17—Conor Davis 13:53. 21—Taylor Sundali 13:56. (59 racers).