They needed a full-fledged bus to carry 33 Sun Valley Junior Nordic ski teamers and coaches to last weekend's races at Soldier Hollow, Utah.
Heavy snow on the bus ride home Saturday made it a somewhat easier journey for the Sun Valley passengers after two hard days of racing.
And it was a productive couple of days as the second of three 2006 Junior National qualifying events went into the record books.
Sun Valley head coach Rick Kapala said, "Across the board it was a pretty good weekend. We got lucky Saturday as the classic races finished just as snow started coming down.
"All the best kids in the West were there. It was a good field. I'm psyched about how the kids skied."
Winning Saturday's men's 15-kilometer classic race for the J1s (ages 16-17) and Older Juniors (18-19) was Sun Valley's OJ Luke Pletcher (43:25) by eight seconds over J1 men's winner Mikey Matteson (43:33) of Sun Valley.
In fourth place of 85 in J1/OJ was Taylor Sundali of Sun Valley (43:41). He was third among the J1 men.
Climbing the podium in 10k classic was Sun Valley's Mali Noyes (32:33), fastest of 73 women in the 16-19 J1/OJ class. Kapala said, "Mali loves the course. She waited for the big climb at the end, found a new lane and charged by all the others."
Sun Valley's leading J2 (14-15) boy was Max Durtschi, fourth at the 5k distance in 14:18 but just nine seconds behind the top time. He was the fastest Intermountain racer.
Other classic highlights included an eighth place by Devyn Parnes (34:59) in the J1/OJ 10k, her best distance result ever, and Julia Bowman's 13th in 5k classic for J2 girls. Sun Valley has a young team, and it was the best J2 girls placing to date.
Friday's sprint heats weren't as successful for Sun Valley but there were some highlights nonetheless.
Luke Pletcher finished second overall in the 1.3k J1/OJ Final A heat, after posting the best qualifying time of 3:05.62. Winning the Final B heat and placing fifth overall of 72 qualifiers was Artie Livingston. He was the second-ranked J1, giving him solid points and nearly assuring his berth on the 2006 Junior National team, according to coach Kapala.
Mali Noyes finished third overall, the top J1, in Friday's 1.3k J1/OJ Final A heat. Meanwhile, first-year J2 Max Durtschi was second in the 1.3k J2 boys Final B heat.
OJ entrant Robbie Hamlin of Sun Valley made the semi-finals.
Those Sun Valley racers making the quarterfinals in the sprints were Travis Job, Scotty Phelan, Sam Farnham, Mikey Matteson, Taylor Sundali, Scott Krankkala, Courtney Hamilton, Julia Bowman, Makayla Cappel, Bronwen Raff, Elsa Sweek, Devyn Parnes, Margii Driscoll, Tess Dahlgren and Chelsea Vanderpool.
In all, 451 racers from Idaho, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Montana took part in the Soldier Hollow races on the 2002 Winter Olympic course. Final JN qualifier is Feb. 11-12 at Bozeman, Mt., after which the Intermountain Division team will be named to travel to Junior Nationals March 3 in Michigan.
Here are local classic results from Soldier Hollow last weekend:
OJ/J1 boys—15k classic: 1—Luke Pletcher (1-OJ) 43:25. 2—Mikey Matteson (1-J1) 43:33. 4—Taylor Sundali (3-J1) 43:41. 10—Robbie Hamlin (4-OJ) 44:43. 11—Artie Livingston (7-J1) 45:02. 23—Scott Krankkala (18-J1) 47:14. 26—Max Danielson (20-J1) 47:59. 38—Chris Holmquist (8-OJ) 49:52 (85 racers).
OJ/J1 girls—10k classic: 1—Mali Noyes (1-J1) 32:33. 8—Devyn Parnes (6-J1) 34:59. 23—Tess Dahlgren (17-J1) 38:25. 27—Chelsea Vanderpool (20-J1) 39:55 (73 racers).
J2 boys—5k classic: 4—Max Durtschi 14:18 (0:09 back). 14—Travis Job 15:37. 17—Sam Farnham 15:50. 29—Connor Brown 16:13. 35—Scotty Phelan 16:39. 54—John Leavell 18:10 (68 racers).
J2 girls—5k classic: 13—Julia Bowman 17:40 (1:04 back). 22—Courtney Hamilton 18:09.4. 23—Makayla Cappel 18:09.7. 26—Bronwen Raff 18:37. 39—Jen Tormey 19:57. 41—Rosie Gilchrist 19:59. 49—Elsa Sweek 20:55. 51—Keller Gibson 20:58 (62 racers).
Novice girls—3k classic: 2—Lina Klumpp 13:18 (0:16 back). 2k skate Friday: 5—Lina Klumpp 36:13.
J3 girls (12-13)—3k classic: 19—Nellie Brown 13:52 (2:15 back). 22—Laura Kunz 15:13. 2k skate Friday: 17—Nellie Brown 25:12. 20—Claire Bowman 26:05. 22—Jessica Hamilton 26:30. 23—Laura Kunz 26:44.
J3 boys (12-13)—3k classic: 24—Jake Anderson 13:42 (3:24 back). 30—Nicol Wheeler 15:11. 2 skate Friday: 30—Jake Anderson 16:10. DNF—Nicol Wheeler.
