It was an Alaskan kind of week during the 2008 U.S. Junior Olympic Cross Country ski championships at Kincaid Park March 9-15 in Anchorage, Alaska—but it was also a week that belonged to Mali Noyes.
Sun Valley native and Community School graduate Noyes, 18, won her first-ever individual gold at the 409-racer Junior Nationals and made the podium in all four events among Female Older Juniors (ages 18-19).
Rick Kapala, Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation cross-country head coach, said, "It was obviously a big week for Mali, maybe one of the biggest weeks one of our Sun Valley cross-country skiers has ever had at Junior Nationals.
"She was very focused. You could tell almost immediately that she was bringing her best skiing to the race. She just looked like she was pulling everything together. She had a great week with a podium in every race."
Noyes, third in the OJ women's 1.25-kilometer sprint heats March 10, won her gold medal last Wednesday by 28 seconds in the 5k interval start freestyle race. Noyes just missed winning another gold Friday in the OJ women's 5k mass start classic event. She was less than one second behind the winning time.
And, in Saturday's 3x5k OJ relay, Middlebury College-bound Noyes teamed with Bridger Ski Foundation (Montana) teammates Ase Carlson and Erika Flowers to place second 29 seconds behind Alaska. Noyes had the third-fastest anchor leg for the silver winners.
In all, 18 SVSEF skiers competed in Alaska on the 51-racer Intermountain Division team.
Aspen's Noah Hoffman, 18, like Noyes racing this winter for the SVSEF Olympic Development Team, captured the Older Junior men's 10k skate race over 58 other racers. His winning time of 27:40 outdistanced Durango's Tad Elliott by 27 seconds.
Hoffman also won the silver medal in Friday's 10k classic event. He was less than two seconds behind Alaskan winner Reese Hanneman.
The final of three gold medals for Sun Valley at Junior Nationals last week came in the Older Junior men's 3x5k relay Saturday. Reid Pletcher put down the fastest time of all 22 racers in the opening leg and teamed with Ian Havlick of the University of Utah and Hoffman for the gold.
They won by nearly nine seconds.
Pletcher, a bronze medalist in the men's OJ sprint, was fourth in Friday's 10k classic. Kapala said about Pletcher, "He's had a huge season and is poised to make the jump to senior level racing next year."
Kapala was pleased that Danny Sundali raced to top-10 finishes in all of his individual races—eighth in the J2 (ages 14-15) sprints, sixth in the 5k skate and ninth in 5k classic. "A great championship for a guy in only his second year of skiing, plus a silver for IMD on the J2 relay team," said Kapala about Sundali's effort.
In all, Sun Valley skiers had nine podiums—three golds, four silvers and two bronzes.
Dominant in classic mass start racing and extremely consistent in each event, Alaska regained the Alaska Cup emblematic of division honors at Junior Nationals.
The defending champion Intermountain Division had a faltering start in the March 10 sprints but improved throughout the week, topping out with second-place team totals in the skate race and relays.
Kapala said, "We had a tough day in the sprints but a great second day in the skate distance. I think our endurance training in the mountains around town really helped. We had another tough day in the classic distance. Klister conditions were different for our kids. In the relays we found ourselves and had one of the best relay days in memory."
Top results and Sun Valley placings from Friday's mass start classic racing and Saturday's relays follow:
Top Alaska Cup: 1—Alaska 1604 (284 FOJ, 233 MOJ, 238 FJ1, 348 MJ1, 192 FJ2, 309 MJ2). 2—New England 1344 (247 FOJ, 155 MOJ, 258 FJ1, 196 MJ1, 305 FJ2, 183 MJ2). 3—Intermountain 1098 (217 FOJ, 253 MOJ, 172 FJ1, 89 MJ1, 146 FJ2, 221 MJ2) (10 teams).
OJ women, 5k classic (ages 18-19): 2—Mali Noyes 30:45 (0.8 seconds back) (36 racers finishing). Relays 3x5k: 2nd place team—Mali Noyes.
OJ men, 10k classic: 2—Noah Hoffman 38:36 (1.5 seconds back). 4—Reid Pletcher 39:03 (0:28). 5—Mike Matteson of Alaska Pacific 39:12 (0:37). 8—Ian Havlick of University of Utah 39:33 (0:59). 19—Taylor Sundali 40:29 (1:54). 44—Scott Krankkala 43:36 (5:01) (59 racers). Relays 3x5k: 1st place team—Reid Pletcher, Ian Havlick and Noah Hoffman. 3rd place—Mike Matteson. 5th place—Taylor Sundali.
J1 girls (ages 16-17), 5k classic: 28—Rosie Gilchrist 32:52 (2:04 back). 36—Makayla Cappel 33:21 (2:33). 43—Bronwen Raff 33:45 (2:56). 50—Courtney Hamilton 34:27 (3:39). 70—Julia Bowman 36:03 (5:15) (87 racers). Relays 3x5k: 11th place team—Makayla Cappel and Bronwen Raff. 13th place—Rosie Gilchrist and Courtney Hamilton.
J1 boys, 10k classic: 11—Max Durtschi 40:36 (2:01 back). 20—Connor Brown 41:20 (2:45). 31—Travis Job 42:06 (3:31). 39—Scott Phelan 42:42 (4:07) (92 racers). Relays 3x5k: 5th place team—Max Durtschi and Travis Job. 9th place—Connor Brown and Scott Phelan.
J2 girls (ages 14-15), 5k classic: 42—Emily Williams 17:54 (2:17 back). 54—Claire Bowman 18:51 (3:14) (60 racers). Relays 3x3: 9th place team—Emily Williams. 13th place—Claire Bowman.
J2 boys, 5k classic: 9—Daniel Sundali 14:13 (0:37 back). DSQ—William Spiller (61 racers). Relays 3x3: 2nd place team—Danny Sundali. 10th place—William Spiller.
Mali Noyes
