No better representatives for the sport of Nordic skiing can be found than the current members of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation's Olympic Development Team.
Sun Valley racers have been cleaning about at various venues both in Europe and North America.
Competing in the U-23 World Championships in Praz de Lys Sommand, France, Sun Valley's Morgan Arritola and Alexa Turzian have turned in some very strong results.
Arritola skied to fifth place (50:03) in the women's 15k pursuit on Sunday. She was the second American behind teammate Elizabeth Stephen in fourth place. Turzian was 28th in a field of 40.
In a field of 46 in Thursday's 10k freestyle, Stephen was 7th, Arritola (30:15) 8th and Turzian (30:59) 17th.
Poland's Sylvie Jaskowiec, a veteran of 20 World Cup races, won the event in 28:39 and took the pursuit title in 49:09.
Following a 10k pursuit on Tuesday, the women finish the competition by competing in a 5k free on Thursday.
Braving the bracing cold of the Midwest, Sun Valley's Mikey Sinnott won the 51-kilometer Noquemanon Ski Marathon from Ishpeming to Marquette, Michigan, on Jan. 24.
"It was a really fun course," Sinnott dispatched. "Winding, tight corners, great views of Lake Superior, walls, lake crossings, fast downhills, all sorts of good old-time skiing.
"The only other highlights I might add is at the finish, I had a mean frost mustache and I met the Lt. Governor of Michigan. Oh yeah!"
Sinnott met up with Sun Valley teammates Colin Rodgers and Nicole DeYong at FIS SuperTour races in Telemark, Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, DeYong was runner-up to Kristin Trygstad-Saari in the women's freestyle sprints. For the men, Rodgers placed second to U.S. Ski Team member Leif Zimmerman, and Sinnott was sixth.
Zimmerman won the men's 15k freestyle on Sunday in 33:10. Sinnott clocked in at 33:14 to finish fourth, and Rodgers was eighth in 33:18.
<
DeYong was 1/100th of a second out of first place in the women's 10k freestyle. Her time of 22:54 was just off winner Kristina Stranderg's. Strandberg claimed the 5k classic in 16:55. The Fischer-sponsored DeYong was fifth in 17:28.
In the men's 10k classic, Sinnott was tenth (29:29) and Rodgers 17th (31:07).
