Solid results in cross-country classic racing and freestyle sprints helped 32 Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Junior Nordic skiers get their competition season off on the right foot Jan. 14-15 at West Yellowstone, Montana.
There, nearly 200 juniors from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah took part in the first of three Junior National qualifying events this winter.
SVSEF Nordic program director Rick Kapala said, "Our team is off to the races—literally—after months of training, after rollerskiing countless kilometers and after hammering endless intervals."
In Saturday's sprints, Sun Valley's Maggie Williams led a near-sweep for the Lake Creek girls in the OJ/J1 "A" head-to-head final. Williams won, with Margaret Pope second, Maranda Stopol fourth, Jesse Knori fifth and Kelsey Dickinson finishing in sixth.
Said Kapala, "Maggie posted her first Junior National qualifying win as a J1 when she charged up the biggest hill on the sprint course to edge out teammate Margaret Pope."
Evan Martell was third and Jack Steele sixth in the OJ/J1 "A" final. Katie Feldman finished fifth in the J2 "A" final.
Kapala said, "Evan and Jack threw down in a very competitive final dominated by college-age skiers. And Katie posted her best-ever Junior National qualifying result."
Posting top 10s in the sprints were Sun Valley's younger J2s. Haley Montgomery (7th) and Annika Landis (9th) showed their best Junior National qualifying results while J2 boys Nate Thomas (8th) and Andrew Morse (9th) showed they are senior about making a run for the Junior National team.
Sunday's classic racing took place on 10-kilometer and 5k courses. Kelsey Dickinson, 18, won the Older Junior (ages 18-19) race by nearly 32 seconds and Jack Steele finished second in OJ men. The J1 (16-17) classic race was a good one for Sun Valley—17-year-olds Ketchum Wilt (29:13 10k) and Jesse Knori (16:19 5k) winning their events.
"The SVSEF OJ/J1 girls continued their strong skiing with wins in both classes," said Kapala. "Ketchum Wilt won his first Intermountain JNQ race. He's a cross-country runner for Wood River, and he's shown what a year of really dedicated training can do. His was a real breakout effort last weekend."
Kapala added, "The toughest jump in junior cross-country ski racing is from J2 boys to J1 boys. These results demonstrated promise for the future of the Sun Valley boys' team."
Peter Wolter, 13, of Sun Valley won the J3 (12-13) 5k classic race by seven seconds. "It was Peter's first-ever ski race win. Zach Williams was third. Emily Siegel continued her strong weekend in fifth," said Kapala.
Next JN qualifying races are Jan. 25-28 at Soldier Hollow, Utah. The final JN qualifying events and selection of the 2012 Intermountain Division team to Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow from March 5-10 will be made after the McCall qualifying races Feb. 9-12.
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SVSEF results from West Yellowstone follow:
Sunday, Jan. 15, classic
Older Junior (18-19) boys' 10k: 1—Carl Smith, Bozeman 28:26. 2—Jack Steele 29:19. 5—Evan Martell 30:37. 6—William Spiller (independent) 31:47 (10 racers, 8 finishers).
Older Junior girls' 5k: 1—Kelsey Dickinson 16:51. 3—Morgan Atkinson 17:46 (5 racers).
J1 (16-17) boys' 10k: 1—Ketchum Wilt 29:13. 3—Gray Riedinger 29:56. 8—Zach Lindahl 30:33. 9—Stephen Pfeiffer 30:35. 11 (tie)—Jake Adicoff 30:54 and Jackson Long 30:54. 15—Andrew Graves 31:46. 19—Ty Reinemann 32:36 (27 racers, 26 finishers).
J1 girls' 5k: 1—Jesse Knori 16:19. 2—Maranda Stopol 16:54. 4—Maggie Williams 17:01. 6—Margaret Pope 17:12. 13—Kaitlyn Landis 19:35. 17—Sarah Williams 21:22 (17 racers).
J2 (14-15) boys' 5k: 1—Karsten Hokanson, Wasatch Nordic 14:53. 7—Nate Thomas 15:40. 10—Nathan Nasvik 16:02. 11—Andrew Morse 16:03. 18—Thomas Gillespie 17:09 (32 racers).
J2 girls' 5k skate: 1—Leah Lange, Park City 17:23. 5—Annika Landis 18:25. 6—Katie Feldman 18:27. 7—Haley Montgomery 18:30. 10—Maddy Watts 18:53. 18—Grace Gorham 20:45 (26 racers).
J3 (12-13) boys' 5k: 1—Peter Wolter 9:44. 3—Zach Williams 9:52. 20—River Vorse 12:49 (22 racers).
J3 girls' 5k: 1—Anine Hallen, Bridger Ski Foundation 10:29. 5—Emily Siegel 12:07 (12 racers).
Saturday, Jan. 14, skate sprints
OJ/J1 boys' "A" final heat: 1—Bridger Tyler. 3—Evan Martell. 6—Jack Steele.
OJ/J1 boys' "B" final heat: 1—Nick Lovett of Jackson Hole. 6—Stephen Pfeiffer.
OJ/J1 girls' "A" final heat: 1—Maggie Williams. 2—Margaret Pope. 4—Maranda Stopol. 5—Jesse Knori. 6—Kelsey Dickinson.
OJ/J1 girls' "B" final heat: 1—Allison Ross (MSU). 5—Morgan Atkinson.
J2 boys' "B" final heat: 2—Nate Thomas. 3—Andrew Morse.
J2 girls' "A" final heat: 1—Michaela Webb, Wasatch. 5—Katie Feldman.
J2 girls' "B" final heat: 1—Haley Montgomery. 3—Annika Landis.
