Boulder Mountain Ski Tour race director Kevin Swigert said it best about the opening event of the 2014 Sun Valley Nordic Festival.
He referred to the low snow conditions and the Galena Lodge site of last weekend’s Intermountain Division Junior National cross-country qualifiers—races that were moved north from Lake Creek due to thin snow cover.
Swigert said, “Having the races come off so well in Senate Meadows goes to show how truly fortunate we are to have an area like Galena Lodge. It cements the idea of this being Nordic Town USA.”
Indeed, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation hosted 220 skiers from throughout the West for the two-day race event. They came from Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and a few from Sugar Bowl in California. And, because of continued cool nights, the snow conditions held up well.
Coach Rick Kapala’s SVSEF Junior Nordic team entered 82 of its members in Saturday’s freestyle individual sprints.
Of 115 skiers who progressed through qualifying heats to the quarterfinals in four classes, 26 came from the host SVSEF squad. And two carried off victories.
Australian Kat Paul, 17 won the Final A for the U-20/U-18 women’s group with SVSEF teammate Katie Feldman finishing fourth.
Powerful in U-16 boys, SVSEF went 1-2-3 in the U-16 boys’ Final A with winner Zach Williams, second-place Peter Wolter and third-place Ben Brunelle. Sun Valley placed six in the top 11. In U-20/U-18 men, SVSEF placed 6-7-11 with Andrew Graves, Jake Adicoff and Danny Graves.
SVSEF Gold Team racer Miles Havlick, 24, who clocked Saturday’s fastest qualifying time racing as a Senior, also posted the best finish in Sunday’s 10-kilometer interval start classic event at 26:31, nine seconds ahead of fellow Gold Team racer Matt Gelso, 25, timed in 26:40.
Gold Team women’s leader Chelsea Holmes, 26, captured the women’s 10k classic race in 30:56, 52 seconds ahead of teammate Rose Kemp, 23, who was clocked in 31:49. Feldman was a strong sixth, 3:29 back.
Once again, Sun Valley dominated U-16 boys in the 5k classic race placing six in the top nine led by Zach Williams (14:04) and runner-up Carter Ros (14:28). Other SVSEF podium finishers in their classes were Jorgen Lawrence, Cash Dart, Logan Smith, Samantha Smith and Svea Leidecker.
There were 206 in Sunday’s classic race including 64 from the SVSEF.
The Sun Valley races were the second event in the three-event qualifying process for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) Cross-Country Junior National Ski Championships at Stowe, Vt. March 3-8. First qualifiers were Dec. 20-21 at Trail Creek Nordic Center near Jackson Hole, Wyo. Final JN qualifier is Feb. 5-8 at Soldier Hollow.
Junior Nationals at Stowe’s Trapp Family Lodge feature: Classic interval start competition is Monday, March 3, followed by classic sprints March 5, mass start freestyle March 7 and freestyle relay March 8.
SVSEF class placings, ages and times from Senate Meadows follow:
Saturday, individual skate sprints
· U-20/U-18 women sprint finals: 1—Kat Paul, SVSEF (1st Final A). 4—Katie Feldman.
· U-20/U-18 men sprint finals: 1—Noah Andersen, Bridger Ski Foundation (1st Final A). 6—Andrew Graves. 7—Jake Adicoff (1st Final B). 11—Danny Graves.
· U-16 women sprint finals: 1—Marin Coletta, Bridger Ski Foundation (1st Final A). 8—Annika Landis. 9—Emily Siegel.
· U-16 men sprint finals: 1—Zach Williams, SVSEF (1st Final A). 2—Peter Wolter. 3—Ben Brunelle. 7—River Vorse (1st Final B). 10—Carter Ros. 11—Eli Jensen.
Sunday, interval start classic
· Senior men, 10k: 1—Miles Havlick, 24, 26:31. 2—Matt Gelso, 25, 26:40 (0:09 back).
· Senior women, 10k: 1—Chelsea Holmes, 26, 30:56. 2—Rose Kemp, 23, 31:49 (0:52 back).
· U-20 women (ages 18-19), 10k: 1—Joelle Romo, 19, 34:40. 2—Sarah Williams, 18, 39:45.
· U-20 men, 10k: 1—Kyle Beling, 18, Park City 29:10. 4—Jake Adicoff, 18, 30:00 (8th overall of 36 men, 3:29 back). 5—Stephen Pfeiffer, 18, 30:25 (10th overall, 3:54 back). 8—Andrew Graves, 18, 31:17.
· U-18 girls (16-17), 10k: 1—Aja Starkey, 17, Bridger Ski Foundation 33:52. 4—Katie Feldman, 17, 34:25 (6th overall of 27 women, 3:29 back). 11—Kat Paul, 17, 37:37. 12—Grace Gorham, 16, 37:39. 13—Haley Montgomery, 17, 38:08. 17—Loni Unser, 16, 38:51. 22—Cheyanne Stopol, 17, 46:05. 23—Sophia Deklotz, 16, 49:56.
· U-18 boys, 10k: 1—Alex Jackson, 16, Park City 29:31. 2—Danny Graves, 16, 29:46 (7th overall, 3:15 back). 8—Thomas Gillespie, 16, 30:54 (4:23 back). 10—Nate Thomas, 17, 31:18. 11—Nate Nasvik, 17, 31:32. 22—Derek Thompson, 16, 37:13.
· U-16 girls (14-15), 5k: 1—Leah Lange, 15, Park City 15:38. 6—Annika Landis 17:45 (2:07 back). 17—Emily Siegel, 15, 19:04. 27—Ellie Polk, 14, 23:03.
· U-16 boys, 5k: 1—Zach Williams, 14, 14:04. 2—Carter Ros, 15, 14:28 (0:24 back). 4—Peter Wolter, 15, 14:45. 6—Eli Jensen, 15, 14:52. 7—Ben Brunelle, 15, 14:56. 9—River Vorse, 15, 15:00. 16—Jacob Truxal, 15, 15:52. 19—Keene Morawitz, 14, 16:11. 28—Cooper Roquet, 14, 16:40. 29—Taylor Koth, 14, 16:45. 35—Landon Nurge, 14, 19:49. 36—Kiran Merchant, 14, 20:57.
· U-14 girls (12-13), 3k: 1—Tracy Kucherak, 13, Park City 9:55. 4—Lily Brunelle, 13, 10:17. 5—Ella Wolter, 12, 10:18. 8—Laine Allison, 12, 10:57.2. 9—Jenna Nurge, 12, 10:57.6. 12—Sarah Truxal, 13, 11:05. 13—Michaela Petty, 13, 11:12. 14—Ellie Gorham, 13, 11:13. 16—Chloe Tanous, 12, 11:19. 17—Katherine Estep, 12, 11:39. 19—Madeline Austin, 13, 12:52.
· U-14 boys, 3k: 1—Ryan Pence, 13, TVSEF 8:48. 11—Johnny Hagenbuch, 12, 9:34. 20—Joe Hall, 13, 11:46. 25—Aidan Burchmore, 12, 14:06.
· Novice boys, 3k: 1—Jorgen Lawrence, 14, 11:35.
· U-12 girls (10-11), 2k: 1—Anja Jensen, 11, 9:33. 3—Logan Smith, 9, 10:16. 4—Eva Grover, 11, 10:34. 5—Kate Horowitz, 11, 10:57. 6—Sascha Leidecker, 11, 11:06. 7—Elle Mann, 11, 11:51. 9—Sara King-Nakaoka, 11, 12:41. 10—Melissa Murcko, 10, 13:18.
· U-12 boys, 2k: 1—Cale Woods, 10, Bridger Ski Foundation 9:05. 2—Cash Dart, 11, 9:19. 5—Cole Reeves, 11, 10:48. 6—Jake Gorham, 11, 10:55. 7—Alex Shafer, 10, 11:32. 8—Sebi Radl-Jones, 11, and Kai Nelson, 11, 11:32.7.
· U-10 girls (8-9), 2k: 1—Samantha Smith, 8, 5:06. 2—Svea Leidecker, 8, 6:34.
