All three qualifying events are in the books, and 16 Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Nordic skiers have advanced to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) Cross-Country Junior National Ski Championships at Stowe, Vt. March 3-8.
They will be important members of the Intermountain Division team representing Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho at the national competition.
Last weekend’s classic sprint and mass start freestyle races for 600 skiers at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah comprised the third of three qualifying events. Earlier qualifiers were Dec. 20-21 at Trail Creek Nordic Center near Jackson Hole, Wyo. and Jan. 25-26 at Galena Lodge north of Ketchum.
Collegiate skiers who are SVSEF alumni already pre-qualified for Junior Nationals because they were on the 11-racer USSA Junior World Team that competed at Val Di Fiemme, Italy Jan. 28-Feb. 3.
They are Sloan Storey, 19, of the University of Utah, and Maggie Williams, 18, and Cole Morgan, 19, of the University of Vermont.
Sun Valley’s other qualifiers to Junior Nationals are:
U-20 women: Sarah Williams, 18.
U-20 men: Stephen Pfeiffer, 18.
U-18 women: Katie Feldman, 17; Haley Montgomery, 17; Kat Paul, 17; and Grace Gorham, 16.
U-18 men: Danny Graves, 16.
U-16 boys: Peter Wolter, 15; Zach Williams, 14; Eli Jensen, 15; Carter Ros, 15; River Vorse, 15; and Ben Brunelle, 15.
Schedule for the 2014 USSA Junior Nationals at Stowe’s Trapp Family Lodge includes: Classic interval start competition is Monday, March 3, followed by classic sprints March 5, mass start freestyle March 7 and freestyle relay March 8.
Finale at Soldier Hollow
The SVSEF U-16 boys continued to dominate in the large regional field at Soldier Hollow.
Zach Williams and Peter Wolter placed 1-2 in Friday’s classic sprint Final A heat. And Wolter climbed the podium with a third-place finish, just eight seconds off the lead, in Saturday’s 91-racer U-16 mass start freestyle race over 5 kilometers.
Others from the SVSEF in the classic sprint finals were Kat Paul, River Vorse and Stephen Pfeiffer.
In Saturday’s 15k skate race, 16-year-old Danny Graves (41:23) was just 2:14 off the top pace in the 102-racer field.
Making the top 10 in their classes for the skate were Zach Williams, Eli Jensen, Sarah Williams, Katie Feldman and Cash Dart, along with Anja Jensen and Logan Smith, who placed 1-2 in the U-12 girls’ class.
There were 598 in Saturday’s mass start freestyle races including 44 from the SVSEF.
SVSEF class placings, ages and times from Soldier Hollow:
Friday, classic sprints
· U-20/U-18 women sprint finals: 12—Kat Paul, SVSEF (6th Final B). Paul was the second-fastest qualifier. Also making the quarterfinals were Katie Feldman, Sarah Williams and Haley Montgomery.
· U-20/U-18 men sprint finals: 7—Stephen Pfeiffer (1st Final B). Pfeiffer was the fourth-fastest qualifier. Also making the quarterfinals were Andrew Graves and Jack Adicoff.
· U-16 girls’ sprint finals: No finalists from the SVSEF. Annika Landis and Emily Siegel made the quarterfinals.
· U-16 boys’ sprint finals: 1—Zach Williams (1st Final A). 2—Peter Wolter (2nd Final A). 11—River Vorse (5th Final B). Vorse clocked the third-fastest qualifying time. Four other SVSEF racers made the 30-racer quarterfinals—Ben Brunelle, Jacob Truxal, Eli Jensen and Carter Ros.
· Younger age class sprint qualifiers: For the SVSEF, Lily Brunelle and Ella Wolter placed 5th and 7th in the U-14 girls’ qualifier, while Anja Jensen won the U-12 qualifier.
Saturday, mass start freestyle
· U-20 men (ages 18-19), 15k: 1—Henry Gorman, 18, Wasatch Nordic Ski Academy 39:09. 11—Jake Adicoff, 18, 41:58 (21st overall of 102 men, 2:49 back). 18—Stephen Pfeiffer, 18, 43:02 (41st overall, 3:52 back). 21—Andrew Graves, 18, 44:21 (5:11 back).
· U-20 women, 10k: 1—Cara Piske, 18, Steamboat Springs WSC 30:03. 5—Sarah Williams, 18, 34:50 (4:46 back).
· U-18 boys (16-17), 15k: 1—Cameron Bobb, 17, Summit Nordic Ski Club 39:27 (5th overall of 102 men, 0:17 back). 7—Danny Graves, 16, 41:23 (15th overall, 2:14 back). 28—Nate Thomas, 17, 43:20 (46th overall, 4:10 back). 39—Nate Nasvik, 17, 44:21. 60—Derek Thompson, 16, 50:38.
· U-18 girls, 10k: 1—Hannah Peterson, 17, Durango Nordic 28:43. 9—Katie Feldman, 17, 31:16 (2:32 back). 21—Haley Montgomery, 17, 33:10 (4:27 back). 24—Kat Paul, 17, 33:30 (4:47 back). 30—Grace Gorham, 16, 34:06. 41—Loni Unser, 16, 35:51.
· U-16 boys (14-15), 5k: 1—Leo Lukens, 15, Mt. Bachelor SEF 13:07. 3—Peter Wolter, 15, 13:16 (0:08 back). 8—Zach Williams, 14, 13:53 (0:46 back). 9—Eli Jensen, 15, 13:56. 12—Ben Brunelle, 15, 14:04. 21—River Vorse, 15, 14:19. 24—Carter Ros, 15, 14:29. 30—Jacob Truxal, 15, 14:38. 47—Keene Morawitz, 14, 15:07. 55—Cooper Roquet, 14, 15:30. 58—Taylor Koth, 14, 15:34. 73—Landon Nurge, 14, 17:10. 78—Max Tanous, 15, 17:53. 83—Kiran Merchant, 14, 19:32.
· U-16 girls, 5k: 1—Kathleen O’Connell, 15, Steamboat Springs WSC 14:56. 25—Annika Landis, 15, 16:34 (1:37 back). 31—Emily Siegel, 15, 16:41. 71—Ellie Polk, 14, 20:43.
· U-14 girls (12-13), 3k: 1—Avery Harrington, 12, Steamboat Springs WSC 10:17. 13—Lily Brunelle, 13, 10:56 (0:39 back). 16—Ella Wolter, 12, 11:15 (0:57 back). 25—Kirsys Campbell, 13, 11:48. 27—Laine Allison, 12, 11:58. 32—Katherine Estep, 12, 12:12. 33—Chloe Tanous, 12, 12:14. 34—Michaela Petty, 13, 12:18. 43—Ellie Gorham, 13, 12:42.
· U-12 boys (ages 10-11), 2k: 1—Kai Mittelsteadt, 11, Bridger Ski Foundation 6:25. 5—Cash Dart, 11, 6:45 (0:20 back). 23—Jake Gorham, 11, 8:04. 25—Cole Reeves, 11, 8:06.
· U-12 girls, 2k: 1—Anja Jensen, 11, 6:59. 2—Logan Smith, 9, 7:08. 10—Sascha Leidecker, 11, 8:05. 23—Melissa Murcko, 10, 9:12.
SVSEF qualifiers from the U-18 women’s class for March’s Junior Nationals in Vermont pose at Soldier Hollow, Utah last weekend. They are, from left, Kat Paul, Katie Feldman, Sarah Williams, Haley Montgomery and Grace Gorham.
Courtesy photo by John Koth
