Several Durango Nordic Ski Club members raced themselves onto the Rocky Mountain Division Junior National Team that will compete in the USSA Nordic Junior Nationals at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT, starting Saturday.
In addition to seniors Hannah Peterson and Haakon Sigurslid, rookies Anna Fake, Katja Freeburn, Marit May, Maggie Wigton and Avra Saslow will ski in the weeklong event that will include two distance races, a sprint and a relay.
Saslow and Wigton were question marks going into races in Vail last weekend, but Saslow raced to eighth and sixth in a particularly convincing show of power. Wigton had placed a bit better in previous races but maintained her own in Vail (ninth and 12th) to get on the team.
Fake (two fifths) and May (two sixths) added to their impressive résumés in preparation for nationals, where they will face skiers who already have raced in Europe as part of teams representing the U.S.
Freeburn, Peterson and Sigurslid were all nursing illnesses and did not race in Vail but were named on the basis of their respective bodies of work going into the weekend.
The Vail races were particularly productive for four younger skiers, all of whom earned first-place finishes in both the classic and freestyle events. Wiley Corra and Jordyn Taylor, both competing in Under 12 divisions, U10 Ruby May and her U8 sister Kiri May each trounced their respective fields on both days.
Corra and the May girls were named category champions for RMN, ranking first in class based on all races this season. Taylor missed that honor by the narrowest of margins, coming in second in her group. Her trove is full of gold, however, and each of these skiers will be ones to watch in the coming years.
In disappointing circumstances for all athletes and coaches were the elimination of Abe Ott and Charlie Greenburg from consideration to the JN team.
Greenburg has been hot and cold this winter, and his place finishes did not quite add up to a berth on the team. As illustration, he had a sixth and a 17th last weekend and therefore was designated an alternate in the U18 category.
Ott had been improving each weekend, but the steep, twisty-turny course at Vail did not suit the lanky senior. He needed another month and more races like he had at Soldier Hollow, Utah – where he skied so well – to prove his case. Next year, the senior Ott will be off to study with Allan Savory, a world-renowned desertification expert, and will put his racing career on hold.
Dylan Williamson, Cece Compton, Stevi Cameron and Cobe Freeburn each turned in great efforts in Vail, where all termed their races “fun.” The hardworking Freeburn posted yet another set of top-10 finishes to go with this year’s collection, impressive for the first-year U14.
JN skiers leave today for Stowe, where wintery weather prevails. Peterson, who will be competing for the University of New Hampshire next year, leaves as the No. 1-ranked female U18 in the country, and Harvard-bound Sigurslid has high hopes, especially for the classic sprint race in Stowe.
