Durango’s Katja Freeburn finished fifth to earn a medal as the 2015 Junior National Cross County Championships concluded over the weekend in Truckee, California.
The Durango Nordic Ski Club’s four women representatives on the Rocky Mountain Division team had a successful week despite difficult course conditions, assistant coach Paige Elliott said in an email. When all was tallied, the Rocky Mountain Division took fourth place out of 10 at the junior nationals.
Friday’s race was a mass-start classic race. The U18/U20 girls raced four laps of the 2.5-kilometer course to complete a 10K, while the U16 girls raced two laps to complete a 5k. Although the morning was fairly cool, by the time the girls raced, the weather got downright hot and the course was soft and sloppy, Elliott said. Athletes raced in short sleeves and with no hats and gloves. Several coaches were out on the course handing out water to their athletes or even dumping it over their heads as they skied past.
For the U18/U20 girls, Anna Fake and Avra Saslow successfully dodged a big pile-up at the start and skied their four laps together. The girls finished 24th and 26th, respectively.
For the U16 girls, Katja Freeburn placed fifth to earn a medal. She was the second Rocky Mountain finisher for her age group. Marit May finished 16th, one of her best results of the season.
The final race was Saturday’s team relays, and each age group raced a 3-by-2.5K. Freeburn was the first leg on the first team. Her teammates were from Vail and Summit and they finished fourth overall for the U16 girls, missing a spot on the podium by .2 seconds. Marit May was the third leg on the second team; with teammates from Boulder and Vail, they finished eighth overall.
For the U18 girls, Anna Fake was the third leg on the second relay team. She raced with girls from Summit and Steamboat and they finished seventh. Avra Saslow raced the second leg on the third Rocky Mountain relay team. Her teammates were from Vail and Boulder and they finished 18th.
Before the relay event, Rocky Mountain was sitting in second place for the Alaska Cup, a results-based competition among the 10 divisions that compete at Junior Nationals. Results and bad luck on Saturday, combined with a few crashes and generally tuckered-out athletes, pushed Rocky Mountain back to fourth place overall. New England won, Midwest was second and Intermountain was third.
“Overall, it was a very successful week for Durango and the girls did extremely well staying focused and working with the less-than-ideal conditions,” Elliott said. “I was particularly excited to see Avra (Saslow) do so well in the classic race, as this is her last year with Durango Nordic and I was hoping we’d see her end on a good note.”
johnp@durangoherald.com
