Twenty-three athletes with the Durango Nordic Ski Club traveled to Soldier Hollow, Utah, last weekend to compete in their largest weekend of racing yet. Held at the 2002 Olympic venue for cross country skiing and biathlon, the event hosted nearly 750 racers from all over the western United States.
“Going to Soldier Hollow is always special,” said head coach Gary Colliander. “Not only does the place have some history to it, but having athletes from Colorado to California racing makes it one of the biggest events for our kids.”
Due to minimal snow and unseasonably warm temperatures, skiers raced on a course of manmade snow that steadily transformed to slush as the day progressed.
“It was definitely a learning experience for our kids,” said Colliander. “There aren’t too many times when you can say you tripped on the snow.”
Friday’s race was a skate sprint held on a 1.3-kilometer loop. The U16 and older age groups first skied a qualifying race, which determined the top 30 skiers who would move onto the sprint heats. Katja Freeburn was Durango’s only qualifier and eventually skied to a 10th-place finish.
In the qualifying race, Charlie Greenberg finished 39th for the U18/U20 men. For the U18/U20 females, Anna Fake was 33rd, Avra Saslow was 34th and Maggie Wigton was 43rd. In the U16 girls division, Marit May was 58th, Carter Reiter was 80th and Alma Wolf was 82nd. Corbin Reiter finished 108th for the U16 boys.
The U14 and U12 age groups skied a single lap of the 1.3K loop. For the U14 boys, Cobe Freeburn was 22nd and Logan Moore was 31st. For the U14 girls, Jordan Taylor finished 21st. Teammates Cecelia Compton and Kendall Floyd finished 34th and 59th, respectively. In the U12 boys division, Wiley Corra won his race. Ethan Craig finished right behind him in second. For the U12 girls, Georgia Mynatt was 11th, Ruth Holcomb was 12th, Halle Moore was 22nd and Carter Taylor was 23rd.
Wrapping up the day of racing were Durango Nordic’s youngest competitors Kiri May and Andre Craig, who both skied a shortened 1K loop. Kiri May was second for the U10 girls. Andre Craig claimed gold for the U8 boys.
Saturday’s mass-start classic races featured sunny skies that had many athletes stripping to T-shirts for their races. One such racer was Greenberg, who finished 27th in his multiple-lap 15K for the U18/U20 men’s division. In the U18/U20 women’s division, Fake finished 23rd in her 10K. Saslow was 27th and Wigton was 38th.
Skiing a 5K course, Katja Freeburn finished 15th for the U16 girls. Marit May was 28th, Carter Reiter was 69th, and Alma Wolf was 84th. For the U16 boys, Corbin Reiter finished 104th.
In the U14 and U12 divisions, athletes skied a total of 3K. For the U14 boys, Cobe Freeburn skied to a 12th-place finish. Logan Moore was 32nd. For the U14 girls, Jordan Taylor was 30th, Compton was 32nd, and Floyd was 56th. In the U12 boys division, Corra and Ethan Craig finished on the podium for the second time over the weekend. Corra claimed gold and Craig took bronze. In the U12 girls division, Mynatt was Durango Nordic’s first finisher in 11th place. Holcomb was 13th, Halle Moore was 21st, Ruby May was 26th, and Carter Taylor was 32nd.
Kiri May finished third in her 1K race for the U10 girls. Also skiing 1K, Andre Craig claimed the silver medal for the U8 boys.
Durango Nordic’s final Junior National qualifier will be held Feb. 13-15 in Aspen.
