BY HEATHER FOSTER

Ten skiers from the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation XC Comp and Post Grad Teams will be competing at the Junior National Championships March 11-16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Athletes qualify for this event through a series of Junior National Qualifying races, held this season in Jackson Hole, WY; Midway, UT; and McCall, ID. The best three races from all events are combined to select the athletes that will represent the Intermountain Division in U16, U18, and U20 categories.  

Representing SVSEF and the Intermountain Division for U16’s are Charlie St. George and Nick Gardiner. Cora Faye Scott, Jodie Willow Maguire, Berkeley Canfield and Molly Maybach will represent SVSEF and IMD in the U18 female category. Teddy Hobbs will compete in the U18 male age group. 

Galen Grohusky and David Shycon, both U20’s. will represent SVSEF with the IMD team, and Otus Beason, also a U20, will represent SVSEF with the High Plains Division. All three are members of the SVSEF Post Grad Team.

“I am thrilled for this group of skiers to have the opportunity to compete with the best in the country,” said Becky Flynn, SVSEF XC Program Director. “They have trained all year to get to this championship event—it is one of those times when hard work, perseverance, and commitment all pay off, and it’s exciting for the athletes to be able to put it all together in one place.”

Opening ceremonies will be in the historic Lake Placid Olympic Center, where athletes from all ten regions will come together, hear from US ski team members about what it takes to become the best, take an athlete oath, and light the ceremonial torch. 

The first race will be a 5km (U16) and 7.5km (U18/20) freestyle event on March 11. Next up will be a Classic sprint (U16, U18/20) on March 13 followed by a 5km (U16), 10km (U18) and a 15km (U20) classic mass start race on March 15.The championship will end with a 4 X 3km relay for all on March 16.

The IMD team will send 61 athletes to the Junior National Championships, where the best juniors from 10 regions across the country will compete. SVSEF athletes Charlie St. Geroge and Nick Gardiner are excited to be testing their talents for the first time against the best U16 skiers in the United States. For all others, this will be their second, third, or fourth time toeing the line with the top junior skiers in the country. We wish them the best as they compete next week!

XC Junior National Championships Website

https://mtvanhoevenberg.com/event/xc2024lakeplacid/

Intermountain Division Nordic

https://www.intermountainxc.com/