Junior National racing wrapped up on Saturday under a sunny blue Utah sky with the Classic 3 x 3.3k Team Relays. Temps had dipped below freezing the night before, so our U20 and U18 men, first out at 9am and 9:45am had hard and fast tracks, and the snow softened throughout the morning into early afternoon, as the U20/U18 women and U16 boys and girls raced. Our New England Wax Techs once again proved to be some of the best in the country, delivering incredibly fast skis for our team all day. By the end of the day, New England had an incredible 9 podiums in 6 races!
First out were our U20 men. The team of Adam Witkowski (SMS), John Henry Paluszek (Gunstock Nordic) and Adam Glueck, (Dartmouth College) were on the podium for second place, with a time of 22:09.5, and the team, of Nick Wilkerson (GMVS), Willson Moore (OSI), and Andrew Doherty (Mt. Washington Nordic) rounded out the top 5 medal teams in fifth, with a time of 23:14.3.
The U18 men’s team of James Kitch (CSU juniors), Greg Burt (GMVS), and Ben Ogden (SMS) won GOLD with a time of 24:41.1, and the team of Josh Valentine (GMVS), Isaac Freitas-Eagan (Mansfield Nordic) and Conor Munns (SMS) took the bronze with a time of 26:26.0.
Our U20 woman’s team of Phoebe Sweet (Craftsbury Nordic), Rena Schwartz (GMVS) and Callie Young (Craftsbury Nordic) won GOLD, with a time of 36.23.8, and the team of Marin Coletta (Colby College), Avery Ellis (Middlebury College), and Laura Appleby (CSU juniors) placed fourth for the U20 women team sprint medals with a time of 37:02.8
The U18 women took silver with the team of Charlotte Ogden (SMS), Sophia Laukli (OSI), and Mae Chalmers (SMS), with a time of 37:31.3.
The U16 boys once again took GOLD for the win, with the team of Finn Sweet (Craftsbury), Aidan Burt (Mansfield Nordic) and Will Koch (SMS), with a time of 33.18.8. I would like to note here that this was Will Koch’s FOURTH National Title this week, as he WON all the races in the U16 boys category! A HUGE congrats to Will on this specular accomplishment at Junior Nationals!
Our U16 girls team of Nina Seeman (SMS), Shea Brams (SCU juniors) and Quincy Massy-Bierman finished out the day in fourth place with a time of 38:31.6, and the 9th trip to the medals podium for Team New England for the Team Sprint day!
Link to RESULTS
Link to some great Saturday Team Relay PHOTOS (Thanks again to Paul Bierman for these great photos!)
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