One of the tall tales of the old Wisconsin Northwoods where the 2026 Team New England Junior Nationals team is headed this week is the Round River, relayed by the famed conservationist Aldo Leopold in Sand County Almanac:
“One of the marvels of early Wisconsin was the Round River, a river that flowed into itself…Paul Bunyan discovered it, [and] floated many a log down its restless waters…No one accused Paul of speaking in parables, yet in this instance he did. Wisconsin not only had a round river, Wisconsin is one.”
Leopold’s “Round River” essay is considered a landmark in ecological thinking. The gist of it is that once a stream of energy is injected into a system, it continues to flow through it, be it stored in the soil, plants, or us.
Replace Paul Bunyan with the late, great John Caldwell, and New England skiing starts to look its own Round River.
We’re some thirty years into the flow of NENSA, and perhaps a half-century more of the grounded energy of mixing the quiet joy of nordic skiing with competitiveness, education, and camaraderie.
And it all keeps flowing…
This week and next, upwards of a thousand junior skiers from across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont will tip their skis to the winter that’s been and the spring that’s coming at Championship events. In our round river, Championship season is when the ice dams break, and the energy rushes forth.
One of the other metaphoric principles of ecology comes from hydrology. There, a concept called stream order helps model out how tributaries to a river form. What hydrologists started to notice about these models some years ago is that they tend to be fractal. Meaning, that the new streams formed off a river look like the one they came from. They’re self-similar, even though they appear irregular.
Viewed that way, the vibrance and drive of one skier’s pursuit of the sport reverberates out. Enough people, with their love of the sport pointed in the same direction, becomes the New England ski community. And right now, where New England skiers and coaches are set to compete in New York, in Wisconsin, and – with our World Junior and U23 skiers – in Norway, the energy contained by the talented, energetic individuals is reverberating out across an entire sport.
In March of 2026, New England skiers are everywhere, and thus, New England skiing is everywhere. Leaving a bit of what makes our community special back at home in whatever stream they forge up next.
It’s a parable, but also a real feeling. New England skiing is a round river. A little nod to the little bit of everything we do.
The Round River flows on. The energy of every skier who’s pushed, pushes us forward!
The 2026 New England Junior Nationals Team
New England is sending 48 junior skiers to Wisconsin to compete in the 2026 Junior National Championships at the American Birkebeiner Trailhead starting next Monday, March 9th. Representing all four New England States, and no less than 13 different clubs, Team New England will take on over four-hundred skiers from across the country in the Birkieland over the course of the week!
New England’s Junior National skiers have competed against each other in everything from a steady rain at Holderness to a polar vortex at Craftsbury, and a perfect winter’s day at Quarry Road and Oak Hill in between. They’re ready to push each other now, together, in as varied of conditions in the Northwoods. We’re immensely proud of them and the coaching staff which is coming together in Wisconsin this week.
…Introducing…Team New England!
U16 Girls
| Mia Gorman | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Acadia Enman | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Emma Kennedy | EMXC |
| Kendal Bowen | GMVS |
| Lila Marchetti | Ford Sayre |
| Merritt Goodell | Ford Sayre |
| Mia Shifrin (Coach) | Gould Academy |
U16 Boys
| Wren Chalmers | Stratton Mountain School |
| Jorgen Pirrung | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Isaac Nadzam | Craftsbury Ski Club |
| Isaiah Bowen | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Olin Walker | Ford Sayre |
| Beau Sanders | Berkshire Nordic |
| Erin Waters (Coach) | Holderness Nordic |
U18 Girls
| Clara White | Orono High School |
| Clara Legault | Stratton Mountain School |
| Lucille Dent | Ford Sayre |
| Mary Harrington | GMVS |
| Ollie Hanna | Ford Sayre |
| Leigh Niedeck | EMXC |
| Kai McKinnon | Stratton Mountain School |
| Astrid Longstreth | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Elli Englund | Holderness Nordic Club |
| Claire Serrano | Craftsbury Ski Club |
| Lea Perreard | Ford Sayre |
| Isabel Seay (Coach) | Ford Sayre |
U18 Boys
| Henry Swartzentruber | Stratton Mountain School |
| Sam Swartzentruber | Stratton Mountain School |
| Jed Bentley | Dublin XC |
| Jonah Gorman | GMVS |
| Matias Citarella | GMVS |
| Matthew McIntosh | GMVS |
| Timothy Craddock | Stratton Mountain School |
| Donovan Van Citters | Ford Sayre |
| Ivan Ivanov | Stratton Mountain School |
| Steve Bruner (Coach) | NENSA |
U20 Girls
| Hannah Grohman | Bates College |
| Nyla Scott | Colby College |
| Emma Maria Päärson | SMS |
| Ava Schneider | Dartmouth College |
| Miley Bletzer | SMS |
| Beth McIntosh | Middlebury College |
| Hanna Koch | UVM |
| Estella Laird | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Caroline Dodd (Coach) | Bates College |
U20 Boys
| Quinn Uva | St. Michael’s |
| Joey Sluka | Ford Sayre |
| Silvester Williams | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Henri McCourt | Bowdoin College |
| Beckett Cote | Bowdoin College |
| Ellis Slover | Colby College |
| Ollie Swabey | Bowdoin College |
| Lincoln Miller | GMVS |
| Ben Kamilewecz (Coach) | Gould Academy |
Service Staff
| Adam Terko | Mansfield Nordic Club |
| Avery Ellis | EMXC |
| Brandon Herhusky | GMVS |
| Anna Schulz | Craftsbury Ski Club |
| Alex Jospe | Stratton Mountain School |
Trip Leadership
| Ben Theyerl | NENSA |
| Matt Boobar | Stratton Mountain School |
NENSA at the Junior World Ski Championships in Lillehammer, Norway
NENSA is also at the other Birkie (or the real Birkie, depending on if you’re from Wisconsin or not) in Lillehammer, Norway for the Junior World Ski Championships!
Highlights have already included top 10 finishes in the 20k skate mass start events for Tabor Greenberg and Ava Thurston. In the skate sprint earlier this week, Ava Thurston also finished in the top ten, while Fin Bailey and Annie Hanna made heats ! James Underwood and Micah Bruner made their international racing debuts, with Evie Walton also pushed in the 20k skate as well. The EISA also has a whole bunch of representation, with UVM’s Haley Brewster, Lena Poduska and Owen Young, Dartmouth’s Maeve Ingelfinger, and UNH’s Natalie Nicholas all competing.
NENSA is also very proud that the USA kick cabin is acting as a satellite for the State of New Hampshire (working wax cabin motto: kick free or die!), with Team USA being strongly support by our club coaches.
NENSA’s Representation at the 2026 JWSC:
Junior Skiers
| Tabor Greenberg | University of Vermont |
| James Underwood | Colby College |
| Micah Bruner | Dartmouth College |
| Lena Poduska | University of Vermont |
| Maeve Ingelfinger | Dartmouth College |
| Natalie Nicholas | University of New Hampshire |
| Annie Hanna | Ford Sayre |
U23 Skiers
| Owen Young | University of Vermont |
| Fin Bailey | University of Vermont |
| Ava Thurston | Dartmouth College |
| Haley Brewster | University of Vermont |
| Evie Walton | Dartmouth College |
Coaching Staff
| Kathy Maddock | Dublin XC |
| Hilary McNamee | Ford Sayre |
| Ben Higgins | Great Glen Trails |
| Steve Fuller | Team Photographer/USA! |
