Junior Nationals

“Junior Nationals represented an awesome opportunity for New England athletes to show what they do best, sometimes in crazy snow conditions that may have deterred other regions from even putting skis on. From prank wars to podiums, it was a week filled with fast skiing, supportive teammates, and the occasional surprise lobster-in-a-bathtub..!” – Adam Terko, Mansfield Nordic Club

The US Ski and Snowboard Junior Nationals is one of our annual highlights here at NENSA, and this year’s event was no different. Our Junior athletes have worked incredibly hard to qualify and be named to the New England Junior National team to represent our division in the week-long, four race series. The 2024 edition of the event was special, and not just because we increased our Alaska Cup winning streak to sixteen out of the last twenty years of competition. Racing returned to an Eastern venue for the first time since 2017 meaning that not one skier named to the trip this year has ever been able to showcase their skills in front of a home crowd like this at this event before in their careers. Because the event was only driving distance, many parents, coaches, family members and New England skiing fans flocked to Lake Placid to cheer the athletes on.

Collectively, New England athletes claimed 68 All-American finishes, 27 podium finishes, and 12 National Championship titles. New England defended the Alaska Cup with a total of 1,212 points, a 315 point lead over the runners up, the Intermountain division. These statistics are impressive, but the real magic was in all of the special moments sprinkled throughout the week. Numerous personal bests, long-term goals achieved, the perseverance of every New England athlete through some quintessential March weather, a 1-4th place podium sweep with some of your best friends and long-time training partners are just a few examples. But don’t take it from me, hear directly from our fabulous volunteer staff about their experience below:

“I was so impressed with our skiers’ ability to handle whatever the week threw at them with grace and resilience. Outside of our incredible wax techs, the U18 girls experienced the most race-day whiplash of anyone on the day the organizers delayed the mass start classic indefinitely due to icy conditions. But here they are, having finally raced, wanting to stay at the venue even longer to cheer on their friends in the U20 women’s event.” – Audrey Mangan, Craftsbury

“Championship weeks are about performing under pressure. It was awesome to watch the age group coaches working with their athletes to help each of them get ready to do just that. I saw lots of great coaching and I know it helped so many skiers to bring their best. I was grateful to have a chance to put some of my experience to work in support of New England and NENSA, which have been such huge part of my athletic and professional career in skiing. And above all, it was really fun!” – Chris City

“We are so lucky in New England to have such a collaborative and welcoming team environment!” – Alex Jospe, Stratton Mountain School

“My role as an Age Group Coach consisted of a variety of athlete focused duties. Each day I would support the 11 athletes within my cohort by doing everything from driving the group to the venue, meeting individually to plan race strategy, leading group meetings, building team culture, and providing assistance and encouragement on course during races. An additional part of the trip all coaches help extensively with is ski preparation. Our eight person wax staff tests wax pairings round the clock to work to make skis function optimally at each moment of the day and in all conditions – ultimately this means that there are over 1000 pairs of skis to wax over the course of the week!” -Evan Kendall, Dublin School

Some of our wax staff hard at work throughout the week and some outside of the box thinking on how to reheat pizza. (Ruth Krebs and NENSA photos)

“It was an honor to be a member of the coaching staff for JNs this season. A big highlight for me was watching the dominant performance from the New England U20 boys in the 15k classic mass start going 1,2,3,4 in a warm and grueling race.” – Andy Rightmire, Ford Sayre

“First, I would like to thank NENSA for the opportunity to coach at JNs this year as the U20 women’s coach.  It was an incredible honor to work with such an amazing group of young, talented skiers.  Day after day, they fought through ever-changing conditions on one of the most challenging courses out there.  All the while, they brought the passion and dedication needed to excel in one of the toughest sports in the world.  Once again, these champions achieved greatness, and did it with style and while having fun!” – Rob Rothe

“Thinking back to JNs, I have a few moments that stand out to me as my time as an age group coach. The U16 girls gave it their all over the four races, throughout challenging conditions, and had many exciting finishes and podiums. Beyond the racing component of the week, it was incredibly rewarding to watch them come together as a team to support each other. Some highlights include rainbow loom bracelet making, a pancake cook-off with the U16 boys, and skiing their cool-downs as a group on training days and for their post-race cool-down.” -Mia Shifrin, Gould Academy

There are so many amazing photos from the event, relive the excitement by checking them out:

• Charles Swabey photos
• Mark Tarmy Photos
• Phil Belena Photos

Bullitt Timing Results

Junior Nationals Event Video by Ruth Krebs

Big thanks to all of our NENSA sponsors that help us support this group of athletes each year- especially Salomon, Fischer, Nordic Skater, LLBean, and Swix, who helped us with a one-year-only special edition race suit for the event!

2024 New England JN Team Guide
^^Click the Link^^

XC Junior Nationals 2024 Lake Placid | Mar 11 — 16, 2024 – Mt Van Hoevenberg.  The 2024 New England Junior National Team was named following awards at the Cheri Walsh Memorial, Sunday, February 25th.  We are excited to have over 50 athletes joining us in LP — racing in our home region! The Beasts of the East are ready to rumble. 

Team New England Nominees:
U16’s: Lea Perreard, Leigh Niedeck, Kate Carlson, Mary Harrington, Brooke Greenberg, Summer Bentley, Jonah Gorman, Ivan Ivanov, Matthew McIntosh, Matias Citarella, Timothy Craddock, Orrin Slover

U18/U20’s: Amelia Circosta, Alexandria Taylor, Beth McIntosh, Annelies Hanna, Ruth Krebs, Ava Schneider, Frances Tucker, Gillian Fairfax, Nyla Scott, Sarah Glueck, Elsa Sanborn, Julia Thurston, Kiera Stabile, Anika Leahy, Tabor Greenberg, Anders Linseisen, Miles Miner, Aidan Jacobus, James Underwood, Oliver Swabey, Tyler Watt, Abrahm Geissinger, Quinn McDermott, Ellis Slover, Micah Bruner, Greta Kilburn, Clara Lake, Caroline Tarmy, Maddie Hooker, Virginia Cobb, Mirra Payson, Luke Rizio, Benjamin Lewis, Aaron Power, Sage Grossi, Nico Hochanadel, Jack Lange, Finegan Bailey, Joseph Graziadei, Caleb Zuckerman

U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Junior Nationals are a showcase event for junior-aged athletes.  They are part of U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s development pathway and often the launching pad for future U.S. Ski Team stars.  Junior Nationals are organized by local clubs and regional leaders.  This year will mark the 59th year of Junior National competition.

2024 New England Team Junior National Selection Criteria

Introduction:

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Junior Nationals (JN’s) are the official National Championships for junior skiers in the United States.  The New England Team (NE) is named following the final New England Eastern Cup.

Skiers compete at JN’s as part of their divisional team or “home club.”  To be eligible for the NE Team, a skier must be a NENSA member and have a permanent or temporary address in New England.  Each skier should be a competition member of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

The quota for Team NE is 21 males and 21 females.  Within this quota, a maximum of 12 skiers may be entered per age/sex class in any given event (83.5).  Athletes are selected according to: a) performance in Eastern Cup races, specified Out-of-Region races, (Selection Criteria B below); and b) discretionary selection by the NENSA ADC.

Athletes may also “auto qualify” by being named t0 the U18 Trip, FIS Junior World, Nordic Combined Junior World, or IBU Biathlon Junior World Championship Teams.  Top-5 placement on NCAA Regional Qualifying lists is also criteria to “auto” (Selection Criteria A below).  These skiers are not counted against the quota of 21 males and 21 females (74.2).

Athletes will be selected for the NE Team only within their own age groups, and will race only within their own age groups in individual races at JN’s.

Selection Criteria:

Quota Qualification Through National and Collegiate Results

Per U.S. Ski & Snowboard Junior National rules, the following athletes automatically qualify for the NE JN team above the quota of 21 males and 21 females and above the age/sex maximum of 12 (83.5.1):

• Skiers ranked in the top 20 men or women on the final ranking list at the Junior World Ski Championships team trials (70.1.2)
• Skiers who qualify for and attend the U18 Trip with the US Ski Team (70.1.3)
• The top-5 US juniors, excluding foreign competitors, on the final NCAA East, NCAA West, or NCAA Central ranking lists (70.1.4)
• Participating members of the World Junior Championship Team in Biathlon or Nordic Combined (70.1.5)

Qualification Within the New England Quota

New England’s 21 male and 21 female quota athletes are selected according to placing on the final NENSA Junior Ranking Lists, which are determined by points scored in Eastern Cup races and Out-of-Region races (OOR).

Within each sex, athletes will be selected for the 21 quota positions as follows:

1.   6 U16 athletes are selected by:  a) Rank on the final U16 Junior Ranking List.  If a U16 skier declines her/his position on the team, the next skier on the list will be selected.  In the event of a tie for 6th place all tied skiers will be named to the team;  b) Discretion (as described in #3, below). U14’s will not be selected to the team.
2.   15 U18/U20 athletes, including a minimum of 8 U18’s and 3 U20’s will be selected by: a) Rank on the final NENSA U18/U20 JNQ Ranking List.  If a U18/U20 skier declines her/his position on the team, the next skier on the list will be selected;  b) Discretion (as described in #3, below).
3. Up to 3 athletes may be named to the team as discretionary selections by the NENSA ADC.  (Although rarely used, the intent of discretion is to enable the very best athletes to represent New England in cases where extenuating circumstances prevent meeting criteria in other ways.)  Discretionary selections are made between January 1 and February 20th.
4. Foreign Skiers can qualify to compete with the NE Junior National Team – U.S. Ski & Snowboard (rule 77).

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Scoring of U16 and U18/U20 Junior Ranking Lists:

– U18/U20 athletes are ranked by their “Best 4 EC and/or OOR races,” using U.S. Ski & Snowboard race points.

– Updated 4/27/22.  U16 athletes are also ranked by their “Best 4 EC races, but no OOR races,” using modified Continental Cup points.  (30, 25, 21, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1).  U16’s must compete in the U16 race to score points toward Junior National qualification from the U16 competition.

– All junior competitors in Eastern Cups are included in the Junior Ranking List, but only those with U.S. Ski & Snowboard membership are eligible for Junior National Qualification.

(Selection races are the 8 – U16 races at NENSA Eastern Cups (and OOR for U18/U20); for sprints*, the final results come from heat placement.)

*Eastern Cup sprint races (and OOR) will be scored by heat placement for all age groups (U16/U18/U20) with penalty determined by best of (FIS/U.S. Ski & Snowboard) Distance points.

US National Championships:

The US Nationals races listed below are scored to the NENSA U18/U20 Junior Ranking Lists using U.S. Ski & Snowboard points.  An athlete must be a competition member of U.S. Ski & Snowboard to compete at the US National Championships.

The first three races of the 2024 L.L.BEAN U.S. CROSS COUNTRY SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS  will be scored to the JRL as “Out of Region Qualifiers.”

2024 Schedule of Events:
Soldier Hollow, Utah

Tuesday, January 2, 2024 – Classic Individual Start 10km

Thursday, January 4, 2024 – Freestyle Sprint

Friday, January 5, 2024 – Freestyle Mass Start 20km Sr / 10km Jr

Note: distances and techniques are listed here as scheduled.  If conditions mandate changes to distance/technique, the race that is held will be scored.