New England Junior National Team

The 2024 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Junior National Championships will be held at Mt Van Hoevenberg, in Lake Placid, NY — March 11th – 16th, 2024.  The 2024 New England Junior National Team will be named following awards at the Cheri Walsh Memorial, Sunday, February 25th.  We currently anticipate a team size of 50+ athletes, with our 42 quota spots and eight committed Autos and Guests.  We are excited to race in our home region!  The 2024 comprehensive fee will be made available midwinter. Trip cost for Lake Placid JN’s in 2017 was $1955.

Please note that all participants in the 2024 New England JN team (athletes and staff) should be vaccinated (including booster).  Read more here.

Junior Nationals is a fluoro – free event.

Questions: [email protected]

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.”

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