Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s under-16 alpine athletes made the haul to Burke Mountain in Vermont for the annual National Performance Series in an effort to qualify for the prestigious Seven Nations Cup, which will be held next month in Liechtenstein.

Now in its sixth season, the Seven Nations Cup is hosted by a different nation in Europe each year. It is a good international test for the U.S. U16 racers, with deep competition from the strong central European nations. It is considered one of the most prestigious youth ski races in the world.

A total of 12 racers were selected to the Seven Nations team — six boys and six girls.

From their NPS results, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail qualified five athletes, Ava Jemison, Fletcher Holm, Carissa Cassidy, Berit Frischholz and Nicola Rountree-Williams, to represent the U.S. at Seven Nations in Liechtenstein.

The NPS races at Burke Mountain consisted of a pair of slaloms and a pair of giant slaloms races. Three of the qualifying athletes — Cassidy, Frischholz, Rountree-Williams — got the nod by winning one of those four NPS races, while Holm qualified based on his standings in the “World Cup Points,” which accrue throughout the races.