Press Release – Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Nordic Team has a clincher weekend – February 24, 2016

Gracie Shanley (left) and Bridget Donovan (right) of Ski & Snowboard Club Vail took 1st and 2nd in the girls 14 and 15 year-old classic sprint on Friday, January 29 at the Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier in Utah amidst a very competitive field of Nordic athletes from throughout the western United States.

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail hosted the final Nordic Junior National Qualifier events this past weekend at Maloit Park.  Pictured above, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s athlete Cora Wilson muscles up a steep grade at the Maloit Park venue.  Despite warm temperatures and sticky snow, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes persevered against hundred of competitors, had multiple podium finishes, twelve athletes qualify for USSA Cross Country Skiing Junior National Championships and captured the Colorado Cup for the second year in a row by the end of this two day event.

A Rocky Mountain Nordic Division Junior National Qualifier was hosted by Ski &

Snowboard Club Vail on Saturday, February 20 and Sunday, February 21 at Maloit

Park in Minturn. It proved to be a very productive weekend for Ski & Snowboard

Club Vail athletes. Over forty of the 300+ competitor field were Ski & Snowboard

Club Vail athletes who raced with exceptional strength and confidence on home turf

in a classic race on Saturday and a mass start skate race on Sunday. This past

weekend’s event served as the fourth and final qualifier for the 2016 USSA Cross

Country Skiing Junior National Championships to be held in Cable, Wisconsin from

March 6 to March 13 for competitors ages 14-19.

Twelve Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes qualify for Junior National

Championships

The following Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes clinched spots at Junior National

Championships coming out of the qualifiers in Maloit Park this past weekend.

Girls

Annie Blakslee

Emma Blakslee

Bridget Donovan

Maddie Donovan

Lizzy Harding

Megan Rossman

Gracie Shanley

Lyle Shipp

Boys

Marcus Gore

Collin Wilson

Cameron Wolfe

Nolan Herzog

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail also clinched the Colorado Cup at the culmination of this

past weekend’s qualifiers for the second year in a row – a team award given to the

top Colorado Nordic Club based off of overall points earned by team members ages

seven through twenty throughout the Rocky Mountain Junior National Qualifier

Series.

This past weekend’s excitement comes on the heels of a great showing by Ski &

Snowboard Club Vail athletes at the Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier that took place at

the end of January. Hosting over 710 competitors, the Soldier Hollow Super

Qualifier for athletes ages 8 to 20 is the second largest junior race in the country.

It is widely considered to host the most competitive field of junior Nordic athletes

in the United States outside of the US Cross Country Championships and the

Junior National Championships.

Maddie Donovan won the Super Qualifier 18 to 20 year-old girls 10K mass start

race with an impressive and gutsy performance. Despite suffering appendicitis

over Thanksgiving and missing several weeks of practice, Maddie achieved an

outstanding result. Maddie shared, “After the whole appendicitis episode at

Thanksgiving I was relieved and excited to see that I hadn’t lost my summer

training and I was back on track to have a great season. There is always a high

level of competition at Soldier Hollow and I was very happy to have a good day.”

Gracie Shanley and Bridget Donovan were dominant throughout the classic

sprint day at the Super Qualifier finishing 1st (Shanley) and 2nd (B. Donovan) in

the final for the 14 and 15 year-old girls.

Other Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athletes with notable performances at Soldier

Hollow included Molly Blakslee, Elsa Perkins and Cora Wilson for the girls and

Nolan Herzog, Conner Wilson and Connor Larson for the boys.

For a complete list of Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier results, go to

http://summittiming.com/races/race_results.php

After the weekend at Maloit Park, Weiland commented: “We’ve had a terrific season

so far, seeing so many of our athletes dominate competitions and achieve podium

finishes throughout the West. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the

qualifying season than at this past weekend’s events. Qualifying twelve athletes for

Junior National Championships and winning the Colorado Cup for the second season

in a row reaffirms the depth and strength of our team and the importance of

teamwork.”

Top three results and all Ski & Snowboard Club Vail results for this past weekend’s

Junior National Qualifier event are listed below. For a complete list of results go to

http://www.fourcornerstiming.com/?page_id=3 .