Seven of Ski and Snowboard Club Vail’s Nordic team returned from Minnesota last weekend after competing in the USSA Nordic Junior National Championships for the J2, J1, and OJ (older junior) classifications. The weeklong event, held on the Theodore Wirth Trail System in downtown Minneapolis, included a skate sprint, a distance classic race, distance skate, and classic relay.
“The SSCV skiers were competing against the best junior Nordic skiers from 10 divisions across the country,” said SSCV Nordic program director Dan Weiland. “They also represented Rocky Mountain Nordic.”
Cal Deline finished fifth in the skate sprint, sixth in classic, ninth in skate and 12th in the relay. His top-10 finishes in the first three categories qualifies him as an all-American.
Andrew Zdechlik with 37th in skate sprint, 38th in the classic, 42nd in the skate and 10th in the relay. Hannah Hardenbergh was 16th, 19th, 21st and 11th, repsectively.
Katie Scruggs finished 38th, 22nd, 31st and 13th. Sally Ryerson ended up with results of 57th, 54th, 70th and 16th. Christian Shanley sped to finishes of 28th, 33rd, 48th and eighth. Max Burnell took 16th, 25, eighth and 10th. Burnell’s eighth-place finish in skate makes him and all-American as well.
With over 80 clubs represented, SSCV finished up as the 11th-place Nordic club in the United States.
“This was SSCV’s best result ever at Junior Nationals,” said Weiland. “Of the seven SSCV athletes participating, five of them had never competed at the Junior Nationals. This team is young, fast, and talented.”
Follow SSCV