After a successful trip to West Yellowstone that saw Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Nordic squad posting solid results, the team traveled to Steamboat this past weekend for an NRL (National Ranking List) competition to earn points to position themselves for future races.

Over the weekend, SSCV’s team proved to be on track for some fast skiing this season.

In Saturday’s 5K freestyle Deline and Shanley took second and fourth, respectively, for the J1 boys (16-17 years old), sixth and eighth overall.  Mike Vigers placed second for the OJ men (18-19).  Sunday’s 10k classic race saw Shanley take the gold for the J1s with Deline in second and Parker McDonald in eighth.  In the OJ division Vigers took the silver for the second time in as many days.

For the SSCV J1 girls in Saturday’s 5k freestyle, Eva Spaeh, Sally Ryerson, and Katie Scruggs skied to fifth, ninth and tenth, respectively, while Hannah Hardenbergh raced to a gold for the J2 girls and a fifth overall, besting many of the collegiate women there.  In Sunday’s 5k classic races, Hardenbergh skied to another first for the J2 girls and eighth overall, while Ryerson placed eighth for the J1s.

“Things got off to a good start for the SSCV crew in Steamboat,” said head Nordic coach Eric Pepper.  “It’s good to get early season events under your belt.  These early starts are great for building fitness and getting a feel for the pace needed at higher levels of competition.”