Nordic Success in Vail

This past weekend the Durango Nordic Ski Club, and youth cross country ski club, travelled to Minturn, CO to compete in the first Junior National Qualifier of the winter season.  “Our Team showed our true colors this weekend, racing with the heart they show every day at practice” said head coach Josh Dalley.

On Saturday Ski and Snowboard Club Vail hosted a kilometer classic technique race.  The Men’s race was won by DNSC alumni Tad Elliott followed by another alumni Lars Ellefson in 6^th place.  Leading the way  for DNSC in the Junior Men’s race (ages 16-19) was Gino Pastore in 4^th place, followed by Sepp Kuss in 10^th, Haakon Samuelson in 13^th, Gunter Ott in 15^th, and Ben Capelin in 22^nd.  The Junior Women’s race was lead by DNSC skier Alicia Pastore in 2^nd place, followed by Elena Breed (DNSC Alumni) in 6^th, Rachel Hampton in 10^th, and Hannah Madden in 15^th.  In the J2 Men age group (14-15), the race was won by DNSC member Cully Brown.  Following Brown were Haakon Sigurslid in 3^rd, Levi Kurlander in 19^th, John Rhoades in 23^rd, Gordon Gianniny in 24^th, and Abe Ott in 26^th.  In the girls J2 age group, Durango was lead by Amy Katz in 5^th place, Lily Oswald in 8^th, Kaylee Blevins in 9^th, Hannah Peterson in 14^th, and Emma Greenberg in 20^th.  DNSC had two J3 boys, Charlie Greenberg skied to a 2^nd place finish and Jared Webster placed 17^th.  Stan Ott placed 8^th in the J4 Male age class.

The excitement continued on Sunday, as the racers went head to head around a 1km loop in an elimination sprint race.  The top 3 skiers in each heat moved on to the next round, until the finals.  In the J4 Boys, Stan Ott placed 9^th.  Charlie Greenberg sprinted to the line to claim 2^nd place in the J3 Boys, followed by Jared Webster in 14^th.  Amy Katz skied to 6^th place finish in the final of J2 girls, followed by Kaylee Blevins in 7^th, Hannah Peterson in 10^th, Lily Oswald in 13^th, and Emma Greenberg in 19^th.  In the J2 boys, DNSC skiers Cully Brown and Haakon Sigurslid sprinted to the line in the final, respectively placing 1^st and 2^nd.  They were followed by Levi Kurlander in 22^nd, John Rhoades in 24^th, Abe Ott in 27^th, and Gordon Gianniny in 30^th.  In the women’s race, ages 16 and up, Alicia Pastore lead DNSC in 5^th place, followed by Rachel Hampton in 6^th, Hannah Madden in 12^th, and DNSC Alumni Elena Breed in 13^th.  In the Men’s race, ages 16 and older, DNSC Alumni Tad Elliott lead the way in 4^th, followed closely by Haakon Sameulson in 6^th.  Lars Ellefson, a DNSC Alumni placed 8^th, Gino Pastore was 13^th, Sepp Kuss was 15^th, Ben Capelin placed 26^th, and Gunter Ott placed 27^th.

Full results can be found on www.fourcornerstiming.com or www.durangonordic.org.

Durango Nordic Skiers Shine

After subzero temperatures and whipping snow blizzards, the Durango Nordic Ski Team returned home from training and racing in West Yellowstone during Thanksgiving vacation.  They appreciated more snow with warmer temperatures for the first week of on snow training at the Durango Nordic Center.  Just five days later, the team repacked and traveled to Frisco, for the season’s first NRL (National Ranking List) race.   

The Gold Run Nordic Center welcomed a large field of club, collegiate and citizen Nordic racers to marginal snow and 40 degrees. Five and ten kilometer skate technique events began Saturday morning with J2 and older women (ages 14 to 30 ).  J1 skiers AliciaRose Pastore placed 4^th and Hannah Madden followed in 11^th place.  Amy Katz placed 3^rd in the J2 women’s class, with Hannah Peterson 9^th, Kaylee Blevins 10^th, Lily Oswald 13^th and Emma Greenberg finishing in 17^th place.

J1 and older men skied the same course but twice for a 10 kilometer race.  J1 skiers Gino Pastore crossed the finish line in 2^nd place, and Sepp Kuss in 6^th place.  Haakon Samuleson placed 4^th in the men’s OJ field.  Durango Nordic Ski Club alumni Tad Elliott and Lars Ellefson finished 2^nd and 21^st, respectively, among senior men.  Cully Brown lead DNSC in 2^nd place followed by teammate Haakon Sigurslid in 4th.  J3 skier Charlie Greenberg earned gold for the team winning his 3k skate race.

Sunday’s 10K classic technique events started with J1 men.  Gino Pastore placed 3^rd and Sepp Kuss 8^th.   Haakon Samuleson finished 3^rd in the men’s OJ class.  Tad Elliott and Lars Ellefson crossed the finished 11^th and 12^th, respectively.  AliciaRose Pastore placed 6^th in the J1 women’s field and Hannah Madden 14^th.  J2 boys Cully Brown and Haakon Sigurslid swept the 5k course with Brown 1^st and Sigurslid 2^nd.  J2 girls Amy Katz finished 6^th, followed closely by Kaylee Blevins 7^th.  Teammates Hannah Peterson placed 12, Lily Oswald 13th and Emma Greenberg 17^th.  Charlie Greenberg skied the 3K course placing 3^rd in the J3 boy’s class.

The team’s next race will be this Saturday, December 11^th at 9:00am at the Durango Nordic Center.  The classic technique races will offer 1k, 3k, 5k and 10k distances for all interested skiers.  Race entries can be paid at the Nordic Center between 8am and 9am on Saturday.  They hope to see lots of locals come race and join the fun.