9 DNSC Skiers Named to the Junior National Team after Aspen Nordic Festival

In Sunny and warm conditions, cross country skiers from the Durango Nordic Ski Club raced in the Aspen Nordic Festival, the final Junior National Qualifier of the season.  The races were held on Saturday February 12^th and Sunday February 13^th in Aspen, CO in conjunction with the Owl Creek Chase, a stop along the SuperTour series.  With tough competition from pro skiers, these races were also the last chance for skiers age 14 and older to qualify for Junior Nationals which will be held in Minneapolis, MN from March 6^th through March 12^th.

The classic races on Saturday kicked off with the youngest age groups first.  Placing 6^th skiing for Durango in the J5 race was Cobe Freeburn.  In the Girls J6 race, ages 6 and 7, was won with Durango skier Ruby May.  DNSC had two skiers in the Boys J4 race, Dylan Williamson (3^rd) and Stan Ott (6^th).  For the Girls J4 race, Marit May was 3^rd, Camryn Sippy was 5^th, and Katja Freeburn was 9^th.  Avra Saslow placed 9^th in the Girls J3 race.  Moving on to the older skier who are trying to qualify for Junior Nationals, the Boys J2 (ages 14-15) was won by DNSC athlete Haakon Sigurslid.  He was followed by teammates Cully Brown (3^rd) and Abe Ott (23^rd).  The DNSC girls were lead by Amy Katz in 2^nd and followed by Lily Oswald (5^th), Hannah Peterson (7^th), Kaylee Blevins (12^th), and Emma Greenberg (18^th).  Gino Pastore lead the J1 boys in their 10km race placing 3^rd.  He was followed by teammates Sepp Kuss (6^th), Gunter Ott (16^th) and Ben Capelin (18^th).  Racing against college skiers, Haakon Samuelson placed 7^th in the OJ field.  The Durango J1 girls were lead by Alicia Pastore in 3^rd place, followed by Rachel Hampton (8^th), and Hannah Madden (12^th).

Sunday’s races were mass start, meaning everyone in each age group starts at the same time, and freestyle technique.  Again, the morning start with the youngest skiers first.  In the J5 boys group, Cobe Freeburn moved up to 5^th place. In the J4 boys, Dylan Williamson placed 6^th, followed by Stan Ott in 7^th.  For the girls, Katja Freeburn moved up to 3^rd and was followed by teammates Marit May (4^th) and Camryn Sippy (12^th).  In the J3 girls race, Avra Saslow moved up to 8^th over the 3km course.  In the deciding race of who will travel to Minneapolis for Junior Nationals, the DNSC J2 girls was again lead by Amy Katz.  She was followed by teammates Hannah Peterson (6^th), Lily Oswald (8^th), and Kaylee Blevins (10^th).  Cully Brown lead the boys race for DNSC, placing 4^th.  He was followed by Haakon Sigurslid (11^th) and Abe Ott (22^nd).  In the OJ/J1 girls race, there was a lead pack of 5 most of the race.  Alica Pastore lead Durango with a 5^th place finish, followed by Rachel Hampton (6^th) and Hannah Madden (9^th).  The OJ/J1 boys skied 3 laps around the 5km course for a 15km race.  Stick with the lead pack until just about the end was DNSC skier Sepp Kuss (5^th).  He was followed by Gino Pastore (9^th), Haakon Samuelson (13^th), and Gunter Ott (16^th).

Sunday was also the running of the Owl Creek Chase, a 21km race course from Snow Mass to Aspen.  Ben Capelin of DNSC placed 2^nd in the 19 and under age group.  Racing in the Men’s Elite field was DSNC Alum Lars Ellefson (34^th).

9 DNSC Skiers Named to the Junior National Team after Aspen Nordic Festival

In Sunny and warm conditions, cross country skiers from the Durango Nordic Ski Club raced in the Aspen Nordic Festival, the final Junior National Qualifier of the season.  The races were held on Saturday February 12^th and Sunday February 13^th in Aspen, CO in conjunction with the Owl Creek Chase, a stop along the SuperTour series.  With tough competition from pro skiers, these races were also the last chance for skiers age 14 and older to qualify for Junior Nationals which will be held in Minneapolis, MN from March 6^th through March 12^th.

The classic races on Saturday kicked off with the youngest age groups first.  Placing 6^th skiing for Durango in the J5 race was Cobe Freeburn.  In the Girls J6 race, ages 6 and 7, was won with Durango skier Ruby May.  DNSC had two skiers in the Boys J4 race, Dylan Williamson (3^rd) and Stan Ott (6^th).  For the Girls J4 race, Marit May was 3^rd, Camryn Sippy was 5^th, and Katja Freeburn was 9^th.  Avra Saslow placed 9^th in the Girls J3 race.  Moving on to the older skier who are trying to qualify for Junior Nationals, the Boys J2 (ages 14-15) was won by DNSC athlete Haakon Sigurslid.  He was followed by teammates Cully Brown (3^rd) and Abe Ott (23^rd).  The DNSC girls were lead by Amy Katz in 2^nd and followed by Lily Oswald (5^th), Hannah Peterson (7^th), Kaylee Blevins (12^th), and Emma Greenberg (18^th).  Gino Pastore lead the J1 boys in their 10km race placing 3^rd.  He was followed by teammates Sepp Kuss (6^th), Gunter Ott (16^th) and Ben Capelin (18^th).  Racing against college skiers, Haakon Samuelson placed 7^th in the OJ field.  The Durango J1 girls were lead by Alicia Pastore in 3^rd place, followed by Rachel Hampton (8^th), and Hannah Madden (12^th).

Sunday’s races were mass start, meaning everyone in each age group starts at the same time, and freestyle technique.  Again, the morning start with the youngest skiers first.  In the J5 boys group, Cobe Freeburn moved up to 5^th place. In the J4 boys, Dylan Williamson placed 6^th, followed by Stan Ott in 7^th.  For the girls, Katja Freeburn moved up to 3^rd and was followed by teammates Marit May (4^th) and Camryn Sippy (12^th).  In the J3 girls race, Avra Saslow moved up to 8^th over the 3km course.  In the deciding race of who will travel to Minneapolis for Junior Nationals, the DNSC J2 girls was again lead by Amy Katz.  She was followed by teammates Hannah Peterson (6^th), Lily Oswald (8^th), and Kaylee Blevins (10^th).  Cully Brown lead the boys race for DNSC, placing 4^th.  He was followed by Haakon Sigurslid (11^th) and Abe Ott (22^nd).  In the OJ/J1 girls race, there was a lead pack of 5 most of the race.  Alica Pastore lead Durango with a 5^th place finish, followed by Rachel Hampton (6^th) and Hannah Madden (9^th).  The OJ/J1 boys skied 3 laps around the 5km course for a 15km race.  Stick with the lead pack until just about the end was DNSC skier Sepp Kuss (5^th).  He was followed by Gino Pastore (9^th), Haakon Samuelson (13^th), and Gunter Ott (16^th).

Sunday was also the running of the Owl Creek Chase, a 21km race course from Snow Mass to Aspen.  Ben Capelin of DNSC placed 2^nd in the 19 and under age group.  Racing in the Men’s Elite field was DSNC Alum Lars Ellefson (34^th).

Nordic Visits Olympic Venue

The Durango Nordic Ski Club has just returned from a weekend of racing in the Western Super Qualifier hosted at Soldier Hollow, which was home to the Nordic Races in the 2002 Olympic Games.  At this year’s event, there were 647 racers, coming from ski clubs located in the regions west of the Mississippi River.  “This is the best venue a junior skier could ask to race at” said Head Coach Josh Dalley.  “As they race around the course, they can imagine being Olympians and skiing the same course back in 2002.”

The first day of racing was Freestyle Sprints, with a qualifier in the morning and head to head heats in the afternoon.  18 year older Haakon Samuelson had an outstanding performance in a competitive field, winning all his heats and placing 5^th in the final.  Placing 13^th overall and racing the B final was Gino Pastore.  Also in the OJ/J1 age group, but missing the rounds were Sepp Kuss (50), Ben Capelin (67), and Gunter Ott (94).  In the J2 boys field, Cully Brown advance into the heats, placing 16^th overall.  Following him were Abe Ott (78) and Gordon Gianniny (82).  In the OJ/J1 girls race, Alicia Pastore advanced to the B final, placing an overall 8^th along with Rachel Hampton who placed 12^th.  Also making the rounds from Durango was Hannah Madden (23).  In the J2 girsl division, 4 out of 5 Durango girls advanced to the rounds, lead by Amy Katz in 14^th.  Other results were Kaylee Blevins (21), Hannah Peterson (27), Lily Oswald (28), and Emma Greenberg (65).  Durango also had a large contingency of young kids, under the age of 14.  In the 13 to 14 year old group (J3), Avra Saslow lead the girls in 16^th.  She was followed by Maggie Wigton (44) and Amelia Wigton (50).  Charlie Greenberg lead the boys with an outstanding 2^nd place finish, followed by Jared Webster in 34^th.  Katja Freeburn lead the DNSC girls in the 11-12 age group (J4) with a 4^th place finish.  In the 11-12 boys, Dylan Williamson was 7^th, followed by Stan Ott in 16^th, and Leo Bruell in 27^th.  Skiing for Durango in the 8 to 9 age group (J5) was Jordan Taylor (9) and Taylor Bruell (11).  Cobe Freeburn was 3^rd in the 8 to 9 year old boys, and Wiley Corra was 1^st in the 6 to 7 year old group (J6).

The second day of racing consisted of mass start classic races.  This is when everyone in each age group starts at the same time, skis their course in the traditional cross country technique, and the first one to cross the line is the winner.  These races were in the reverse order of the Sprints, so the younger kids raced first.  Wiley Corra was in the first race of the day and brought home a win to Durango, skiing away from the rest of his J6 field to win by 18 seconds.  In the J5 girls race, Jordan Taylor was again 9^th, followed by Taylor Bruell in 11^th.  In the J5 Boys, Cobe Freeburn moved up to 1^st place, outsprinting 2^nd in the finish straight.  In the J4 girls, Katja Freeburn placed 4^th.  In J4 boys, Dylan Williamson placed 7^th, followed by Stan Ott (15) and Leo Bruell (27).  The J3 girls race was competitive with 58 girls racing.  Placing in that group were DNSC skiers Avra Saslow (14), Maggie Wigton (43), and Amelia Wigton (54).  Charlie Greenberg was again 2^nd in the J3 boys, followed by Jared Webster in 38^th.  Then the racing moved to the grueling Olympic 5k course.  J2 skiers completed 1 lap while the OJ/J1 Girls did 2 laps and the OJ/J1 boys did 3 laps to complete a 15k.  In the J2 girls, Kaylee Blevins had a spectacular races, leading the way for DNSC in 13^th.  She was followed by Amy Katz (15), Lily Oswlad (19), Hannah Peterson (32), and Emma Greenberg (62).  The J2 Boys were lead by Cully Brown in 5^th, followed by Gordon Gianniny in 66^th, and Abe Ott in 89^th.  The 10k OJ/J1 girls race was a tough one with two laps up the legendary Olympic Hills.  Alicia Pastore from Durango skied a tactically smart race, placing 4^th overall.  She was followed by Rachel Hampton in 12^th, and Hannah Madden in 23^rd.  Haakon Samuelson lead the 3 lap race for the Durango Boys, placing 20^th overall.  He was followed by Gino Pastore (26), Sepp Kuss (38), Gunther Ott (70), and Ben Capelin (81).

The Team has one more Junior National Qualifier left, which will be held in Aspen, CO on Febuary 12^th and 13^th.