Juniors Wrap Up Victorious JNs

Callie Young and Phoebe Sweet hard charging in their semifinal (Photo Chris Young).

Last Updated: 13.Mar.2018

The 2018 Junior Nationals (JNs) took place last weekend and were quite successful for the Craftsbury junior crew. Four CNSC juniors came away with podium finishes and Team New England won the coveted Alaska Cup. JNs took place in sunny Soldier Hollow, Utah where warm temperatures merited t-shirt skiing for much of the event. The series consisted of a 5/10k classic race, 5/10/15k freestyle mass starts, freestyle sprints, and 3X3k classic relays. 

The series kicked off on March 6th with 5/10k classic individual start races. Finn Sweet got a strong start to the week, coming in 2nd in the men’s U16 5k, 15 seconds from the win. In the men’s U18 10k, Griffin Wright was 14th. In the women’s U18 5k, Callie Young was 20th and Phoebe Sweet was 27th. In the women’s U16 5k, Quincy Massey-Bierman was 7th and Adrienne Remick was 26th. 

Racing continued the next day with a full day of freestyle sprinting. In the men’s U18 race, Griffin Wright was 58th. In the men’s U16 race, Finn Sweet ended the day in 16th, after qualifying in 24th. With great excitement, all of the women qualified for the heats! In the women’s U16 race, Quincy earned a spot in the A final, finishing 6th, after qualifying in 10th. Adrienne qualified in 29th and remained in that position after the quarterfinals. In the women's U18 event, Callie and Phoebe both raced to top-ten finishes, with Callie in 5th and Phoebe in 9th. 

After one day to rest, the racers hit the trails again on the 9th for freestyle mass starts. In the 10k U18 men’s race, Griffin Wright was 27th. In the men’s U16 5k, Finn Sweet was 16th. In the women’s U18 10k, Phoebe was 20th and Callie was 33rd. In the women’s U16 5k, Quincy continued her top-ten streak in 10th and Adrienne was 39th. 

The racing concluded with 3X3k classic relay races. Griffin teamed up with Oliver Snow and Samuel Hodges for 6th place in the men’s U18 race. Finn teamed up with Aidan Burt and Will Koch to take the win in the men’s U16 race. Quincy completed the trio of Nina Seemann and Shea Brams for 4th in the women’s U16 race, while Adrienne teamed up with Agnes Macy and Magdalena Lelito for 8th. Phoebe and Callie joined former CNSC athlete Rena Schwartz to top the women’s U20 podium.

Due to the strong performances of all the athletes from Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, Team New England took home the Alaska Cup for the 5th year in a row! The Alaska Cup is given annually to the team who accumulates the most points from top 20 finishes throughout the week. This award is won because of speedy skiing, made possible in part due to the tireless work of coaches and wax techs. This included our very own Audrey Mangan, Anna Schulz, and Jake Barton who travelled with the New England team this year. Other JN accolades include All-American awards, which are given to racers who finish in the top ten in a race. Finn, Phoebe, Callie, and Quincy all came away from the week with All-American titles. 

Full results can be found here. Be sure to check out photo albums from the classic races and freestyle sprint. Racing continues next week with Eastern High Schools and after that with races at home in Craftsbury, such as SuperTour Finals and the Spring Fling.