The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Set sights on Junior Nationals
The Crested Butte Junior Nordic Team competed this past weekend at the USSA Super Qualifier Races in Heber City, Utah. These races serve as qualifiers for the USSA Junior Nationals in Truckee, Calif. this March. In addition, this race series offers up fantastic competition from across the Western United States.
Hannah Smith again improved by taking second place in both the classic sprint event and the five-kilometer skate event. Smith performed outstandingly in the sprint competition and won a hotly contested sprint to the finish for that second place.
On day two of the competition, she led the race for most of the way and barely lost in a sprint finish to again take second place. Dawson Stucki performed well with a solid result in the 15-kilometer skate race on day two.
Ian Boucher came into these races undefeated on the season, and looked to keep it that way. The two-kilometer classic event on Friday saw Boucher lunge for the finish to win by two-tenths of a second.
Day two saw Boucher barely lose in a sprint and take second place. This was truly a great performance, as Boucher remains the top skier from the Rocky Mountain Division in his age group.
Pharwit Durgan impressed with a solid 25th place effort in the classic race, and a fantastic 17th place result in his skate race. Durgan has steadily improved throughout the season and is looking to do even better next week in Boulder.
The junior team will travel to Boulder over President’s Day weekend to compete in the final race series of the season prior to Junior Nationals. Stay tuned for those results.
