The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Looking ahead to hosting race December 17-18
Illness and a little bit of injury are running their course through the Crested Butte Nordic team as they head into the Rocky Mountain Division race season.
As a result, the team was down to four racers for the kick-off event in Steamboat Springs December 3-4.
Since the races were not junior national qualifier events, the team pared down its ranks to make the trip.
“We’ve got a bunch of kids sick so they opted not to go,” says coach Duncan Callahan.
That left J1 racers Ian Boucher, Sophia Deer and Sara Sherman and J2 skier Prawit Durgan to carry the Crested Butte torch.
By the time the weekend was over, Durgan was the talk of the weekend as he posted back-to-back third-place finishes in his races.
He started it off posting a time of 13:46 in the five-kilometer skate race on Saturday and closed with a time of 15:25 in the five-kilometer classic race on Sunday, for two trips to the podium.
“Parwit is staking his claim to Junior Nationals,” says Callahan. “That was some pretty solid skiing from him.”
Boucher is one of those athletes hampered by both injury and illness, though he pushed through to line up for the J1 10-kilometer skate race.
While his ninth-place finish was less than desirable for him, Boucher was just 10 seconds out of fourth place, skiing with an injury.
Once Boucher’s healthy, Callahan expects him to be back in the mix on top.
“It was a pretty tight group,” says Callahan. “We’re going to get him back on target.”
Meanwhile, Deer continues to make huge strides, while Sherman is back to full strength and ready to start dropping the hammer.
Deer finished 15th in the five-kilometer skate race with a time of 17:19 and 16th in the five-kilometer classic race, posting a time of 19:46.
“Sophia is skiing exceptionally well,” says Callahan.
Sherman came in right behind Deer in both races, placing 16th and 17th, respectively.
“Sara was on her back for two and half weeks with illness but she’s healthy again,” says Callahan. “Now she can start training at full strength.”
The team has this weekend off from racing and then will host the first Junior National qualifier race of the year, December 17-18, here in Crested Butte.
While Mother Nature has yet to fully cooperate with snow, Callahan and race organizers are pushing to make it work here in the valley.
“We’re kind of in scramble mode but were committed to put it on somewhere in or around Crested Butte,” says Callahan. “My priority is to host the race here. It’s great for the community.”
