Crested Butte Nordic Team closes regular season in Minturn

Three headed to Junior Nationals

All of the weeks of training and racing came to the fore last weekend for the Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) as they put together their strongest effort to date over two days of racing at a Junior National Qualifier (JNQ) event in Minturn, Colo. And while U18 skier Forrest Smith and U16 skier Kai Sherman had secured spots at Junior Nationals, U16 skier Aiden Truettner’s trip to the big show hung in the balance heading into the weekend.
Coach Austin Ross took 10 CBNT skiers to Minturn and the team came back with smiles of satisfaction having posted their top results of the season across the board.
“It was, by far, our best race weekend of the year,” says Ross.
The races in Minturn kicked off Friday, February 21 with a series of individual classic races across all age groups. Smith mixed it up in a junior field complete with collegiate racers and finished his 10-kilometer classic race in 11th overall, fifth among his U18 peers.
Sherman had the top result among the local U16 athletes, and his top distance result of the season, finishing his five-kilometer race in second place while Truettner had a “breakthrough” race to seal his spot at the upcoming Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vermont with a fourth-place finish.
“He was holding on to the last qualifying spot coming into the weekend and totally solidified his position for Junior Nationals with that result,” says Ross.
Woody Martineau continued his climb in his first year as a U16 racer posting a ninth-place finish and Benjamin Swift rounded out the CBNT effort coming in 15th place.
Ian Eldridge led the U14 CBNT skiers in the three-kilometer race. Eldridge finished in eighth with Robbie Oberling placing 19th, James Bivens finished 21st in his first JNQ experience and Vincent Michel was close on his heels in 22nd.
Seve Petersen was the lone U12 CBNT racer and held his own to step onto the podium in third place.
“For everybody it was a really good day,” says Ross.
The team stepped it up a notch in the freestyle races on Saturday, February 22. Smith posted his second best result of the season in his five-kilometer race, finishing in fourth place in the U18 age class.
The U16 contingent skied lights out in their race. While Sherman opted out of the race with an illness rearing its ugly head, Martineau, Truettner and Swift all charged their way into the top 10.
The freestyle race was a mass start format and when the group of skiers charged off the start, Martineau was right in the mix.
“To see Woody hanging on right there was really exciting,” says Ross. “He skied a really good race.”
Martineau remained in the hunt the rest of the race, staving off any chance as crumbling among the lead pack to finish in fourth place. Meanwhile, Truettner made his way throughout the race up into a fifth-place finish while Swift crossed in seventh place.
“It was another breakthrough day for all of those guys,” says Ross.
Eldridge had the top CBNT result among the U14s, again finishing in sixth, while Oberling placed 14th, Michel in 23rd and Bivens in 24th. Meanwhile, Petersen made his second trip to the podium in as many days, finishing in third place.
“It was really cool to see everyone make jumps up in their results,” says Ross. “The training has been really good and I could tell it was rewarding for them to find success. It was a great way to finish off the season.”
Ross, Smith, Sherman and Truettner still have more to go with Junior Nationals next week. While Ross refuses to heap any expectations as far as results on his athletes, he does see some opportunity for success at the Junior National level.
“It’s hard to talk expectations and goals for an event like this,” says Ross. “They are skiing better than they have all season and that bodes well heading into next week. One of the big goals is just qualifying. Good results are icing on the cake.”