The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It was a long week, but a good week”
By Than Acuff
Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) coach Ben Theyerl took CBNT athletes Sawyer Ezzell, Finn Veit and Jake Pendy to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships, aka Senior Nationals, at Soldier Hollow, Utah, January 1-7 to jump into the deep end of the bigger Nordic racing pool.
“It’s the largest field overall between junior and senior races,” says Theyerl.
And he took them for several reasons. On one hand, Veit and Ezzell had a chance to qualify for a U.S. Nordic team headed to Scandinavia to compete. In addition, it provides great insight for the CBNT athletes as they look ahead to a career in Nordic racing be it collegiate or professional. Not only does the event bring in the top junior racers from throughout the U.S., it’s also full of current top collegiate racers.
“It’s the biggest and most competitive field in the country,” says Theyerl.
Then there’s the experience of it all.
“Our main intention was to just go and be a part of it,” says Theyerl. “It’s one of the few places you can get a week-long racing experience outside of Junior Nationals.”
The three skiers kicked off the race week on Tuesday, January 2 with a 10-kilometer classic interval start race on a course of completely manmade snow, somewhat unfamiliar snow for the Crested Butte contingent. Not only that but the course had different elements to it. Theyerl explains that his athletes typically see more sustained climbs during the season and the Soldier Hollow course provided shorter “punchy” climbs.
“I was looking to see where their technique suffers when pushed,” says Theyerl.
Ezzell set the tone for the local contingent as she finished the day 30th in the nation among the 120-plus field u18 and u20 aged skiers. Veit and Pendy had a bit more of a tough road as they were racing at Senior Nationals in their first year as u18 athletes.
Nevertheless, Veit punched his way to a 22nd place among his u18 peers while Pendy finished 50th in his first foray onto the biggest stage in Nordic racing in the U.S.
“I was really happy with how they all pushed,” says Theyerl.
After a day off, the three skiers returned to racing to compete in the skate sprint event. It’s a day of redlining for the skiers that kicks off with a seeding heat where it’s just racing against the clock.
The sprint format has never been a strong discipline among Crested Butte skiers and Theyerl is working diligently to change that mindset. His work, and the commitment of the athletes to overcome their lack of confidence toward sprinting, saw some success at Soldier Hollow, especially for Ezzell.
Ezzell made it through the qualifier stage to reach the quarterfinals and line up against all collegiate racers. While she did not make it through that round, Ezzell finished the day 28th among all the skiers there from juniors in high school to sophomores in college.
“She sprinted the best I’ve ever seen her ski,” says Theyerl. “I was really happy with how she came back in the discipline she’s the least confident in.”
Veit and Pendy did not make it through to the heats but finished the day where Theyerl hoped, squarely within the pack of the age class peers.
The week for the CBNT skiers concluded on Friday, January 5 with the 10-kilometer mass freestyle start. Theyerl explains it’s one part survival and one part strategy when as many as 128 skiers are all taking off at the same time.
“I just told them get in a good position and stay out of trouble in the first lap,” says Theyerl.
Ezzell did just that to get herself in the first chase group after the first lap and bided her time until the final climb on the final lap where she put in one last push to climb her way to an 18th place finish out of all the juniors racing.
“She crushed it,” says Theyerl.
With a storm that rolled in, it was evident that as the day wore on, things were going to get tougher when Veit and Pendy lined up for their race.
“It would be a slog for the boys,” says Theyerl.
Veit followed the same plan as Ezzell getting himself into the first chase group and making his move on the final lap to push into 20th place overall among the juniors, eighth out of the u18 age skiers.
“It was phenomenal,” says Theyerl.
The previous two races and new snow eventually took its toll on Pendy as he had to dig deep just to get across the finish line.
“It was a gritty finish for him,” says Theyerl.
In the end, the experience played out as hoped, for the most part, with plenty more to work on.
“It was a long week, but a good week,” says Theyerl.
The entire CBNT team now gets back to training as they, and their Devo team counterparts, prepare for a Super Qualifier back at Soldier Hollow in two weeks.
“We’re taking 20 skiers to Utah between all our age groups,” says Theyerl. “It should be really fun.”
