Three locals headed to Nordic Junior Nationals

Ian Boucher, Forrest Smith & Hannah Smith all qualify

The Crested Butte Nordic Team (CBNT) junior racers closed their regular season with one final Junior National qualifying event last weekend in Aspen.
Competitors have eight qualifying races throughout the season. Out of those eight, their top four results count toward their points total to determine whether or not they have a spot on the Rocky Mountain Nordic (RMN) division team headed to Junior Nationals.
For Ian Boucher, the Aspen races were more of a formality than anything else. Boucher is the top ranked J2 (ages 14-15) Nordic racer in the Rocky Mountain Nordic division so his spot on the Rocky Mountain team headed to junior Nationals was secure.
“It wasn’t up in the air,” says Nordic coach Duncan Callahan. “It was just a matter of if he was going to stay on top.”
Boucher did close the regular season as the top J2 racer in the division with podium finishes in both the five-kilometer classic race on Saturday and the five-kilometer skate race on Sunday.
“He did what he had to do,” says Callahan. “His goal was to stay consistent and ski well and he skied great.”
Boucher battled with the usual suspects in the classic race completing the five-kilometer course in a time of 14 minutes, 57 seconds to take second place.
Boucher followed suit on Sunday posting another second place finish. He did what he could to hang on to the leader and closed the gap down the stretch but fell shy of the win completing the course in a time of 13 minutes, 25 seconds.
“The winner ended up having just superior glide on his skis,” says Callahan.
CBNT veteran all-star and J1 (ages 17-18) racer Hannah Smith’s future was a little more dubious. Having abandoned skate, aka freestyle, races for the season, she had to make the RMN team racing in the classic events alone.
Hannah had three solid results from the season and needed one more in Aspen to make sure she would make another trip to Junior Nationals.
Hannah made sure she was on the team by posting a time of 17 minutes, 37 seconds to take ninth place.
“She skied a solid race and that sealed the deal for her third trip to Junior Nationals,” says Callahan.
The big question heading into the weekend was J2 CBNT athlete Forrest Smith. The Rocky Mountain Nordic team takes nine J2 boys to Junior Nationals. Prior to the races in Aspen, Forrest was ranked 10th. After some number crunching by coach Callahan, a goal was set for Forrest going into the five-kilometer classic race.
“We did some math and realized he needed at least a sixth place result or had to beat the guy ranked ninth by three spots,” explains Callahan.
With that in mind, Forrest dropped the hammer and hit both goals.
Forrest posted a time of 15 minutes, 56 seconds in the five-kilometer classic race to place sixth, three spots ahead of the ninth ranked skier in RMN.
“He skied the race of his season,” says Callahan.
Forrest pushed his way onto the team with the effort but it was far from over for the young skier. He had to hold his spot the next day in the five-kilometer skate race.
Drained from his classic effort, Forrest struggled on Sunday but did just enough to hold onto the ninth place ranking and earn his first trip to Junior Nationals.
“He pulled it together, he just had a really off day physically,” says Callahan. “It was a dramatic couple of days for sure.”
Pharwit Durgan closed his J2 season with the best races of his year. After finishing 10th in the classic race on Saturday, he laid down his best finish all season with an eighth place in the five-kilometer skate and actually flirted with a spot on the RMN team when all the points were totaled.
“He definitely had the best race of his season his last race,” says Callahan.
Meanwhile J3 (ages 12-13) athlete Kai Sherman finished with second place and third place in his three-kilometer events on Saturday and Sunday. While there are no official rankings for that age group, Sherman is already considered one of the top three J3 skiers in Colorado with another season of J3 racing ahead of him next season.
Sophia Deer and Sara Sherman finished their Nordic racing seasons as well in Aspen and will continue to train with their teammates headed to Junior Nationals.
Boucher, Hannah and Forrest will head to Minneapolis, Minnesota with their RMN teammates for Junior National races March 7-12.