The Durango Nordic Ski Club finished its Rocky Mountain Nordic junior national qualifier season this weekend in Minturn with some of its best results.
“As a team, that was our best JNQ performance; we definitely had some PRs,” said coach Evan Elliott. “It was a really good way to end our last junior national qualifier of the season.”
Wade Mitchell entered the weekend with a chance to qualify for nationals in the boys U16 division. Saturday in the classic 5K, Mitchell placed ninth in 16 minutes, 41.2 seconds. On Sunday in the 5K skate, Mitchell placed 12th in 14:48.5.
With the two results, Mitchell was tied for the 13th and final national qualifying spot in the RMN. Mitchell, however, lost the tiebreaker, which was the highest single result and will be the national team’s first alternate.
Ilah Mitchell also had a pair of top 10 results in the girls U14 races. Ilah finished 10th in the classic 3K (13:46.2) and seventh in the 3K skate in 8:59.4.
“Ilah had a strong performance,” Elliott said. “That was her best JNQ this season.”
Tilia Clausen also raced U14, placing 21st in 21:40.1 in the classic and 14th in the skate in 10:05.4.
In the boys U14 division, Jack Purcell competed in his first Nordic races, placing 20th in the 3K classic (10:49.4) and 19th in the 3K skate (9:19.5).
Three U16 girls also competed. Dewa Ilg led the group in the 5K classic, crossing 15th in 19:47.6. Lilli Goltz finished 21st in 21:40.1, and Zoe Freeman placed 24th in 22:52.2.
In the 5K skate, Goltz led the Durango girls, crossing 19th in 17:58.7. Ilg finished 20th in 18:14.8 while Freeman did not finish.
“I’m excited for all of the U16 girls. Next year is looking really promising.” Elliott said.
Zach Ottman competed in the U18 division, finishing 16th in the 10K classic (41:09.6) and 17th in the 7.5K skate (26:35.2).
“I think we ended the season on a really good note,” Elliott said. “You could see the excitement to get ready for the summer and get ready for next season.”
While the team’s RMN JNQ season is over, many of the skiers will race some more. On Saturday, the Durango Nordic Center will host the Pine Needle Langlauf, which is the fourth and final race in the Southwest Nordic Race Series.
Then on March 5-6, the Nordic center will co-host the RMN U14 -and-younger championships with Chama’s Southwest Nordic Ski Club.
“That’s an important event,” Elliott said. “The U16-and-older athletes can make it to junior nationals, so we created this event to allow (the U14 skiers) to keep training when we have snow.”
On March 5, the freestyle distance championships will be held. The festival will then conclude March 6 with a randomized team relay, aimed to get the kids to meet other kids from other programs.
