For this trip, ASC joined up with Far West teammates from other clubs/organizations, including Sugar Bowl Academy, Eastern Sierra, Presentation High and the Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Foundation. Far West has 33 athletes represented in all.
The main purpose of this trip is to enable the Far West athletes to experience the highest level of competition they will find this season prior to Junior Nationals in March. By attending, they become exposed to the elite level at which the top skiers from throughout the west are competing, and learn what they need to do in order to "raise the bar,"so to speak. The trip is also great preparation for Junior Nationals, not only because it gives the athletes a chance to figure out what changes they need to make before the big event, and time to do so, but this year another advantage is that the Super JOQ was held at the same venue where Junior Nationals will take place. This enabled the athletes to familiarize themselves with the venue and the skiing there, as well as the area, travel and accommodations.
Among more than 600 racers at the two-day event, ASC athletes truly showed their stuff, proving they've got what it takes to compete with the best.
The first race day, Friday, was a classic day. In the 2.6-kilometer J3 race, ASC's Hannah Halvorsen topped the women's field by more than 12 seconds to earn her first victory on a western regional stage. In the men’s race, ASC’s Brandon Herhusky finished a strong second place.
In the older juniors’ 1.3-kilometer classic sprint race, two ASC juniors -- Dylan Syben (10th MJ2) and Patrick McElravey (16th MJ1/OJ) moved on from the preliminary round to the head-to-head heats, by turning in one of the 30 fastest qualifying times in their respective age groups.
Dylan moved through the quarter- and semi-finals, earning a spot in the “B” final to finish 11th among J2 men, while Patrick just missed moving on from his quarterfinal heat, and finished 13th overall, and 9th among J1 men.
ASC's Julien Bordes just missed qualifying for the quarterfinals, finishing a strong 34th place in the MJ2 prelim. Additional ASC results included: Branden Deeter, 58th MJ1; Alex Kopytko, 67th MJ1; Melanie Swick, 9th FOJ; Evan Vomund, 55th MJ2; Eli Yale, 67th MJ2; Aaron Deeter, 72nd MJ2; Brandon Flora, 78th MJ2; Andrew Clusserath, 89th MJ2; Gabi Rinne, 46th FJ2; and Skyler Flora, 58th FJ2.
Saturday brought the mass start distance freestyle events, and saw several skiers improve their results significantly from Friday.
Hannah turned in another dominating performance to earn her second victory for the weekend in the 3-kilometer FJ3 race, while Brandon again finished second among J3 men.
In the 5-kilometer J2 men’s race, Julien turned in a very strong ninth place finish. Dylan was ASC's next finisher, placing 16th. Also in the J2 boys race, Eli finished 47th, Evan 51st, Aaron 65th, Brandon F. 68th, and Andrew 74th.
In the J2 women's race, Gabi led the way for Far West, finishing 32nd, with Skyler close on her heels in 33rd to turn in a strong showing for ASC.
In the 10-km race, Melanie finished as 7th FOJ. And in the MJ1/OJ 15-km event, Patrick was 10th MJ1, Alex 52nd MJ1, and Branden 57th. Awesome job to all!
He added: "This trip was super motivating, and a learning experience for nearly every single kid, because they’ve learned about top-notch racing and race preparation, and now know what they can still work on before Junior Nationals.”
The Junior National team will be named after the final regional qualifier takes place on Feb. 20th.
To read more about the trip, and see more Far West results, click here.
Patrick McElravey races in the quarterfinals (9th MJ1).
Julien Bordes in the finishing stretch, en route to 9th place MJ2.
Hannah Halvorsen seconds away from her second victory of the weekend.
Brandon Herhusky fights hard on his way to second place.
Brandon and Hannah, along with SBA's Skyler, show off their awards.
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