The Bridger Ski Foundation wrapped up a successful week at U.S. Cross Country Skiing Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Utah. One BSF Pro Team member landed on the podium in a deeply competitive field, and another athlete paved her way to a trip to Europe and the World Cup next week. On the junior side, Bozeman’s high school skiers punched a couple of tickets to represent the U.S. in Sweden.
The Pro Team continued to show they are a force on sprint day with Erin Bianco and Graham Houtsma finishing in the top 10 and Logan Diekmann taking home yet another national podium, finishing 2nd in the skate sprint.
Graham Houtsma continued his career-best season with a 7th place finish in the skate sprint and an impressive 11th place in the 10km classic. Graham is currently sitting in 7th position in the SuperTour overall standings. (The SuperTour is the top domestic competition series in the U.S.)
Both Diekmann and Bianco were among the top fastest sprint qualifiers and are close to securing their spots in the Canmore and Minneapolis North American World Cups in February. But for Bianco, World Cup competition will start earlier than that. Coach Andy Newell reported, “The highlight from the week is that Erin Bianco was named to the World Cup team for the third period, so she will travel to Europe next week to compete in Oberhof, Germany, and Goms, Switzerland.”
While last week’s competition is informally known as “Senior Nationals,” plenty of junior (high school and PG ) skiers were in attendance, including 21 athletes from the BSF Nordic Comp & PG teams. “While these races are primarily about gaining experience racing in deep and competitive fields, there are also opportunities to qualify for International race trips with the US Ski Team,” explains Andrew Morehouse, BSF’s Nordic Program Director.
With impressive performances on their last day of competition, both Natalie Nicholas and Cole Bothner qualified to represent the U.S. on the U18 Scandinavian Cup trip in Falun, Sweden, this January. Nicholas finished 5th overall in the junior women’s 10K Freestyle, with Bothner 9th in the junior men’s race, followed closely by Landon Wyatt in 12th.
Landon Wyatt finished the week as the 8th-ranked U18. Landon will represent the U.S. at the Youth Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, at the end of January. Callahan Waters demonstrated impressive sprinting skills, finishing as the 10th junior.
“Overall, the whole team skied well and gained valuable experience to take with them into the heart of our Junior National Qualification races this winter,” says Morehouse. BSF's Comp team will head to Jackson, Wyoming, this weekend, for one of those qualification races, leading up to the Junior National Championships in Lake Placid, New York, in March.
Full results for U.S. Nationals are available at: https://my.raceresult.com/groups/5747/
