This past weekend BSF Nordic wrapped up their Junior National Qualifier season down in West Yellowstone. While most of the season has consisted of spring-like racing conditions, West finally gave us a much needed taste of winter. Despite the fact that these races were originally meant to be at home, Bozeman’s presence was strong, with 80 total BSF skiers competing, 10 coaches waxing their skis, and countless more BSF parents and athletes supporting on the volunteer crew. The team picked up right where they left off in Jackson, with lots of dominant performances over the course of the weekend.
Saturday’s race (2/21) was a skate sprint. With constant snowfall throughout the day, athletes duked it out in 6-person heats, with those making finals racing the course 4 times in total. BSF athletes skied onto the podium in every race and had many noteworthy performances:
- Tula Higman, 1st U18/20 girl
- Necia Nicholas, 2nd U18/20 girl
- Isabella Waters, 4th U18/20 girl
- Callahan Waters, 2nd U18/20 boy
- Claire Rucker, 3rd U16 girl
- Ben Larson, 1st U16 boy
- Finn Wirth, 5th U16 boy
- Frances Makoutz, 3rd U14 girl
- Gabe Larson, 1st U14 boy
- Sylvain Buchbauer, 3rd U14 boy
The sprints wrapped up in the late afternoon and it was time to prepare for the last race of the JNQ season. The final race of the season is always exciting; with it being athletes’ last shot to punch their ticket to Junior Nationals, the racing is fast and brave. Sunday’s classic mass starts were no exception to this, BSF athletes stormed through the challenging 2.5k course, completing anywhere from one lap for the younger athletes to four for the older. The story of the day was the BSF U18/20 girls; Tula Higman, Necia Nicholas, Isabella Waters, Charlotte Wilson, and Ayden Brutger gapped the field in what I can only call Norwegian fashion, finishing 1st through 5th respectively. The rest of the team backed this up, with wins in every U16+ race, and podiums in many other races:
- Callahan Waters, 1st U18/20 boys’ 10k
- Kristian Hudacek, 3rd U18/20 boys’ 10k
- James Sowers, 5th U18/20 boys’ 10k
- Claire Rucker, 1st U16 girls’ 7.5k
- Hazel Gault, 3rd U16 girls’ 7.5k
- Finn Wirth, 1st U16 boys’ 7.5k
- Ross Bowman, 5th U16 boys’ 7.5k
- Gabe Larson, 2nd U14 boys’ 2.5k
- Per Anderson, 4th U14 boys’ 2.5k
- Sam Rucker, 4th U14 girls’ 2.5k
- Simeon Larson, 1st U12/10/8 boys’ 2k
The weekend wrapped up with the much anticipated IMD Junior National Team naming where a total of 18 BSF athletes qualified to represent the region. Congratulations to the following athletes who qualified to attend Cross Country Junior National Championships in Cable, Wisconsin next month:
Callahan Waters
Sam Madsen
Kristian Hudacek
James Sowers
Zach Shockey
Fritz Sanders
Isaac Novosad
Tula Higman
Charlotte Wilson
Necia Nicholas
Isabella Waters
Ayden Brutger
Finn Wirth
Ross Bowman
Ben Larson
Claire Rucker
Hazel Gault
Phoebe Maixner
This weekend of racing was originally slated for Bozeman, and while it was moved to West Yellowstone due to snow conditions, our incredible BSF volunteers and organizers shifted their work and plans over to West and still made it all happen. Thank you, all! So many little details, from organizing bibs to setting courses, came together to make it a successful race weekend. We love you!
