Nordic news
Nordic racer Jack Peckenpaugh (Photo: Hayden Mannetter)
By Alana Levin and Karen Small
Mammoth hosts 240 Nordic athletes from the CNISSF league
The Mammoth Classic, a 6k race for high school athletes and 3k race for middle school athletes, filled the Tamarack Nordic ski trails last Friday, Feb. 3.
All skiers competed in a classic race and due to snow conditions, the klister was flying, sticking and working all day long.
Mammoth High School’s team, coached by Alana Levin, continued its top-10 finishing streak. Leading the girls’ pack, Amanda Kirkeby won the open division (and ranked 6th fastest finishing time in the Varsity division). Kirkeby led with more than a minute over the next open competitor. Jody Meads, skiing for only her second year in Nordic skiing, finished 3rd over the field of 34 girls, while Kylie LaFramboise came in close at 6th place chased by Katherine Janisse in 7th place.
Freshman Carson Bold led the Mammoth open boys in 4th place over the field of 26 athletes. He was followed in succession by Jack Roten, Philip Oxford and Nick Damico, who finished 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.
In their 3km race, the Mammoth Middle School boys were lead by both Cameron Small (6th) and Trace Calvin (10th) in the huge field of 80 racers. Connor Kusumoto followed with his best finish in 14th place and two, first year racers, Harrison Manzano (19th) and Calvin Forsythe (24th) contributed to Mammoth’s presence. Martin Thompson skied strongly into 29th place, followed closely by Jacob Mahler (31st). Eddie Mattiessen (33rd), Rand Bourne (35th), Quinn Contaldi (38th) and Malachi Schrager (39th) all skied with determination and finished in the top half of the field. First year racers Finnely Bourne (51st), Niven Tanzer (54th), Tanner Bissonette (70th), Jack Peckenpaugh (77th) and Tristan Perpall all contributed to the boy’s team effort on the home course.
The Mammoth Middle School girl’s team skied a strong 3km race, with all their athletes finishing in the top third of the large field of 71 racers. Fleur Connolly lead the way for Mammoth in 14th place, followed closely by Lindsey Pietsch-Roberts in 18th and first year racer Meaghan Thompson in 21st place. Coach Robin Morning and Marie French could not have been more proud of all their Nordic athletes who took part in the Mammoth Classic.
Allan Bard Classic
Junior Far West team athletes stayed in Mammoth over the weekend to prepare for Sunday’s Allan Bard Classic, one of four Junior National Qualifying races (only three this season due to snow conditions) for the Far West region.
Each athlete must qualify in both a classic and skate race to be selected to compete in Junior Nationals. On Sunday, Feb. 5, five Mammoth athletes took the challenge.
Amanda Kirkeby skied with determination in the 5k to qualify for Junior Nationals in the classic eligibility portion. Carson Bold finished close, only 3 percent outside of the qualifying time. Philip Oxford, Nick Damico and Jack Roten (10k) raced for boys and skied well, just outside reach of the qualifying times.
Trace Calvin, Connor Kusumoto and Cameron Small enjoy the Allan Bard Classic (Photo: Karen Small)
Mammoth Middle School also signed up to race the Allan Bard Classic 5k race. Seventh grader Cameron Small led the Mammoth J3’s, finishing third with a time that nearly would have qualified him for Junior Nationals had he been old enough. Trace Calvin followed in 4th, Connor Kusumoto 6th, Jacob Mahler 7th, Martin Thompson 8th, Niven Tanzer 9th and Tanner Bissonnette finished 3rd J4.
To top off the middle school buzz, Assistant Coach, Marie French finished 2nd female in the true Allan Bard race— a 20km classic event.
State Championships for Nordic will be held Saturday, Feb. 18 and the last Junior National Qualifier is set for President’s Day, Monday, Feb. 20, at Auburn Ski Club.
Junior Nationals are hosted March 3-10 at Soldier Hollow, Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
For full race results for both races, visit: http://farwestnordic.org/fwnsea/
