The Methow Valley Nordic Team traveled 30 strong last weekend to the BC Championships at Telemark Nordic Center in West Kelowna, B.C.
Editor’s note: this report about the Methow Valley Nordic Team is based on information provided by coach Leslie Hall.
The Methow Valley Nordic Team (MVNT) took 30 skiers to the BC Championships at Telemark Nordic Center in West Kelowna, B.C., last weekend for a three-day event that included classic mass start races on Friday, skate individual races on Saturday and three-person classic relays on Sunday.
Friday’s classic races began with the Atoms (U8) skiers’ 1-kilometer race. Emmet Bondi placed fifth and Marit Nelson came in third. In the Peewee girls’ race (U10), Dashe McCabe led the pack followed by Stella Scholz in second. Leki Albright finished eighth overall and second among the 8-year-olds. Zane Strome placed third in the Bantam boy (U12) competition.
A contingent of Bantam girls raced the 2.7K course. Lindsay Worrell won overall with Lena Nelson placing fifth, followed by Keeley Brooks in seventh, Eva Weymuller in 11th, Jory Grialou placing seventh for first-year Bantams, Amelia Bondi in 12th, and Wyatt Albright in 20th place.
The Midgets (U14) were up next, with Peter Aspholm placing third overall in the 3.5K race, Emerson Worrell in sixth and Michael Mott placing 14th for the second-year Midgets. Walker Hall was second among the 12-year-old Midgets followed by Ian Delong in seventh, Travis Grialou in 10th and Myles Davis in 16th.
Novie McCabe continued her winning streak by placing first overall in the Midget girls’ category. Gretta Scholz placed eighth. In the Juvenile (U16) Girls’ 5K race, Taya Delong placed fourth among the 15-year-olds and Danielle Mott was seventh. Eli Nielsen was seventh in the Juvenile Boys’ 7K.
Claire Waichler placed sixth overall in the Junior Girl’s 7K race and Ella Hall was 12th. Elise Putnam was second in the Junior Women’s 10K and Geza Sukovaty was 25th in the Junior Boys’ 10K. Full results can be found at: zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=7317.
Saturday was a sunny beautiful day with fast tracks to start but spring conditions prevailed quickly especially with 400 racers traveling the courses. Marit Nelson and Emmet Bondi performed well in the 1K skate event placing second and fourth overall in the Atoms class. Stella Scholz was the top Peewee girl in her 1.5K event, with Dashe McCabe placing second overall and Leki Albright finishing seventh overall. Zane Strome placed fourth in his Bantam boys’ 2K race.
Lindsay Worrell topped the Bantam girls’ race overall and had the fastest time of the day on the 2K course (beating the boys). In the Bantam ladies competition, Lena Nelson finished fourth, Keeley Brooks fifth and Eva Weymuller sixth. Jory Grialou placed sixth among first-year Bantams and Amelia Bondi was 13th, with Wyatt Albright sitting out this race due to illness. The Midget boys faced tough competition in their 5.4K race, which ended with Peter Aspholm in fifth, Emerson Worrell in sixth and Michael Mott placing 12th in his age group.
Walker Hall was second in the first-year year Midgets’ race, Travis Grialou seventh, Ian Delong 10th, and Myles Davis 16th. Novie McCabe again won the Midget girls’ 5.4K overall and Gretta Scholz placed sixth.
Danielle Mott had a strong 7K for the Juvenile Girls, placing third, and Taya Delong claimed fourth place. Ella Hall skied a strong race after her frustrating classic experience, finishing second overall just one second out of first in the Junior Girls’ 7K. Claire Waichler placed sixth. Eli Nielsen skied a hard 10K, ending up fifth among first-year Juvenile Boys. Geza Sukovaty placed 22nd in the Junior Boys’ category and Elise Putnam was strong, placing a close second in the Junior Women’s’ 7K race. Full results can be found at: zone4.ca/results.asp?id=7322.
Relay races were on Sunday, a rare team event. Some groups were combined and teams of three each raced one lap of their respective courses.
Leki Albright, Marit Nelson and Emmet Bondi combined in the Atom/Peewee 1K race to end up seventh out of 11 teams. MVNT had five full Bantam/Midget teams and two partial teams that combined with racers from Canadian clubs. These skiers each raced 2K. The team of Peter Aspholm, Walker Hall and Emerson Worrell, skiing as the Chomper Bompers, won the competition over 27 other teams. The Three Little Pigs (Ian Delong, Zane Strome and Travis Grialou) were fifth in this race. Michael Mott and Myles Davis combined with a skier from Caledonia and placed 16th as the Absurd M & M’s. Gretta Scholz led off for the All Out Stars & Stripes, handing off to Lindsay Worrell in first place and setting Novie McCabe up to take the win in the Bantam/Midget Girls’ category.
Lena Nelson, Keeley Brooks and Eva Weymuller placed 14th as the Grrreaches; Jory Grialou, Dashe McCabe and Stella Scholz placed 19th as the Three Stooges racing with the older ladies’ so they could be together; and Amelia Bondi and Wyatt Albright combined with a skier from Blackjack as the Bouncing Blue Bikinis to place 21st out of 25 teams.
Ella Hall, Taya Delong and Claire Waichler combined for an exciting second-place finish thanks to Waichler’s strong double pole at the end in the Juvenile/Junior Girls’ 3 x 3K race. Danielle Mott, Hadassah Lurber and Elise Putnam combined for a 12th-place finish. Eli Nielsen led off and Geza Sukovaty skied two legs to earn their Happy Go Getters a 20th-place finish. The Canadians allowed the coaches to combine for a relay with Gregg Strome, Leslie Hall and Laura McCabe coming in second in the Open/Master’s Men category.
MVNT will wrap up its regular season this week with a small group of U14 skiers heading to Vermont for the Bill Koch League Championships there. Six MVNT skiers will head off to Truckee, California, on March 6 for Junior Nationals; and three or four biathletes will be in California for Biathlon Championships in mid-March.
