Novie McCabe, bib No. 22, finished 9th in the 15-kilometer freestyle mass start race at the World Junior Championships in Germany.
The Methow Valley’s Novie McCabe made an impact at the recent World Junior Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, where she was part of the U.S. Nordic skiing team.
McCabe, a senior at Liberty Bell High School, placed 9th in the 15-kilometer freestyle mass start race on March 4. Methow Valley Nordic Team (MVNT) Director Leslie Hall said McCabe qualified to compete in the World Cup finals in Canmore, Alberta, on March 20-22.
On March 6, skiing the anchor leg, McCabe was part of the U.S. relay team that took second place in the 4x-3.3K relay.
The Idaho Mountain Express website reported that the Americans finished just 4.9 seconds behind the gold medal team from Switzerland to score the best-ever finish for U.S. women in this Junior Worlds event. “McCabe had the third-best final skate leg of 7:41.8 and reduced the huge Switzerland lead of 28 seconds after three legs to 4.9 seconds at the finish,” the website reported.
Meanwhile, McCabe’s younger sister Dashe and 16 other MVNT skiers were competing at the BC Championships in Kelowna, Hall reported. They raced a mass start skate race on Friday and an individual classic race on Saturday, each competing within their two-year age category. Results for Friday and Saturday races:
Nils Smith, U8 boys, 5th, 15th; Dylan Sands, U8 boys, 6th, 14th; Neva Clark, U8 girls, 3rd, 11th; Sisu Clark, U10 girls, 2nd, 3rd; Maren Sands, U10 girls, 5th, 15th; Harriett Schkrohowsky, U10 girls, 12th, 19th; Ben Kaufman, U12 boys, 1st both days; Aidan Sands, U12 boys, 8th, 6th; Emil Schkrohowsky, U12 boys, 35th, 43rd; Marit Nelson, U12 girls, 1st both days; Wylie Smith, U12 girls, 10th, 25th; Josie Bolinger, U12 girls, 19th, 16th; Dexter Delaney, U14 boys, 10th, 19th; Emmett Bondi, U14 boys, 40th, 41st; Dashe McCabe, U14 girls, 8th, 1st; Marta Schkrohowsky, U14 girls, 28th, 21st; Carter Sheley, U16 boys, 29th, 27th.
Twelve MVNT skiers headed to Truckee, California, for Junior Nationals Championships this week. Monday (March 9) was the individual start classic race 10K for the U18 boys and 5K for U18/20 women and all the U16s, Hall said. Walker Hall finished 3rd in the U18 boys’ class, followed by Travis Grialou in 21st, Aidan Whitelaw in 50th and Ian Delong in 52nd. Gretta Scholz placed 6th in the U20 women’s group. In the U18 women’s group, Eva Weymuller was 19th, Keeley Brooks 36th and Greta Laesch 39th. Jori Grialou led the MVNT skiers in the U16 girls’ race, finishing 12th with Stella Scholz in 24th and Mariah Lucy in 28th. Graham Sheley finished 41st in the U16 boys’ class.
