Gus Schumacher leading the pack with teammate Ben Ogden (pink hat) and Canada’s Sam Hendry (left) in the draft — during the U20 30 k classic mass start at World Juniors in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
The mass start classic races for the U20 athletes at the 2019 World Junior World Ski Championships dawned on another crisp, bordering on a frigid day in Lahti, Finland. A scroll through the results makes clear the day was strong for North Americans as the U20 men raced a 30-kilometer classic mass start, the women a 15 k classic mass start.
In the men’s race, the six laps around the 5 k course which climbed a total of 193 meters each circuit, the top-15 skiers were separated by 17 seconds at the finish. The tight front-pack racing meant there were moments when the U.S. sported four skiers pacing the sharp end of the race.
Gus Schumacher skiing for the U.S. placed fourth in a four-skier sprint at the line to finish 0.7 seconds behind the winner Luca DelFabbro of Italy. Del Fabbro won in a time of 1:15:16.7 hours. Norway’s Haavard Moseby placed second (+0.4), and Switzerland’s Cyril Faehndrich third (+0.5).
On the far left, Gus Schumacher in the podium mix down the stretch in the U20 30 k classic mass start at World Juniors in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Canada’s Remi Drolet skied to seventh overall 6.4 seconds back.
“Going into the race, the strategy was to stay relaxed and save as much energy as possible over the thirty kilometres,” Drolet emailed. “The plan was to get near the front, avoid mishaps, and be ready for when the speed increased and the pack was strung out.”
Actualizing the strategy in terms of mishaps was another story on Drolet’s journey to seventh place.
“Overall, I am very happy with how I skied today,” Drolet continued. “I executed my plan quite well and was able to stay calm and ski well even when I was involved in a collision and lost both of my skis. I had a lot of fun out there, and it was incredible to race against the best juniors in the world in some of the best conditions for classic skiing.
“Going into the championships and into this race, I was really hoping to achieve a top 10 result. In the first two races, I had decent results but was not quite there. It was encouraging, however, that I was improving everyday, and the second half of the skate race was quite good for me. I also knew that the 30-kilometre classic race would likely be my best, and I showed up to the start line ready to leave everything I had out on the track. It certainly felt great when I crossed the finish line knowing I had achieved this goal!”
Canada’s Remi Drolet after his seventh place in the U20 30 k classic mass start at World Juniors in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
For the U.S., Ben Ogden finished 10th (+9.0), Luke Jager 13th (+14.9), and Johnny Hagenbuch 17th (+25.6).
Sam Hendry of Canada raced to 20th (+44.6), Tom Stephen, at sixteen years old placed, 23rd (+1:07.3), and Pierrick Sarthou 46th (+6:32.2).
Start of the U20 Worlds 15 k classic mass start in Lahti, Finland. The winner Frida Karlsson is in bib 1. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Sweden’s nineteen-year-old Frida Karlsson won the U20 women’s 15 k classic mass start race in a time of 40:45.3 minutes. Helene Marie Fossesholm of Norway was second (+52.1), and Finland’s Anita Korva was third (+58.1).
This was Karlsson’s second win of these championships after taking the U20 5 k skate race on Tuesday. Karlsson was also the fastest qualifier in last Sunday’s classic sprint – she placed fifth overall.
Kendall Kramer, a sixteen-year-old U18 skier for the U.S. was the top-North American in the U20 women’s race placing fourth (+1:30.7).
In perhaps the most earnest and down-to-earth post-race comment FasterSkier has received to date (Kendell’s comments were handwritten), the sixteen year old from Fairbanks, AK. explained the 15 k mass start was a new venture which suited her skiing style.
“This was my first 15 k I’ve ever done so going into the race I was extremely clueless and nervous about feeds, how aggressive the Scandos would be, how to race etc… but I think the slip-free kick job the techs gave me and my knack for throwing elbows and maintaining my spot which really aided me staying out of trouble early on, which set me up for a comfortable position to ride my 4th place into the finish,” Kendall wrote about her race experience.
Kendall Kramer on her way to fourth place in the U20 15 k classic mass start at World Juniors in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Kramer’s keen eye during the race played into her in-the-moment decision making when it came to how to ski the course.
“It was all hills and with the slow snow the flats weren’t even flats. I mostly decided to how to take every part of the course by seeing how the older girls in front of me reacted to it,” wrote Kendall.
U.S. teammate Novie McCabe at 17 years old is a U18 skier skiing up at these Junior Worlds. McCabe finished 10th (+2:19.0) after starting the day in bib 71, way back in the pack of seventy starters. (One skier did not start.)
“Starting in the back was definitely a bit of a challenge,” McCabe told FasterSkier in the mixed zone. “I thought of it as I had to be patient for sure at the start. But it was also better than I thought it would be going up that first hill. I was able to hop in the outside and get up right out of the start and seeing more numbers in the 30s and 40’s and so I was like ‘oh, that wasn’t that bad’. I kept on trying to work my up and trying to stay calm and patient. There were a few crashes and some of the front girls came back. I ended up skiing in a group with one of the girls who ended up crashing and I tried to hang with her.
The U20 women’s 15 k classic mass start at the Junior World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Way way back, bib 71, that’s Novie McCabe. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
“The group got smaller and I knew it was sixth through 12th I think, and I just tried to hang in there. My skis were really fast and I had really good kick so that was really helpful. I just tried to hang in there on the hills and get the best rest that I could. Then on the last part I was trying to hang with the girl ahead of me and I ended up crashing on the last corner, but it was really quick and I just tried to hop up and tuck in behind the ninth-place girl, and ended up hanging in there and finishing 10, it as a really fun race.”
Novie McCabe (bib 71) on her way to 10th place in the U20 15 k classic mass start at World Juniors in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
For the U.S., Mara McCollor finished 24th (+3:58.3), and Sophie Mazzoni 48th (+6:19.9).
Jasmine Drolet was the top Canadian finisher in 36th (+4:51.4), followed by Anne-Marie Petitclerc in 40th (+5:07.6), and Anna Pryce in 46th (+6:07.2).
Gus Schumacher skiing to sixth place in the U20 10 k skate during the 2019 Junior Worlds in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen).
FIS Junior World Ski Championships Lahti, Finland 5 k/10k Freestyle Interval Start
Tuesday in Lahti, Finland was as Finland should be: squeaky-snow-cold and cross-country ski racing on offer.
Eighteen-year-old Gus Schumacher broke through for the U.S. and placed sixth overall in the U20 men’s 10-kilometer freestyle. Schumacher was the 95th starter of 102 finishers on the day. His sixth place finish was consistent with his 1.1k, 5k, and 6.6k splits where he was ranked 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively. Schumacher stopped the clock in 23:19.3 minutes, 44.4 seconds behind the winning mark.
The Lahti championships are Schumacher’s second Junior Worlds. His sixth place is his best individual result. He was part of the second place 4 x 5 k U20 relay last year in Goms, Switzerland.
“I was most nervous about hitting it right and doing the right pacing and making sure I can have the best race that know I can,” Schumacher told FasterSkier over the phone. “I approached it as just a new race almost. We have done a fair amount of watching old world cups and world championships that were on the exact same courses here. It was definitely hard to reflect on that because none of them were exactly 10 k. And obviously those athletes are quite a bit stronger than we are. And the snow is different.”
Schumacher extracted what he needed from the videos. Imprinted in his mind before his 10 k start were enough visuals to quell the nerves and provide a path to fast clean skiing.
“We watched that and I felt like I got an idea for what the body movements looked like of those guys,” Schumacher said. “I thought about how that would feel for me and I thought about the other middle distance skate races I have done this year –which is actually a fair amount between early season time trials.”
Schumacher executed his plan. He dialed back the initial effort, stayed in control, and systematically revved the engine.
“I went out and tried for at least the first five minutes to go a little easier, because I think that is the high risk time, the very beginning,” said Schumacher. “I tried to go out and keep it consistent and as I started to get into it, I started to ramp it up a little more and really try to make the most of the recovery. Which wasn’t a lot, but enough that I could put my head in between my knees on the downhill and I could tell myself that 15 seconds of high speed downhill is helping me. And I could get my breath down a little bit and I was ready for the next hill.”
His run at the podium came up just 17 seconds short. But with his plan executed, the Anchorage based skier had no regrets when reflecting on Tuesday’s race effort.
“I definitely wanted to be top-10, but I felt like and still feel like a medal is in sight,” Schumacher said. At 18, he still has one more year of eligibility in the U20 ranks.
“For sure satisfied with this race, it felt like a good result and it was one of my better races. And I am happy with how it played out and also thinking about how I can hit the 30 k and do the most I can do.”
France’s Jules Chappaz won the race in a time of 22:34.9 after skiing the fastest splits at 5 k and 6.1 k. Sunday’s classic sprint winner, Russia’s Alexander Terentev, placed second (+21.0), and Norway’s Iver Tildheim Andersen in third (+27.2).
Canada placed two skiers in the top-31. Remi Drolet finished in 20th (+1:14), Samuel Gary Hendry 21st (+1:15.9), Thomas Stephen 31st (+1:36.8). Xavier McKeever skied to 44th (+2:04.6).
For the U.S., Zanden McMullen placed 32nd (+1:40.6), Johnny Hagenbuch 34th (+1:46.3), and Noel Keeffe 58th (+2:45.7).
Sweden’s Frida Karlsson winning the U20 5 k skate at Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Sweden’s Frida Karlsson won the U20 5 k skate in 12:50.6 minutes. Norway’s Helene Marie Fossesholm placed second 11 seconds back, with Finland’s Anita Korva in third (+19.8).
“It was fun to ski today. I just wanted to have my revenge”, Karlsson told race organizers after the race. Karlsson had qualified first on Sunday’s U20 classic sprint but placed fifth in the overall.
U.S. skier Kendall Kramer post U20 5 k skate at Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
The best placed North American was U.S. skier Kendall Kramer who finished in 15th (+55.6) place. Also for the U.S., Sydney Palmer-Leger was 20th (+1:04.9), Novie McCabe 29th (+1:20.8), and Waverly Gebhardt 65th (+2:28.8).
Canada’s Anna Pryce (bib 22) and Jasmine Drolet (bib 20) finishing the U20 5 k skate at Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Anna Pryce was the top Canadian in 43rd (+1:36.5). Teammates Molly Miller skied to 50th (+1:52.9), Isobel Hendry 58th (+1:57.1), and Jasmine Drolet 67th (+2:35.7).
The women’s 5 k classic podium at 2018 Junior World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, with American Hailey Swirbul (r) in second, Russia’s Polina Nekrasova (c) in first, and Finland’s Anita Korva (l) in third. (Photo: JWSC2018.ch)
(This article has been updated to reflect that American Hailey Swirbul was in second for most of Tuesday’s 5 k race, not over one minute back as previously reported based on a live timing error. It has also been updated to include comments from Americans Hailey Swirbul, Ben Loomis, Stephen Schumann, and Gus Schumacher, Canada’s Antoine Cyr, University of Alaska Anchorage nordic head coach Andrew Kastning, and U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Bryan Fish.)
Junior World Championships (Goms, Switzerland): 5/10 k classic
Hailey Swirbul became the second American cross-country skier to earn an individual medal at Junior World Championships and first to take silver (Katharine Ogden claimed bronze in last year’s skiathlon) in the women’s 5-kilometer classic individual start on Tuesday in Goms, Switzerland.
Swirbul, a 19-year-old University of Alaska Anchorage sophomore, also tallied the best American finish at a Junior/U23 World Championships since Jessie Diggins earned silver in 2014 in the freestyle sprint. It was Swirbul’s second medal the last two Junior Worlds after she teamed up with Hannah Halvorsen, Julia Kern, and Ogden to take bronze in last year’s relay.
Going into this week’s championships, Swirbul, a Colorado native, explained she was aiming for a top 10 in one of the distance races. U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Bryan Fish pointed out that she wasn’t sure she’d feel up to racing on Tuesday.
“She had been feeling under the weather so she didn’t come up and ski yesterday,” Fish said on the phone Tuesday. “It was a little bit of a shock to Hailey herself that she skied so fast because there was some contemplation of whether she would race or not.”
“I made it a goal to stay relaxed and ski the race I would ski in a lower pressure race,” Swirbul wrote in an email. “I often find that I, and others, change their good race habits when at a high pressure event, so I was hoping to pace the race evenly and not start out too fast.
“The key for interval starts for me is to only think about skiing smoothly and powerfully for the first few kilometers of the race, and I’ve been discovering that that usually leads to decent splits throughout my race,” she continued.
She ended up racing to second place on Tuesday in the second race of 2018 Junior World Championships. The 61st starter (out of 84), Swirbul skied in second for most of the race, just behind Russia’s Polina Nekrasova, according toFish.
“She was basically tied for second and really had a strong second half of the course, and really skied solid in particular the last kilometer,” Fish said. “Always in the top five for sure, and well within striking distance [of the podium].”
The women’s 5 k classic podium at 2018 Junior World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, with American Hailey Swirbul (r) in second, Russia’s Polina Nekrasova (c) in first, and Finland’s Anita Korva (l) in third. (Photo: Bryan Fish)
She initially crossed the finish line in first place, more than a minute faster than the previous race leader. Her time remained faster than all but one of the women who started behind her — as Russia’s Polina Nekrasova (bib 71) took the win in 13:58.7 minutes, 14.4 seconds ahead of Swirbul.
Finland’s Anita Korva started 77th and finished third, 25.4 seconds out of first.
The Czech Republic’s Barbora Havlickova (bib 81) followed in fourth (+26.8), and Norway’s Kristine Stavås Skistad (bib 67) finished fifth (+31.9), and France’s Laura Chamiot-Maitra (bib 83) placed sixth (+34.9).
“… I honestly had no idea I was in the running for the podium during my race, because about 20 girls had yet to finish, so it wasn’t until the last girls came in that I knew I claimed a spot!” Swirbul wrote.
“It was a special moment when I ran down off of the course and I knew her split,” Fish said of Swirbul’s finishing time. “I knew she was sitting in second and they kept announcing and kept announcing, and I told her, ‘You will be second today,’ and it was kind of a combination facial expression of shock and elation. She really couldn’t believe it, but [I said], ‘You’ve got a big enough gap over third place and no one’s catching you.’
“It’s our best Junior Worlds result ever,” Fish added. “Last year was the first individual medal we had ever won or team medal at Junior Worlds and to follow that up with a silver is incredible.
“She was obviously on our podium relay last year, but she came in from U.S. nationals skiing well, qualified very high and she skied incredibly well today,” he explained. “Very fluid stride and did a great job shifting gears and doing a bit more running during the second half of the course.”
“The result hasn’t hit me yet,” Swirbul wrote. “It was beyond what I expected, so my brain is still catching up to the reality! I’ve been dreaming of racing how I know I could for the past 3 years or so, and this season has finally been my chance to break through. I’m so fortunate that things aligned for me on the day that really counted. I couldn’t have done it without Bryan Fish’s unwavering belief in us athletes, and my mom and dad’s support all these years, of course.”
Fish emphasized that while snow conditions have been “very, very good” and “very stable” in Goms, which received 1 1/2 meters (nearly 5 feet) of snow a week and a half ago, the waxing had been a bit challenging due to a temperature range of around -9 degrees to 5 degrees Celsius each day.
“I’m sure there were some teams on klister, some on klister covered with hard wax,” he said of Tuesday’s classic race. “Our techs did a really good job and they were clever with what they came up with when I heard what they were trying. … They’ve been right in the ballpark the last few days and I think they really dialed it in today, and it was impressive kick and glide. To get a podium you ned to have everything going right and I definitely think we had the skis in our favor.”
Halvorsen was the second-best American in 22nd on Tuesday, 1:10.1 out of first, Kathleen O’Connell finished 38th (+1:33.5) and Hannah Rudd was 59th (+2:24.1).
Canada’s Natalie Hynes placed 36th (+1:30.5), Hannah Mehain was 45th (+1:53.3) and Annika Richardson was 67th (+2:53.7). Catherine Reed-Metayer did not finish.
Hailey Swirbul (University of Alaska Anchorage) navigating a downhill while racing to second place in the women’s 5 k classic at 2018 Junior World Championships in Goms, Switzerland. (Photo: JWSC2018.ch)
Andrew Kastning, head coach of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) nordic team, stayed up late the night before Alaska time to watch three UAA skiers (Swirbul, Rudd and Hynes) race on the Junior World Championships livestream.
“Hailey has made classic technique a priority since she stepped on UAA’s campus because that’s where she had the most potential for gain,” Kastning wrote in an email on Tuesday. “She has been working hard on a more powerful and smooth stride on the uphills while getting over elbow pain when double poling. The course looked like it played well to her strengths and that strategy.
“I saw one clip of her entering the big climb and could see that she was relaxed and striding really well,” he continued. “I knew then she was going to have a really good race.”
He noticed that the course had some intimidating downhills and corners, but he knew Swirbul wouldn’t have a problem navigating them.
“Hailey has a solid alpine skiing background and I figured if anyone would be willing to straight line the descents and flatten the corners then a massive amount of time could be saved,” Kastning wrote. “Hailey must have done that because she put 47 seconds on a Russian she was tied with at the high point. I was sort wondering if I was dreaming at moments and had to refrain from yelling and screaming because I’d wake up three daughters and a wife if I did. What a night, what a day. Seawolf Nation and USA are very proud this morning.”
Ogden 7th, Cyr 12th
In the men’s 10 k classic that followed, the excitement continued for Team USA, with 17-year-old Ben Ogden, of the Stratton Mountain School, racing to seventh in his Junior World Championships debut.
The men’s 10 k classic podium at 2018 Junior World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, with Norway’s Jon Rolf Skamo Hope (c) in first, Russia’s Sergey Ardashev (l) in second and Norway’s Jørgen Lippert (r) in third. (Photo: JWSC2018.ch)
Ogden started 72nd and crossed the finish line in first, 16.6 seconds faster than previous race leader Alexander Terentev of Russia. Six later starters ultimately bumped Ogden to seventh, and Norway’s Jon Rolf Skamo Hope took the win in 24:58.8, 40.5 seconds ahead of Ogden.
Russia’s Sergey Ardashev placed second, 9 seconds back, and Norway’s Jørgen Lippert reached the podium in third (+27.9). Norway put four in the top five and Russia had two in the top six, making Ogden the first non-Norwegian or non-Russian male finisher on the day.
According to race splits, Ogden skied an extremely consistent race, clocking the eighth, ninth or 10th fastest times throughout the 10 k.
Canada’s Antoine Cyr placed 12th (+1:07.7) in the second race of his career at Junior World Championships. Two days ago, he finished 30th in the freestyle sprint. Cyr, 19, started 78th and also skied a consistent race, hanging mostly within the top 12 throughout it.
“I knew that classic 10 km was good race for me,” Cyr wrote in an email. “On a good day I was hoping for top 30 but the course was hard and I knew that if I played it smart and paced myself I would be happy with my race.”
He focused on skiing powerfully on his first lap, with big strides and strong double poling, and tried to attack the A-climb and “punchy climb towards the end of the loop” on the second and last lap.
“A top 12 for us in Canada means a lot and with a 25th place in the [skate sprint qualifier] and a 12th place today I think it makes me realize that I have my place on the world level scene,” Cyr wrote. “… This race was a good redemption after my crash in the sprint. I am really happy with the results !!”
Gus Schumacher notched his second top 20 of the week in 17th (after placing 19th in the skate sprint), finishing 1:19.1 out first first, Hunter Wonders placed 22nd (+1:39.1), and Canyon Tobin was 37th (+2:17.2) for the U.S.
In an email, Schumacher, of Alaska Winter Stars, explained he had been aiming for a top 10.
“For this race I really focused on keeping the first quarter super relaxed and then picking it up after that,” he wrote of his pacing. “During the race I felt like I raced the first lap well but somewhere on the second lap I must’ve pushed just a little too hard and gone over my threshold, because I really faltered in the middle of that one on the big sprint hill. Other than that I felt like I skied the flats and most of the gradual uphills well, especially before 7.5k.”
Overall he added that he was “fairly satisfied … but I know that I can do better and that kind of hurts me. I just didn’t feel like I had the spark that I normally have towards the end of a race like this.” Moving forward, he had similar goals for the skiathlon and was excited for the relay.
Canada’s Etienne Hebert finished 44th (+2:42.3), Ty Godfrey was 57th (+3:29.5), and Felix Longpre 58th (+3:29.7) out of 96 finishers.
“It’s really exciting when you look at our day in general,” Fish noted. “We had two young boys with 2000 birth years; there was only three boys in the top 40 that had a 2000 year of birth and we had two. … That’s just really exciting for U.S. skiing in general, that we have athleetes showing up not just to participate, but to really perform.”
The men’s individual normal hill/10 k Gundersen podium at the first Day of Nordic Combined Junior World Championships in Kandersteg, Switzerland, with American Ben Loomis (r) in third, the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Pazout (c) in first, and Norway’s Einar Lurås Oftebro (l) in second. (Photo: Josh Parker)
Nordic Combined Junior World Championships (Kandersteg, Switzerland): Normal hill/10 k Gundersen
In the first competition of 2018 Nordic Combined Junior World Championships in Kandersteg, Switzerland (about 75 kilometers west of Goms), American Ben Loomis achieved the first podium of his career in his fifth Junior Worlds (counting his first in straight-up ski jumping), racing to third in the individual normal hill/10 k Gundersen on Tuesday.
Ben Loomis (USA Nordic) jumping to seventh on Tuesday at 2018 Nordic Combined Junior World Championships in Kandersteg, Switzerland. He went on to place third in the 10 k for his first Junior Worlds medal. (Photo: Josh Parker)
Loomis, a 19-year-old U.S. Nordic Combined national team member who grew up in Wisconsin, was recently selected to compete at his first Olympics next month in PyeongChang, South Korea. In an email, Loomis explained he found out just over a week ago, which motivated him to compete at a high level, but it didn’t change his plans or goals for his last Junior Worlds.
“My focus of the winter has always been the Junior World championships so my Olympic nomination has not changed my training in the last few weeks,” he wrote. “Going into this week, and for the last 2 years now my goal was always a podium finish.”
He started out Tuesday by jumping to seventh on the 106-meter “normal” hill, then started the 10 k race 38 seconds out of first.
“The hill here in Kandersteg is very new which is nice because it feels similar to other modern jumps,” Loomis explained. “I was satisfied with my competition jump but not 100% happy. There are still a few things I need to fix on the technical side of my jumping.”
The Czech Republic had the two best jumpers on the day, with Ondrej Pazout leading after the jump portion, followed by his teammate Jan Vytrval in second. Pazout started the 10 k with an 11-second head start on Vytrval and ended up holding off his challengers to secure gold, finishing first in 22:58.3. Norway’s Einar Lurås Oftebro raced from 10th after the jump to second at the finish, just 2.3 seconds behind Pazout, with the second-fastest 10 k time.
Loomis passed four skiers to finish third, 8.3 seconds out of first, with the third-fastest time. Norway’s Johannes Lamparter slipped from third to fourth overall (+16.2), and Vytrval finished fifth (+21.6).
“I knew with a good race a podium was still possible from 38 seconds back,” Loomis wrote. “The track here is really tough with technical decent which leaves good opportunity to make up time.”
Working within a group, he caught up to third place on the first of four laps and was up to second on the second lap.
American Ben Loomis (7) racing with Norway’s Einar Lurås Oftebro (l) during the 10 k Gundersen on Tuesday at 2018 Nordic Combined Junior World Championships in Kandersteg, Switzerland. Loomis went on to finish third for his first Junior Worlds medal and Oftebro placed second. (Photo: Josh Parker)
“We had 5 or 6 guys in this group and on the 3rd lap I took the lead,” Loomis explained. “Towards the last hill on the 4th lap, I made a move alongside Einar Oftebro. Einar was strong on the last stretch and able to beat me as well as almost catching the leader Ondra.
“Taking a step on the podium was an excellent feeling today,” he added. “I have been working very hard, especially towards this specific race for a long time now. Accomplishing this is a huge relief and very motivating for the future.”
The U.S. had two in the top 15 with Stephen Schumann in 13th (+1:29.1). Schumann was 29th after the jump and started the 10 k 1:47 out of first, then posted the fifth-fastest course time to pick off 16 places.
“Going into today I was really just hoping to put together a solid jump and a good race and hopefully finish within the top 10 like last year,” Schumann wrote in an email. “Unfortunately I did not have the jump I was hoping for. I was about 1 meter late off the end of the take off, taking away some of the power and height that my legs otherwise would have given me. Luckily the conditions on the hill were pretty consistent today so I knew about where I would be standing after jumping going into the race.”
Given his starting position, he believed a top 15 was within reach. He ended up catching Italy’s Aaron Kostner, who started 27th, and the two worked together to catch one group after another.
“I felt pretty good but he got me on the last lap,” Schumann wrote of Kostner, who finished about 20 seconds ahead of him in 11th place. “But over all it was a pretty good race and I finished with the 5th fastest time. Behind Aaron with the 4th fastest.
“Overall I feel that had I had a little bit better jump on the hill I could have contended for a top 10 maybe top 5 but was happy with my race and my 13th place finish,” he added. “Coming across the line I was pretty sure Ben had finished in the top 5 at least, as I could see him going up the last hill as I was staring down it. But when I actually crossed the line and saw him I could tell he had gotten to the podium and I was psyched for him, went and gave him a hug and congratulated him.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, Schumann’s hoping for a medal in the 4 x 5 k team event.
“And personally I hope to finish in the top 10 in the 5km race with a better jump and another solid race,” he wrote.
Also for the U.S., Jared Shumate placed 35th (+4:06.3), up from 49th in the jump, and Tucker Hoefler was 51st (+6:37.4), up from 53rd.
American Julia Kern (second from r) chasing Russia’s Polina Nekrasova (r) in the first semifinal of the women’s classic sprint on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. While the Russian won the semifinal (and ultimately the final), Kern finished fifth after a crash for ninth overall. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
Germany, Germany, Germany. That was the way the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic sprint started on Monday at the first day of Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, with Antonia Fräbel putting down the fastest qualifying time in 3:40.83, a full 6.15 and 8.03 seconds faster than her German teammates Coletta Rydzek and Julia Richter, who qualified in second and third, respectively.
The 10th woman to qualify (out of 30), Russia’s Polina Nekrasova, was nearly 13 seconds slower than Fräbel around Soldier Hollow’s new sprint course at the 2002 Olympic venue.
But the qualifier is the qualifier; the heats are what ultimately matter.
There, in the quarterfinals, the 18-year-old Nekrasova won the first quarterfinal in 3:38.13, a time that bested Fräbel’s qualifier by more than two seconds, while American Julia Kern crossed the line 0.19 seconds later in second. Fräbel was in that quarterfinal, too, and finished third (+0.91).
Kern, in her third Junior World Championships, explained that her strategy for that heat had been to stick to Fräbel like glue.
“I knew I didn’t want to lead on the downhills since the draft set up really well today and I knew I would be strong coming into the finish,” the 19-year-old Kern, a member of U.S. Ski Team development team (D-team) and Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team, wrote in an email.
Fortunately for her, the plan worked. Kern followed Fräbel up the first two climbs before Fräbel and Nekrasova gapped her slightly on the final uphill.
“I pushed really hard off the top and my skis were rockets (thanks to our awesome techs!) so I skied right up to them by the turn,” Kern wrote. “I held my ground and took the inside on the 180 turn, pushing the German to the outside and then all three of us double poled hard into the finish head to head.”
The fourth-place finisher in that heat, Italy’s Veronika Broll, finished nearly 14 seconds later. The top three advanced to the semifinals, which Nekrasova and Fräbel both went on to win. A crash caused Kern to finish fifth in the first semifinal, 28.05 seconds behind Nekrasova in first.
American Julia Kern (Stratton Mountain School Elite Team/U.S. Ski Team D-team) during her semifinal of the women’s classic sprint on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
“I didn’t have a great start in the semi final but that didn’t worry me,” Kern reflected. “I knew my skis were fast and that the second part of the course played to my strength.”
She followed the pack up the first hill, pushing hard over the top and put herself in a position to start passing people on the final climb.
“There was definitely some pushing and shoving by other girls as we crested the top,” Kern wrote.
The California native (who grew up outside Boston) began the final descent toward the stadium in fourth, “right where I wanted to be to hang in the draft,” she wrote.
Coming out of it, the three women ahead of Kern lined up in the second lane while Norway’s Marte Maehlum Johanson moved to the third lane.
“My skis were feeling awesome and I was gliding into the other girls quickly so I made a move to the fourth track to set up wide for the 180 turn,” Kern wrote. “Unfortunately, as [Johanson] switched to the 3rd lane, she placed both skis in one track and started to fall. I hopped into the fourth lane but as she fell, I think her pole flung out into my track and my ski went over it, stopping the ski and sending my momentum forward and onto one ski. I almost saved it with a funky one-leg balance drill but my momentum was flying so fast forward that I went for the straight penguin dive for 10 feet across the snow.
“I quickly hopped back on my feet in hopes that I could make a miracle come back but I soon realized I was at a complete stop at the highest speed part of the downhill and the pack was already rounding the corner,” Kern continued. “I still wanted to get top 10 (my goal for the day), so I quickly started to ski until I rounded the corner and realized the Norwegian was still lying on the ground. I decided then to ski it in easy and soak up the amazing atmosphere of my family and friends cheering me on, on home soil with the sun shining and beautiful hard track classic skiing.”
While Kern didn’t advance to the final, she ended up ninth on the day for her first individual top 10 at Junior Worlds.
“It is pretty bittersweet,” Kern wrote of her result. “It is easy to get caught up on the ‘what if’s’, especially since I was exactly positioned how I wanted to in the last downhill and I was in the mix to fight for the A-final spot I have always dreamed of. However, today I skied exactly how I wanted to and I didn’t leave anything out there and that is all that matters; an unlucky crash out of my control is just part of sprint racing and I don’t think that should put a damper on what is still my best ever sprint result at World Juniors!”
Russia’s Polina Nekrasova looks back after decisively gapping two Germans for the win in the women’s classic sprint on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Germany’s Antonia Fräbel placed second (+3.56) and Coletta Rydzek was third (+4.58). (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
Meanwhile, Nekrasova and Fräbel met in the final, along with Rydzek, Finland’s Anita Korva, Norway’s Mathilde Myhrvold, and Sweden’s Emma Ribom. There, Nekrasova outlasted the two Germans for the win in 3:34.6, crossing the line 3.56 seconds clear of Fräbel in second and 4.58 seconds ahead of Rydzek, the younger sister of German nordic-combined standout Johannes Rydzek, in third.
“I trained and prepared for this only this; all year I prepared for this start,” said Nekrasova, a two-time Junior Worlds competitor, in a post-race interview with the U.S. Ski Team media. “So that is why I’m here.”
The Russian had been on the podium before, taking bronze in the junior women’s relay at 2016 Junior Worlds in Rasnov, Romania. But this was her first individual podium (after placing 18th in last year’s freestyle sprint) and first gold medal.
Fräbel in second was ecstatic about silver.
The women’s classic sprint podium on Day 1 of Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow, with Russia’s Polina Nekrasova (c) in first, Germany’s Antonia Fräbel (l) in second and Germany’s Coletta Rydzek (r) in third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
“I haven’t got any words, I’m unbelievably happy and so happy that my friend Coletta is with me on the podium,” she told the U.S. Ski Team media. “I can’t say any more, my feeling is so strong.”
Asked specifically about the course, Fräbel said it was “so hard.”
“The height is 1800 meters, so hard for us Germans,” she said of Soldier Hollow’s elevation, nearly 5,900 meters above sea level.
For someone like Hannah Halvorsen, who hails from Truckee, Calif, and trains with the Sugar Bowl Academy 7,000 feet above sea level on Donner Summit, the air in SoHo was thicker than at home. Halvorsen, also a U.S. Ski Team D-team member, raced to 13th in Monday’s qualifier, 13.32 seconds behind Fräbel, and went on to win her quarterfinal.
“Being that we got to ski this course at senior nationals a couple weeks ago I felt confident I could ski it well and was hoping for a top five in the prelim,” wrote the 18-year-old Halvorsen, who finished 11th in the senior freestyle sprint at U.S. nationals earlier this month.
While she competed at 2016 Youth Olympic Games, this marked her first Junior Worlds.
“My strategy [for the quarterfinal] was to ski smart and come into the final downhill in second. Our skis were running really fast so this pulled me into first for the final straightaway,” she explained.
In the fifth quarterfinal, Halvorsen led two Russians across the finish, with Olga Kucheruk in second (+0.75) and Mariya Istomina in third (+1.25). The third-fastest qualifier, Germany’s Richter finished 2.21 seconds back in fourth and did not advance to the semifinals.
American Hannah Halvorsen (Sugar Bowl Academy/U.S. Ski Team D-team) racing to 13th in the women’s classic sprint qualifier on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. She finished sixth in her semifinal for 11th overall. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
With the win, Halvorsen guaranteed herself a spot in that next round and she raced in the second semifinal with Fräbel, Rydzek, Ribom, and Myhrvold, and Kucheruk, the first four of which would continue on to the final (Kucheruk in fifth did not). Halvorsen finished sixth in that heat, 8.14 seconds behind Fräbel, for 11th overall.
“I felt confident that I skied tactically well in the quarter and that if I did the same and still felt strong I could move on from the semi. Unfortunately the pace was just too fast for me,” Halvorsen wrote. “I am really happy with my first world junior race. I have been looking forward to this race for a long time and I dreamed of a podium. However I skied my best and I wasn’t fast enough today.”
Three U.S. women reached the heats, with Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth College) qualifying in 27th (+20.12) then finishing fourth in the second quarterfinal, 4.4 seconds behind Norway’s Kristine Stavås Skistad in first. That put Jortberg 20th on the day at her first Junior Worlds. The fourth U.S. woman racing on Monday, Taeler McCrerey (University of Denver) finished 40th, also in her Junior Worlds debut.
Canada entered four women as well, with Claire Grall-Johnson (Nakkertok) leading them in 39th, followed by Natalie Hynes (Whitehorse) in 42nd, Annika Richardson (NTDC Thunder Bay) in 44th, and Lisle Compton (NTDC Thunder Bay) in 45th.
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![American Julia Kern (second from r) chasing Russia's Polina Nekrasova (r) in the first semifinal of the women's classic sprint on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. While the Russian won the semifinal, Kern finished fifth after a crash. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/SMF6348.jpg")
![American Julia Kern (Stratton Mountain School/U.S. Ski Team D-team) during her semifinal of the women's classic sprint on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. She fell and placed fifth in that heat. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/SMF3910.jpg")
![Russia's Polina Nekrasova looks back after outlasting two Germans for the win in the women's classic sprint on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Germany's Antonia Fräbel placed second (+3.56) and Coletta Rydzek was third (+4.58). (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/SMF5491.jpg")
![The women's classic sprint podium on Day 1 of Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow, with Russia's Polina Nekrasova (c) in first, Germany's Antonia Fräbel (l) in second and Germany's Coletta Rydzek (r) in third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/SMF6504.jpg")
![American Hannah Halvorsen (Sugar Bowl Academy/U.S. Ski Team D-team) racing to 13th in the women's classic sprint qualifier on Monday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/SMF2467.jpg")