By Gavin Kentch
It is January. Junior Nationals Qualifying season is in full swing. There was racing in many parts of a large country this past weekend, from Fairbanks to Lake Placid. Fairbanks hosted JNs in 2023, while Lake Placid hosted in 2024. How’s that for symbolism.
2025 Junior Nationals will be held in Soldier Hollow, from March 9–15, 2025.
Anyway. Here are some weekend results for you, arranged from west to east as is my wont. Full results linked in at the bottom of each section. Many thanks to Petra Wilm, of APU parents, and Ben Theyerl, of NENSA, for their photos. I appreciate it.
Alaska: Besh Cup 3 and 4, Fairbanks
Saturday: Skate sprint
Men
Top three overall: Justin Lucas, Dane Karch, Oskar Flora
Top three U20: Justin Lucas, Dane Karch, Davis Isom
Top three U18: Oskar Flora, Wells Wappett, Basile Plattet
Top three U16: Jack Leveque, Raven Spangler, Ethan Elliott
Women
Top three overall: Piper Sears, Mia Stiassny, Lilli Bond
Top three U20: Piper Sears, Greta Bochenek, Ariana Cannava
Top three U18: Mia Stiassny, Ingrid Baurick, Merridy Littell
Top three U16: Lilli Bond, Alise Elliott, Solvej Lunoe
Sunday: 7.5/15km mass start classic
Men
Top three overall (15km): Justin Lucas, Oskar Flora, Davis Isom
Top three U20 (15km): Justin Lucas, Davis Isom, Blake Hanley
Top three U18 (15km): Oskar Flora, Gabe Black, Kieran Kaufman
Top three U16 (7.5km): Jack Leveque, Raven Spangler, Ethan Elliott
Women
Top three overall (15km): Mia Stiassny, Merridy Littell, Madelin Lowen
Top three U20 (15km): Piper Sears, Greta Bochenek, Ariana Cannava
Top three U18 (15km): Mia Stiassny, Merridy Littell, Madelin Lowen
Top three U16 (7.5km): Talia Smith, Alise Elliott, Lilli Bond
Results | Team Alaska points lists
Disclosure/shoutout, Merridy Littell is a World Cup reporter for Nordic Insights; she was on two U18 podia this weekend, showing that she crushes ski racing as well as writing about ski racing.
Intermountain: Super Qualifier/RMISA Ute Invitational, Soldier Hollow
Friday: Skate sprint
U18/U20 women A final: Britta Johnson, Niki Johnson, Maeve MacLeod
U16 women A final: Isabella Waters, Maia McGinnis-Smith, Georgia Bishop
U18/U20 men A final: Callahan Waters, Nate Veltman, Gavin Galyardt
U16 men A final: Luka Karnickis, Freedom Bennett, Elio Adriani
Saturday: 5/7.5km interval-start classic
Women
Top three U20: Neve Gerard, Nina Schamberger, Sammy Smith
Top three U18: Ally Wheeler, Niki Johnson, Cora Faye Scott
Top three U16: Tula Higman, Brooke Greenberg, Maia McGinnis-Smith
Men
Top three U20: Lucas Wilmot, Grey Barbier, Landon Wyatt
Top three U18: Callahan Waters, Will Bentley, Fisk Johansson
Top three U16: Peter Kan, Freedom Bennett, Tait Boschen
[Bonus: Sunday: 15km mass start skate, mostly a RMISA race but some U20 and U18 athletes jumped in as well. Not scored for JNQ points. Andreas Kirkeng (Denver), Joe Davies (Utah), and Brian Bushey (Utah) were your podium here for the men, with (of course) Erica Lavén (Utah), Kendall Kramer (Alaska Fairbanks), and Eve-Ondine Duchaufour (Denver) leading the way for the women. Here are results from Sunday’s RMISA-plus race.]
Great Lakes: Ariens Nordic Invite Salomon CXC Cup, Ariens Nordic Center
Saturday: 5/15km interval-start classic
Men
Top three overall: Leevi Tarjanne, Luke Fricker, Kristoffer Karsrud
Top three U20: Zaine Braaten, Kai Donnelly, Daniel Gladkov
Top three U18: Neel Dums, Ben Buchmann, Jack Dahlby
Top three U16: Connor Reckinger, James Derenne, Niels Stringer
Women
Top three overall: Victoria Klevan Dybwad, Henriette Nilssen, Marie Sølverud Wangen
Top three U20: Lillian Franzen, Liesl Cope-Schaeffer, Erica Kazin
Top three U18: Krin Blegen, Stella Meza, Lauren Carlton
Top three U16: Aleksandra Guseva, Onika Colassacco, Ashley Derenne
Sunday: 5km interval-start skate
Men
Top three U20: Franklin Richard, Olin Kasperowicz, Birk Seagren
Top three U18: Anders Giese, Jack Dahlby, Jonah Menet
Top three U16: Connor Reckinger, James Derenne, Niels Stringer
Women
Top three U20: Erica Kazin, Josephine Kwasny, Monet Argeropoulos
Top three U18: Krin Blegen, Stella Meza, Riley Grossklaus
Top three U16: Onika Colassacco, Elsa Oestreich, Kerkyra Vander Zanden
Results | Great Lakes JNs team points list
[Bonus: Sunday: CCSA had a 4 x 5km skate mixed relay in the morning at the same venue, before JNQ racing got underway for the rest of the day. The top three teams here were Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech I, and Michigan Tech II. Shoutout to Nordic Insights Midwest contributor Myles Brown, who skied the anchor leg for UWGB III. Here are results from the collegiate relay.]
New England: St. Lawrence Carnival/Eastern Cup, Lake Placid
Saturday: 5/7.5km interval-start classic
Women
Top three overall: Jasmine Drolet (Dartmouth), Clara Hegan (UNH), Ava Thurston (Dartmouth)
Top three U20: Clara Hegan (UNH), Maeve Ingelfinger (Dartmouth), Greta Kilburn (UVM)
Top three U18: Sarah-Eve Picard (Équipe Québec), Annelies Hanna (Ford Sayre), Mary Harrington (GMVS)
Top three U16: Mia Brun del Re (Chelsea Nordiq), Laila Lebel (Nakkertok Nordic), Acadia Enmen (Mansfield Nordic)
Men
Top three overall: Luke Allan (Dartmouth), Finn Sweet (UVM), Petter Bakken (UVM)
Top three U20: Finn Christiansen (GMVS), Daniel McCollor (St. Michael’s), Aidan Jacobus (Dartmouth)
Top three U18: Thierry Olivier (Club Nordique Mont Sainte-Anne), Joel Thibault (Fondeurs–Laurentide), Owen Siderius (Nakkertok Nordic)
Top three U16: Kai Samm (Chelsea Nordiq), Bastiaan Brouwer (Chelsea Nordiq), Matthew Northcott (Caldwell Sport)
Sunday: Skate sprint
Women
A final: Sammy Legate, Emmanuelle Moreau, Claire Serrano
Men
A final: Alexandre Cormier, Guillaume Pelchat, Jeremy Lantz
Sorry to not have this broken out by age group; I don’t have age categories or year of birth on the results I’m looking at, and I’m not gonna hazard age group guesses for a bevy of New England skiers from a distance. As of Tuesday morning Alaska time I don’t see this weekend’s results reflected yet in the JNs points list, linked below, suggesting that they are not yet officially available. Check back at those links within the week for more on this.
Results | New England JNs team points lists
Photo gallery from Lake Placid (thanks again to Ben Theyerl with NENSA for these shots; click any image to bring up a slideshow):
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