By Gavin Kentch
Kate Oldham (Carbondale, Colorado; Aspen Valley Ski Club and Montana State) has had a pretty good month. In early January she kicked off U.S. Nationals with her first national championship, winning the 10km skate by roughly 11 seconds over Kendall Kramer and 28 seconds ahead of Erica Lavén. She would finish as the third American in the 20km classic national championship, and first American (third overall) in the SuperTour skate sprint, before leaving Anchorage. This was promptly followed by 19th in a skate sprint in her World Cup debut in Engadin, then 16th in the 10km skate in Cogne on Sunday.
Earlier Tuesday she was at it again, placing tenth in the classic sprint in the first race at 2025 World U23 Cross-Country Championships in Bergamo–Schilpario. Oldham was 41st in the qual in this event at 2023 U23 Championships in Whistler. Draw your own conclusion here about unpredictable development arcs and the importance of keeping more athletes in the sport for more seasons.*
Oldham was joined in the women’s heats today by Nina Seemann (Wheelock, Vermont; Dartmouth), who finished 20th, and Sydney Palmer-Leger, competing at her fifth career World Junior or U23 Championships, who was 23rd. On the men’s side, Michael Earnhart (Anchorage; USST/APU) led the way in 14th, with Will Koch (Peru, Vermont; USST/SMS/Colorado) 19th.
Additionally, Emma Strack (Wilson, Vermont; St. Lawrence University) was 35th in the women’s qual. Trey Jones (Steamboat Springs; USST/SSWSC/Colorado) and Jack Christner (Ripton, Vermont; Middlebury) were 38th and 47th, respectively, in the men’s qual.
Here is video from today cued up for Oldham’s semifinal, in which she finished fifth:
And here is her quarterfinal, which she won by nearly a second:
Moving on to the other American women who raced today, here is Nina Seemann, fourth in quarterfinal no. 3:
And here is Sydney Palmer-Leger, fifth in the fifth quarterfinal:
Turning to the men, Earnhart and Koch both raced in quarterfinal no. 5. Earnhart was third in this heat, 0.20 from advancing. Koch was fourth in the heat. Here it is:
I admit that I did not pull full athlete-specific timestamps for the qual, but you can see that below if you would like. Shoutout to FIS for making this available for free, and shoutout to the commentator for gamely narrating sprint quals for roughly an hour straight. Here are qual start lists for men and women, which should give you a bib number and help if you are looking for a specific athlete.
Racing continues tomorrow in Lombardy with the 20km mass start classic. For the junior women, Sammy Smith (Hailey, Idaho; USST/Sun Valley), Nina Schamberger (Leadville, Colorado; University of Utah and Summit Nordic Ski Club), Lena Poduska (Wilson, Wyoming; Jackson Hole Ski Club), and Maeve Ingelfinger (Glacier, Montana; Dartmouth) are on the start list for the U.S.
For the junior men, it will be Cole Flowers (Anchorage; UAF and Alaska Winter Stars), Lucas Wilmot (Wilson, Wyoming; University of Utah and Jackson Hole Ski Club), Justin Lucas (Anchorage; APU), and Grey Barbier (Steamboat Springs; Montana State and SSWSC).
* Correction: This article has been edited. The second paragraph originally stated that Kate Oldham did not make the American team for 2024 U23s in Planica. Oldham did in fact make the team last year; she declined the nomination in favor of racing domestically. I regret the error, which I made because I made an assumption and did not do my research. So long as I am proselytizing about different development paths, it has to be said that Oldham’s having the self-confidence to turn down starts on a desirable international trip in favor of focusing on domestic racing that season is a notable if not courageous choice, which has clearly paid dividends this season.
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