By Gavin Kentch
Three familiar names lead the standings for the Alaska Cup, the trophy given annually to the top-performing region at Junior Nationals, halfway through this year’s four-race series. Alaska and Intermountain are currently tied for first, with 529 points apiece. Multi-time defending champion New England remains within striking distance in third, with 460 points. Rocky Mountain (321 points) and Midwest (306 points) round out the rest of the top five.
Here were the Alaska Cup standings following Monday’s interval-start classic race:
And here are the standings currently, following Wednesday’s skate sprint:
That’s Alaska scoring four more points than Intermountain on day one, then Intermountain returning the favor on day two, to let The Last Frontier and the, uh, greater Idaho/Montana/Utah/Western Wyoming region arrive at the midway point of 2025 Junior Nationals in a dead heat. New England, meanwhile, had a slightly stronger showing on sprint day than on classic day, but was still left 69 points back of first on both days.
Racing on the next two days closes out the championships. Friday is a mass start skate race; Saturday is a classic relay.
Over the last 20 years, New England has taken home the Alaska Cup 16 times. Alaska has won its eponymous trophy three times, and Intermountain has claimed it once, in 2007.
On the one hand, it would therefore qualify as a mild upset if not–New England claims the trophy this year. On the other hand, seeing Alaska, Intermountain, and New England at the top of the results sheet for junior racing is hardly surprising by this point, given that history.
Are you interested in a much longer, copiously documented article on what the geographic distribution of high-performing athletes looks like for senior racing in this country? (TLDR, it looks a lot like Alaska, Intermountain, and New England. You’re welcome.) Reader, I have written just such an article:
Are you, by contrast, interested in some athlete photos from the first few days of racing? Reader, my photo sourcing for these races has admittedly been a little piecemeal, but here is most of what I have gotten back from folks on the ground (THANK YOU to everyone who has messaged me!).
This is Annelies Hanna and Niki Johnson (photo: Amber Hanna)
This is some Alaskans, heavy on Alaska Winter Stars and coach Jan Buron because that’s who sent me images thank you (photos: Jerome Leveque, Joey Caterinichio, and Jenny Kimball)
This is the U20 women’s skate sprint podium generally, and then Keira Scott (second overall, first American) specifically (photos: Drew Palmer-Leger, via Far West press release)
Here are a *lot* of podium photos from Wednesday, all from USST coach Greta Anderson. Photo size/quality issues here are my fault, not hers. Sorry about that.
And finally, here are two fine posts from NENSA featuring multiple New England athletes:
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