Sixteen BSF athletes representing two different divisions (15 for the Intermountain Division (IMD), 1 for PNSA) made their way to Minneapolis, MN, for the 2022 Cross Country Junior Nationals last week. Athletes competed in four races over a span of six days, racking up a number of top-20 finishes, while Landon Wyatt claimed a national title in the U16 5km classic.
Natalie Nicholas was three seconds out of the top 10 in the opening race of the event, the U16 women's 5k skate, while Kolibri Drobish was 8th in the U20 women's race. In the classic sprint, BSF had two athletes in the top 5 with Max Kluck in 5th in the U18 boys race and Landon Wyatt taking 4th in the U16 boys race.
Friday's classic mass start race saw four athletes in the top 15 with Sumner Cotton placing 15th in the U20 boys race, Max Kluck and Phin Fischer taking 12th and 15th respectively in the U18 boys race and Landon Wyatt winning the National Championship for the U16 boys.
BSF Nordic Program Director Andrew Morehouse noted that Wyatt had a particularly gritty performance in the 5km. “It was a tight race but Landon made an impressive surge with less than a kilometer to go, giving him a big enough gap that held through the finish line.”
In the mixed team relay, Max Kluck skied up an age group, and skied the second leg for the Intermountain Division team, which finished on the podium on third place. Landon Wyatt teamed up with three other Intermountain skiers to take 5th overall in the U16 relay. In the team scoring, BSF finished 7th in the combined results. The BSF Nordic women were 11th overall with the men 5th.
A remarkable number of BSF athletes qualified for Junior Nationals this year, a sign of growing depth in the program. Morehouse said, “This is a long week of racing and the athletes have worked hard all season to qualify for this event. I'm incredibly proud of the way this team trained and stayed positive through a long season. In Minneapolis they left everything on the race courses, made new friends, had fun, and supported their teammates.”
The athletes will travel back to Bozeman and are looking forward to some much deserved rest over spring break.
EXTRA! BSF Coach Marshall Opel wrote a story about Landon's journey to the finish line. READ IT HERE.
CLASSIC MASS START
U16 Men 5km Classic Mass Start
1. Landon Wyatt 14:38
26. Aldo McWethy 15:38
35. Cole Bothner 15:49
54. Ryan Galyen 16:15
U16 Women’s 5km Classic Mass Start
28. Natalie Nicholas 18:19
41. Tobi Jacobsen 18:53
48. Hanna Kluck 19:05
U18 Men’s 10km Classic Mass Start
12. Max Kluck 24:44
15. Phinneas Fischer 25:04
53. Woody West 26:49
U20 Women 10km Classic Mass Start
5. Kolibri Drobish 29:46
26. Kira Gilbert 32:26
U20 Men 15km Classic Mass Start
14. Sumner Cotton 43:36
25. Gray Wasson 44:58
30. Cale Woods 46:47
CLASSIC SPRINT
U16 Women’s Classic Sprint
24. Natalie Nicholas
30. Hanna Kluck
33. Tobi Jacobsen
U16 Men’s Classic Sprint
4. Landon Wyatt
25. Ryan Galyen
45. Cole Bothner
57. Aldo McWethy
U18 Women’s Classic Sprint
85. Anna Alexander
U18 Men’s Classic Sprint
5. Max Kluck
16. Phineas Fischer
26. Woody West
Women’s U20 Classic Sprint
18. Kira Gilbert
22. Kolibri Drobish
29. Clara Wyatt
Men’s U20 Classic Sprint
19. Sam Haynes
20. Gray Wasson
22. Sumner Cotton
26. Cale Woods
Freestyle Individual Start
U16 5km Freestyle Women
12. Natalie Nicholas 16:26
25. Hanna Kluck 17:03
70. Tobi Jacobsen 18:48
U16 5km Freestyle Men
20. Landon Wyatt 14:33
37. Aldo McWethy 14:53
55. Cole Bothner 15:21
67. Ryan Galyen 15:54
U18 5km Freestyle Women
84. Anna Alexander 17:57
U18 10km Freestyle Men
17. Max Kluck 24:15
37. Phineas Fischer 25:01
47. Woody West 25:22
U20 5km Freestyle Women
8. Kolibri Drobish 16:09
28. Clara Wyatt 17:36
35. Kira Gilbert 17:48
U20 10km Freestyle Men
24. Cale Woods 25:24
25. Sumner Cotton 25:26
29. Gray Wasson 25:56
39. Sam Haynes 27:30
