Bridger Ski Foundation athletes made a decision to not attend U.S. Junior Nationals this spring, instead staying home so they could focus on the overall U.S. Freestyle National Championships the following week. It paid off.

BSF had five athletes qualify for the end-of-season championships at Palisades Tahoe in California: Oliver Lacey, Ian Tuttle, Logan Baack, Makayla Papke and Meg Papke.

In the single moguls competition, the women turned in solid performances led by Meg Papke in 28th, Makayla Papke in 32nd, and Logan Baack in 47th. Ian Tuttle was 50th in the men's competition, and unfortunately, Oliver Lacey suffered an injury during the training day. Meg also earned herself a start in the dual mogul competition, where skiers work through a bracket, battling skiers side by side down the mogul course.

The last day of competition, Sunday, March 30, featured the duals competition. The weather started out with snow and quickly turned to rain. Top freestyle athletes from around the country were vying for a national title on a challenging red dog course, 240 meters long with a pitch of 26 degrees.  Meg skied strong, advancing through dual rounds to finish in 9th place overall. US Freestyle Ski Team member Alli Macuga earned the national title and teammate Kylie Kariotis won the silver. Meg's finish was an impressive feat for a 16-year-old charging head to head against world-cup-level skiers. (For context, Kariotis was 4th in dual moguls at the World Championships this year.)

Huge congratuations to the BSF Freestyle Team on an excellent season.

‍

‍