GRP Ski - Racing thru December 15th Recap
Super Tour Anchorage, Alaska
A group of the GRP skiers traveled to Anchorage, Alaska on November 28th where they raced 2 SuperTour weekends. This domestic circuit will be the focus for most of the team through U.S. Nationals and beyond as the main route to qualify for international racing, including the Olympics. GRP athletes pushed themselves through exciting (like a moose charging down the course!) and tight racing, learning key take aways for the rest of the season.
The first weekend of racing started out with a classic sprint. John Schwinghamer had an outstanding performance in the sprint qualifier finishing 2nd in a field of 63, only 1.33 seconds behind 1st. Jack also had a notable finish of 10th. Keelan and Brian finished 15th and 16th with .19 seconds separating the two and Joe Lynch finished 55th (after veering off course to avoid a charging moose). No GRP qualifiers made it out of the quarters, but a trio went back to back to back with Christner - Durham - Bushey holding down 16-18th.
Sunday was an interval start skate race. Brian placed 3rd, Jack 23rd, Keelan 27th, Joe 37th, and John 45th.
In the second weekend of racing Jack and Keelan made it to the semi-finals during Saturday’s skate sprint. Keelan made the final and had a great race, finishing 4th only 0.07 seconds behind 2nd and 1.47 seconds behind 1st. Brian had an outstanding performance in the 10k on Sunday, placing 2nd out of 77 skiers. Jack placed 17th, Joe 30th, Keelan 49th, and John 60th.
Anchorage results - both weekends
Period 1 World Cup
GRPer Jack Young has been racing Period 1 of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup. Period 1 of the World Cup consisted of 3 racing weekends in Ruka, Finland, Trondheim, Norway and Davos, Switzerland with team sprints, classic and skate sprints, and a skate 10k.
Davos was the highlight for Jack. Over the three days in Switzerland Jack raced sprints in free technique and a 10k classic race. Jack will remember Davos’ freestyle sprint fondly as he made the final and placed 4th - the highest American finish on the day and a new career best.
Jack Young after his 4th place finish in Davos, Switzerland
“This result means so so much. It really feels like proof that I can make it to the top in this sport. If I told myself 3 years ago that I would have a 4th Place on the World Cup, I would have thought I was insane.”
