When they first learned the Nordic Junior World Ski Championships were being held in Lake Placid, New York, Steamboat’s Nordic athletes were less than thrilled. 

“A lot of times kids look forward to qualifying for Junior Worlds because it means another trip to an exotic, foreign place,” explained Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club coach Karl Denney. “Some of them, when they heard it would be in Lake Placid, were almost disappointed because they have been there. Now, they have come around to see the perspective of how exciting it is to host this competition on home snow. It is going to be a really proud moment for all of U.S. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined.” 

The Junior World Championships take the top Nordic junior athletes from across the world, 21 nations in total, to showcase their talents in Nordic combined and ski jumping from Feb. 11-16. 

On Tuesday morning, U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced the Nordic combined and ski jumping teams that will represent the U.S. at Junior Worlds. Six team members have ties to Steamboat Springs and the SSWSC.

Athletes achieve selection to the Junior Worlds team based on objective criteria of scoring World Cup points or earning top results in Continental Cup events. Any remaining spots come down to four domestic qualifier competitions — two of which were held in Steamboat Springs at the beginning of December, with the others taking place in Lake Placid after New Year’s. 

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Nordic Junior World Ski Championships roster

Nordic Combined:
Women
Ella Wilson – Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Haley Brabec – Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Kai McKinnon – New York Ski Education Foundation

Men
Anders Giese – Norge Ski Club
Arthur Tirone – Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Caleb Zuckerman – Bowdoin College
Ethan Maines – Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Ronen Woods – Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Ski Jumping:
Women
Kaija Copenhaver – Ishpeming Ski Club
Estella Hassrick – Blackhawk Ski Club
Josie Johnson – Park City Ski & Snowboard
Sandra Sproch – Norge Ski Club

Men
Jason Colby – Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Tate Frantz – New York Ski Education Foundation
Sawyer Graves – Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
Bryce Klock – New York Ski Education Foundation
Henry Loher – New York Ski Education Foundation

The Junior World Championships is the premier event for athletes under 20. Competitors get a lot of attention from the U.S. National Team coaches and can even qualify for the national team’s C-team if they post high enough results on the world stage. 

Athletes to look out for from Steamboat Springs include Arthur Tirone, who completely dominated the Nordic combined domestic qualifiers this season. The 16-year-old put a lot of work into his cross country skills this offseason and has seen massive improvements on his speed.

Joining Tirone for the boys is 15-year-old Ethan Maines, whose qualification was a tremendous feat for his first year of FIS eligibility. At the start of the season, Denney questioned whether Maines would compete in the second qualifier, but his performance in December was so strong that he sat in qualification position. 

“He jumped far, skied fast and really impressed a lot of people,” Denney said. “For a young guy, even on the cross country course, he was keeping up with guys four or five years older than him. He was an awesome surprise this year.” 

For the Nordic combined girls, Steamboat’s Ella Wilson and Haley Brabec will be two of three to represent the U.S. The pair just got through scoping out the competition at a Continental Cup event in Austria and are poised for great success at Junior Worlds. 

“Both of them have made great strides this season,” Denney said. “It’s funny because each of them have opposite strengths, where Ella is a stronger jumper and Haley is a stronger cross country skier. Together they each have their own strengths to play and they both have been making awesome strides this season.” 

Special jumpers Jason Colby and Sawyer Graves will be soaring through the New York sky in February. Colby, 18, began competing in his first World Cup events last winter and has finished as high as 28th this season in Ruka, Finland in November. He is poised to make a splash on the Junior Worlds leaderboard. 

Graves, 16, has been jumping on an incredibly high level this year, according to Denney.

“His big strides this year have been on his mental game, being able to handle pressure and maturing in how he handles himself in all situations,” Denney said. “Whether in victory or defeat, he has become a lot more well-rounded of an athlete and a person. He has been to Junior Worlds before and seems a lot more prepared this year. I’m excited to see how he competes.”

Denney said there are a number of advantages to competing in Lake Placid for American athletes. Typically, the team goes to great lengths to travel and compete in competitions overseas, but this year the tables have turned and the Americans will have shorter travel time and a small time difference. 

Denney added that the ability to pull more local resources that would not necessarily be brought on bigger trips is huge as well. 

More important than anything for Denney, however, is his athletes represent the U.S. well and are gracious hosts of such an important event. He looks forward to seeing the team compete on the world’s biggest stage for U20 athletes.

For more event details and event scheduling, visit OlympicJumpingComplex.com/NordicJuniorWorlds/