Kicking off the Rocky Mountain Nordic Junior National qualifying races for the winter season, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club sent its cross country ski athletes to Crested Butte on Saturday, Dec. 17 and Sunday, Dec. 18. 

This was the first of four qualifying race weekends for the SSWSC cross country athletes who competed in two races and took multiple podiums across all age groups. 

Head coach Josh Smullin was impressed with all his athletes but highlighted one racer as the standout. 

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“I would say the breakthrough performance of the week was Anna Rhodes placing second and earning her first cross country podium finish,” Smullin said.

Rhodes raced in the U16 category and despite taking 13th place in Saturday’s 5-kilometer race, she dominated the skate race the following day to take her first-career podium. 

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Other top finishers include Grey Barbier and Trey Jones who finished first and second respectively in Saturday’s 5K race. Jones earned a second podium from a win in the 7.5K race on Sunday. 

For the U16 men, Tristan Thrasher and Campbell McLaren each took two podiums with Thrasher earning gold in Sunday’s 5K skate race. 

Despite the chilling temperatures, Smullin said his athletes were not affected by the weather as is proven on the results sheet.

“It was cold but it was very sunny in Crested Butte,” Smullin said. “That’s one of the coldest places in Colorado so we expect it. Weather and different conditions are part of the sport, we want our athletes to deal with the variables thrown at them better than their competitors.”

While the goal in every competition is to get strong results, some of the SSWSC athletes will be traveling to the national championship event in Michigan starting Jan. 2. Because of this, Smullin used the weekend for those athletes as a way to keep the volume of training high. 

For the group that will not be going to nationals, Smullin wanted to get the best results possible from them. 

“We dropped their training volume a little bit to try to give them a good chance to perform well there and then we pick up the training now a little bit because they don’t have another big qualifier until the 20th  of January.”

SSWSC Results:

Saturday, Dec. 17

Junior male U18/20 5K: 1. Grey Barbier, 13:53.6. 2. Trey Jones, 14:11.1. 7. Henry Magill, 14:43.0. 8. Thomas Cooper, 14:44.7. 19. Caleb Zuckerman, 16:05.4.

Junior female U18/20 5K: 7. Charley Lodwick, 18:05.8. 11. Grace Olexa, 18:33.1. 13. Ruby May, 18:38.4. 17. Alena Rossi, 19:53.4. 18. Kiri May, 20:03.2. 19. Heidi Andre, 20:15.3. 26. Suzy Magill, 21:31.8. 

Junior male U16 5K: 2. Campbell McLaren, 14:44.1. 3. Tristan Thrasher, 14:59.1. 15. Luke Bedell, 19:05.7. 

Junior female U16 5K: 7. Tig Loomis, 19:17.6. 8. Shea Rossi, 19:20.8. 11. Norah Graham, 19:54.2. 13. Anna Rhodes, 20:35.5. 19. Davis Brosterhous, 23:02.1. 

Sunday, Dec. 18

Junior male U18/20 7.5K: 1. Trey Jones, 18:58.4. 3. Henry Magill, 19:22.5. 5. Grey Barbier, 19:50.2. 7. Thomas Cooper, 20:51.5. 15. Caleb Zuckerman, 21:56.5.

Junior female U18/20 7.5K: 7. Charley Lodwick, 26:06.4. 11. Grace Olexa, 27:11.2. 15. Heidi Andre, 28:17.9. 16. Alena Rossi, 29:12.7. 19. Suzy Magill, 29:47.1.

Junior male U16 5K: 1. Tristan Thrasher, 14:08.2. 2. Campbell McLaren, 14:09.2. 13. Luke Bedell, 18:09.2.

Junior female U16: 2. Anna Rhodes, 18:08.7. 4. Tig Loomis, 18:41.0. 7. Shea Rossi, 18:48.6. 10. Norah Graham, 19:34.2. 18. Davis Brosterhous, 23:00.5.