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Steamboat in second: Nolting, Haerter earn podium finishes in Junior Championships

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club skier Jeremy Nolting has two second-place finishes at the Rocky Mountain Division Junior Championships at Steamboat Resort on Wednesday morning. (Photo by Shelby Reardon)
Shelby Reardon/Steamboat Pilot & Today

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Second place is great, but after a pair of silver finishes at the Rocky Mountain Division Alpine Junior Championships, Jeremy Nolting is sick of settling. Going back to his last races at Keystone, he’s had four straight second-place finishes. He’s ready to win first

“Second’s awesome. Just being up there and staying high ranked is good. It does get frustrating when you’re close and just getting second,” he said. “It’s getting a little bit on the nerves, but I can’t really complain.”

The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club U16 skier earned second in Tuesday’s downhill race at Steamboat Resort and finished second again Wednesday in the super-G. The difference between Nolting and Tuesday’s victor, Aspen’s Noah Bindas, was more than a half a second, and on Wednesday, Nolting missed out on gold by just 0.12 seconds.



Closing even the tiniest gap in skiing is difficult, but Nolting is determined to do so in Wednesday nights super combined event in which his performance from the afternoon will be combined with his slalom performance in the evening at Howelsen Hill.

With a late start, the results of Wednesday’s race came in after press time.



He also has a chance to earn first in either Thursday’s Slalom or Friday’s Giant Slalom events. He’s confident in his skiing in all disciplines but has been doing best in Giant Slalom.

“I’ve been skiing the best in that in training,” he said. “The whole season I’ve been skiing really consistently. It’s probably my best event right now.”

Over the past few years, Nolting has been a consistent top-10 finisher, but he’s earned more podiums than ever this winter. He points to off-season training and equipment preparation as reasons for his success this year.

Also on the doorstep of a Junior Championships gold was Steamboat’s Lauren Haerter. She took second in the downhill race Tuesday with a two-run time of one 1:33.06, while teammate Rylee McLouth earned third in 1:33.29.

Remaining Junior Championships schedule

Thursday, March 4

Slalom at Howelsen Hill Ski Area

10 a.m. girls run 1

11:15 a.m. girls run 2

1:15 p.m. boys run 1

2:30 p.m. boys run 2

Friday, March 5

Giant slalom at Steamboat Resort

9 a.m. boys run 1

11 a.m. boys run 2

1 p.m. girls run 1

3 p.m. girls run 2

Haerter and McLouth are two of just four Steamboat women who qualified to compete in the Junior Championships week. Noelle Roth and Elena Dziura took 11th and 16th respectively in downhill, finishing in the top 50% of competitors.

They improved on those finishes Wednesday. Roth was one spot off the podium in fourth, while Dziura took 10th. Haerter and McLouth were unable to finish their runs.

All four will be competing Thursday and Friday hoping to continue their success on their home slopes of Steamboat Resort and Howelsen Hill.

A total of nine Steamboat men qualified for the junior championships, and five finished in the top 10 Wednesday. Thomas Mennan just missed the podium in fourth, as Nick DeMarco took eighth and Daniel Ferruci earned 10th.

“As a whole, we’ve really stepped up our game,” Nolting said. “We work hard as a team in the summer. We always push each other. In training, we are always competitive. We always try to push our teammates to go faster. We have a lot of kids on our team that are fast. We have a lot of depth. … I think the team is doing great.”

Normally success at the Regional Junior Championships earns the top skiers a spot at nationals. However, nationals will not happen this year. Instead, top skiers might earn a spot at regional or national camps in the coming months.

Wednesday, March 3

Super-G Men

Top 3: 1. Kai Boyer, SUM, 47.57. 2. Jeremy Nolting, SSWSC, 47.69. 3. Chase Kelly, AVSC, 48.24.

Steamboat finishers: 4. Thomas Mennan 48.31. 8. Nick DeMarco 48.69. 10. Daniel Ferruci 48.72. 14. Alex Orozco 49.04. 22. Ian Haupt 50.24.

Super-G Women

Top 3: 1. Tommie Jo Springer 49.98. 2. Nicole Begue, SSCV, 50.14. 3. Skylar Sheppard, BKH, 50.23.

Steamboat finishers: 4. Noelle Roth 50.33. 10. Elena Dziura 51.3.

Tuesday, March 2

Downhill Women

Top 3: 1. Tommie Jo Springer 1:32.33. 2. Lauren Haerter, SSWSC, 1:33.06. 3. Rylee McLouth, SSWSC, 1:33.29.

Steamboat finishers: 11. Noelle Roth 1:34.62. 16. Elena Dziura 1:35.91.

Downhill Men

Top 3: 1. Noah Bindas, AVSC, 1:29.57. 2. Jeremy Nolting, SSWSC, 1:30.12. 3. Kai Boyer, SUM, 1:30.15.

Steamboat finishers: 4. Jack Vincent 1:30.51. 5. Roman Elvidge 1:30.59. 8. Nick DeMarco 1:30.89. 9. Curtis Zanni 1:31.32. 11. Daniel Ferucci 1:31.57. 13. Thomas Mennan 1:31.72. 15. Alex Orozco 1:31.78. 21. Ian Haupt 1:33.49.


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