SoHo Recap- a great weekend!

Photo #1 BNT skier Pat Madden racing with BNT/U of Utah skier (and Pat’s cousin) Tom Smith.

Photo #2 Reitler Hodgert cresting out on “Hermod’s” with Brando in tow.

Photo #3 Pat putting the hammer down.

460 competitors from 10 states competed this weekend at the Western Regional Super Junior Olympic Qualifier on the 2002 Olympic trails in Solder Hollow, Utah.  The best juniors in the country, with the sole exclusion of the East, Midwest and Alaska, competed in a skate sprint on Friday and a mass start classic distance race on Saturday.

7 skiers from the Bend Nordic Team competed in both events.  In the sprint, Darragh Hildreth qualified in 30^th place for the J1/OJ women and moved on to race in the quarterfinals.  Brandon Roadman, Reitler Hodgert, Danny Coil, and Pat Madden all qualified in the top 30 for the J1/OJ men, with Reitler finishing 9^th on the day, and Pat Madden finishing on the podium in third place after blazing fast A-final.  In her 10k classic race, Darragh finished 9^th OJ after racing the first 5k in the top group of junior women who were setting the pace.  Pat Madden had another stellar day, finishing 3^rd OJ for the second day in a row in the J1/OJ 15k race.  Brandon Roadman and Reitler Hodgert also had strong days, finishing 5^th OJ and 15^th J1 respectively.

Conditions were perfect both days with lows in the single digits overnight and days warming to the mid-30s with clear skies and perfect snow.  The skis were fast both days and kicked great on Saturday.  Said first timer to Soldier Hollow Mikey Widmer: “I’d always heard how hard this course was, but I didn’t expect it to be that hard.  Definitely the hardest race of my life.”  Colin Dunlap, also a first time SoHo competitor added:  ”I am so glad I traveled to this race, it is clear to me now how fast the fastest junior skiers are-  I have a lot of work to do!”

A very big thank you goes out to first time wax tech Dakota Blackhorse von Jess. He worked very hard insuring that everything was perfect before during and after the race.  We were all inspired by his professionalism.