December 23, 2013 (Wausau, WI) – A large turnout of top notch regional talent attended the Aspirus Nordic Challenge hosted by Knicker Nordic Ski Club over the weekend in Wausau, WI most to attend a Midwest Jr. National Qualifying event. In many cases the field sizes were good in each category, clearing a great sign for the continued development of the sport. Races were held at the Greenwood Hill Country Club. The series moves to Telemark Chase (Cable, WI) on January  for the next races.

Wausau action © CXC

Highlights
In the 1km sprints Hannah Rudd (U16 Category, Loppet Nordic Racing, Plymouth, MN) and Mattie Watts (U18/20 Category, Endurance United/SISU, New Brighton, MN) took the women’s title with Henry Gore MadNorSki (U16 Category, MadNorSki/CXC, Madison, WI) and Matt Nichols (U18/20 Category, UW Green Bay, Wausau, WI) grabbing the crown in the men’s event.

Winners included in the Boys 5km event Michael  Jarzin (U16 Category, Ashwaubenon, Green Bay, WI), while Hannah Rudd (U16 Category, Loppet Nordic Racing, Plymouth, MN), Vivian Hett (U18 Category, Loppet Nordic Racing, Burnsville, MN) and Nicolette Reker (U20 Category,  Endurance United/SISU, Little Canada, MN) took top honors in the girl’s 5km event.

In the men’s 10km race Ian Torchia (U18 Category, Rochester, MN) and Jan Ketterson (U20 Category, Dartmouth, Bloomington, MN) took the win.

Quotes
“Nice to see the Midwest Juniors skiing very competitive with the top college skiers, both days.” – Kevin Brochman, SISU Director of Athlete Performance and Coach

“I’m really proud of the way Henry raced today. It’s nice to see the hard work that he did over the summer and fall start to pay off.” – Andy Keller, CXC Junior Development Coach

“We had a great time. We get few sprint weekends and it’s great this time of year to get a sprint distance weekend in just for the high intensity. I think the whole team had fun.” – Chad Salmela, Saint Scholastica Coach

“Organizers did an outstanding work in all aspects of the event and it was also great to see club, high school and college teams competing last weekend. CXC had an opportunity again to test live streaming of the event both days. It was exciting to see number of live and on-demand viewers considering we did not promote it. We will continue with this project and hope to increase the quality of webcast. The next event is coming up in January on Telemark trails.” – Yuriy Gusev, CXC Executive Director

Results here
Video here.
Photos here.

Read more here.