February 10, 2015 (Almaty, Kazakhstan) – We caught up with Team USA’s junior women’s relay squad after their strong eighth place finish in the 4×3.3km Relay on the final day of the Jr/U23 Nordic World Championships. SkiTrax received some insightful comments from Katharine Ogden, Julia Kern, and Hailey Swirbul. Vivian Hett was the fourth skier on the roster. Plus, Canadian Alexis Dumas comments on the team’s 10th place in the men’s event – race report and videos here.

Julia Kern, Hailey Swirbul, Katharine Ogden © courtesy of Julia Kern

Katharine Ogden

Tell us about your leg and how it unfolded.
KO: The relay today went really well, it was so cool to come together as a team for our last day at worlds. Everyone skied really hard and we were super psyched to beat our start spot from last year (10th).

The conditions were really great, especially considering the sub par weather that the organizers were working with. It was very foggy and warm and wet out in the morning causing a loss of snow but the organizers were able to move the courses around and move snow in order to get a good course with good snow cover.

My skis, as always were ripping fast because our techs are the best and they put in tons of work to make sure we are skiing on the fastest skis possible.

My leg was actually pretty boring, I was a ways behind the girls in front of me and a good amount ahead of the ones behind me.

Are you happy overall with how things went at Worlds this year?
KO: I am so happy with how this week has gone, I met and exceeded my goals going into the trip and I had an amazing time. Overall the trip has been incredible, full of fun memories and adventures.

Any shout out to fans at home?
KO: I would like to thank NENSA for their continued support of me and my ski racing. Also, HUGE shout out to my parents and my little siblings for waking up in the middle of the night to watch the races and cheer me on from the other side of the world!!

Fish being glittered by Hailey and Katharine! © courtesy of Julia Kern

Tell us about your leg and how it unfolded.
JK: The course for the classic leg was 2 laps of the sprint course plus a short climb added on. The weather was pretty warm so it was klister conditions. The turns were hairy at times with a berm and ice on the inside, but definitely skiable. There were some pretty large climbs so kick was important today. My skis were fantastic in both kick and glide, I didn’t slip once! The wax techs did such an amazing job this week with the skis!

I was the scramble leg and I loved it! I love being able to experience the international aggression and tactics of mass starts, which is very different to the U.S. At least one girl fell on the first turn and Canadian also fell in front of me and broke her ski. You really have to ready for anything in a mass start which is so exciting. I was able to ski with the lead pack into the tag off zone.

Are you happy overall with how things went at Worlds this year?
JK: I didn’t quite reach my goals for this week, which left me a little disappointed but I was really excited for relay day! Relay day is one of my favorite race days and I was glad to finish the week off with a strong leg in the relay and a great team result!

Any shout out to fans at home?
JK: I would like to thank NENSA and NNF! For their support!  I would like to give a shout out to my parents and sister who stayed up late at night watching the live results and live feed! Also, I would like to give a shout out to Cambridge Sports Union (CSU) and my teammate Leah Brams who raced at U18 trip!

Boobar being glittered! © courtesy of Julia Kern

Tell us about your leg and how it unfolded.
HS: I am happy about the fact that our relay team placed higher than our original ranking of tenth place, but I know our team can finish in an higher position in years to come. I was thrilled to watch the US race to some very impressive results this week, so things are looking great for our future relay teams. Surprisingly, the course was in decent condition considering the warm temps we have had the past few days in Almaty. My skis were ripping fast as usual, thanks to our hard working wax techs!

Are you happy overall with how things went at Worlds this year?
HS: I came into the WJC competition with goals  to make the US relay team, learn as much as possible, and finish the week with knowledge about strategy and the way athletes at such a high caliber carry themselves at these events. I am glad to say that our team is no different than the other teams here, and that the US is equally worthy of impressive results on a world class level of skiing. I am very lucky to be a part of this team and experience, and am happy with how my first World Juniors played out for me.

Any shout out to fans at home?
HS: Thank you to my supporters and donors who helped me afford this incredible experience, and to NNF for their support. Also, shout out to my parents for their endless patience, love, and support.

Course overview from atop! © courtesy of Julia Kern

Alexis Dumas (via Sportcom, translated by Google Translate)

“We made a very good performance and we achieved our goal of finishing in the top 10.”

“I had a slow start, but it was my plan to be able to attack the second round, I stayed with Switzerland on the 2nd half of the leg and made up some good time on the lead. I am very happy with my race.