Inside Edge: Longanecker, Barrett finish strong in Utah

Western Region Junior XC Ski Championships — Soldier Hollow, Utah (location of the 2002 XC Winter Olympics) hosted the final major cross country event of the season on March 11-13. This championship took the place of Junior Nationals, which was canceled this year due to COVID-19.

While teams from the Midwest and Northeast regions weren’t present, this race still attracted some tough competition from five Western regions. Three hundred and sixty male and female athletes ranging from 14 to 19 years old competed in sprint, skate and classic racing.

U16 boys Jett Longanecker and Fletcher Barrett (Longanecker is a second year U16 and Barrett is a first year U16) represented the Pacific Northwest Ski Association (PNSA) and were coached by Ross Longhini.

Conditions were definitely “spring skiing” on a course with man-made snow. Day one was a 1.5K sprint with the top 30 finishers qualifying for heats. Both Longanecker and Barrett had solid races, but finished outside qualifying positions for the heats. Longanecker just missed the heat cut-off by .4 seconds, finishing in 3:55 and taking 33rd out of 87 racers. Barrett had a time of 4:13 to place 63rd.

Day two of the championships consisted of a 5K classic race. Despite crashing on the course, Longanecker still finished in 31st out of 86 boys, in a time of 15:17. Barrett came in close behind in 56th with a time of 15:36.

Day three was a 5K skate race in a March blizzard. Skating through wet and heavy snow was definitely a physical and mental challenge for all racers. Top finish times for the U16 boys were over a minute slower than the prior day’s classic race. Longanecker placed 31st in 15:41 and was the second finisher amongst eight PNSA U16 boys. Barrett captured 55th in 16:30 and was fifth among PNSA U16 boys.

It was a solid season finale for both athletes. Nordic training for the 2021-22 season starts up again in May, so look for these athletes out on the trails running and roller skiing.

Jessie Diggins wins Overall Championship — Diggins became only the second American (first female) to win the overall FIS World Cup globe. She also won the distance discipline overall globe.

Potpourri — 24 Hours for Hank and Youth Ski League Finals coming up this weekend. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.