Pair of Utes win bronze medal in team relay at U23 Junior World Championships

University of Utah students Walker Hall and Brian Bushey captured the bronze medal for the USA Cross Country ski team at the U23 Junior World Championships. Photo: Steve Fuller.

LYGNA, Norway — Two University of Utah students, Walker Hall and Brian Bushey, captured the bronze medal for the USA Cross Country ski team at the U23 Junior World Championships on Wednesday in Lygna, Norway.

Alongside teammates Michael Earnhart and Will Koch, Hall and Bushey represented Team USA well as the four-man relay team finished with a time of 49:38.8 in the 4x5k relay to secure the bronze medal. Notably, the Americans were just .6 seconds behind Norway who won silver and 22.4 seconds behind Russia who took home gold.

This marks the fourth time in the past five World Championships that the U.S. men’s relay team has secured a medal.

As for the women’s 4×3.3k team relay, the U.S. team of Kate Oldham, Samatha Smith, Nina Schamberger, and Sydney Palmer-Leger came in fifth with a time of 38:24.3, just 1:32 off the winning time of Norway.

The 2022 Junior/U23 World Championships will continue on Thursday with the U23 10k classic for the women and the 15k classic for the men.