Park City NoCo athletes Roepkes, Carmack, others place at Jr. Nationals in Minnesota

Augie and Root Roepke with their Team, Park City Ski and Snowboard, at the Junior National Championships for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in Minnesota. Photo: Bari Nan Rothchild

COLERAINE, Minnesota — Brothers Root, 16, and Augie, 14, Roepke were among the top finishers of the Park City Ski and Snowboard (PCSS) Nordic Team along with teammates Ian Carmack and Logan Cadman at Saturday’s Junior National Championships for Nordic Combined (NoCo) and Ski Jumping in Minnesota.

Not only is PCSS one of Youth Sports Alliance’s competitive teams but the Roepkes are recipients of a Stein Eriksen Dare to Dream Endowment Fund scholarship. Both born and raised in Park City, Root attends Park City High School and Augie Treasure Mountain Jr. High.

Carmack teamed up with Root and the pair won first place in the U20 two-man Team Nordic Combined event after Carmack won third place in the U16 Mens Individual, and Root got fourth place in the U20 Mens Individual Ski Jumping.

Cadman teamed with Augie and they earned fourth place in the U16 two-man Team Nordic Combined event. Cadman got 11th place in the U16 Individual.  

The Roepke boys and Carmack all work at Red Banjo Pizza on Main Street, following in the footsteps of several American Nordic Combined Olympians. Red Banjo Pizza has a longstanding tradition of employing Park City’s young athletes.

In the Individual event for the title of Jr. National Champion, the winner was an athlete from Illinois, Root took 2nd place, and the podium was rounded out by an athlete from Alaska.

Root told TownLift, “The winner, Max, consistently jumps far so I knew he’d start the cross country race in front of me. I was pretty happy with my jump and I almost caught up to him during my ski portion but right before the finish line he looked behind, saw me coming, and apparently had more left in the tank to cross first.”

In the four-person Team Ski Jumping Event, on which Root and Augie teamed up with Tyler Phillips (sixth in U20 Individual Ski Jump) and Cadman, they landed in fifth place. The team from Colorado placed 1st. Another PCSS team including Seth Rothchild, Rudger Klug, and Ian Carmack placed ninth.

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Rachael Hearter brought home two fourth place results, one in the U20 Women Individual Ski Jumping and one in the two-woman Team Ski Jumping.

After Augie’s top ten with a ninth place in the Individual NoCo, he finished the bracket-style Elimination Jump event, with the best result of the PCSS, making it into the Elite 8.

Augie told TownLift, “It’s fun to get to see all our friends in the clubs from around the country. Usually everyone is apart at the other venues but sharing lodging and meals together here was a cool opportunity to just hang out and laugh a lot.”

In the Individual U16 Men Ski Jumping event Augie placed 18th, Carmack placed 19th, Cadman placed 20th, Klug placed 24th, and Rothchild placed 29th. The event was won by an athlete from Colorado.

PCSS Nordic coach, Adam Loomis joined national counterparts in the Herculean task, until midnight one night, in the impromptu added role of hill crew mitigating the historic snow storm and create safe and fair conditions for the competitors.

Participants also represented the other states of New Hampshire, Connecticut, Wisconsin, New York, and Michigan.

The when-in-Rome regional moment came with an extracurricular experience of trying curling.

With feels-like temperatures plunging to negative 32 degrees, local parents’ hometown hospitality warmed hearts and toes when they put up their ice-fishing tents at the top and bottom of the course.

USA Nordic put on last year’s Jr. Nationals in Connecticut and will put on next year’s event is in Alaska.

Photos courtesy of Brian Cadman. 

The author of this piece is directly related to the mentioned subjects, Root and Augie Roepke.