Greenberg skis onto podiums at SoHo’s XC Jr. Nationals

Soldier Hollow hosed cCross Country Jr. National Championships. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

MIDWAY, Utah — On March 10-15 at the past and future Olympic venue, Soldier Hollow, the cross country skiing Jr. National Championships were held and Park City Ski and Snowboard’s Brooke Greenberg finished with not one but two third place medals.

In Day One’s Classic, Individual 5k Start, for the U16 Women, Greenberg crossed the finish line with a time of 14 minutess, 14.7 seconds which was 38.3 seconds behind the category winner who was from Montana’s Bridger Club. Second place went to Midwest Division. PCSS athlete Teagan Hoffman came in 10th and teammate Rhys Weidenhamer was 11th.

Later on the same day in the Classic, Interval 7.5 k, Start for the U18/U20 Men, Lucas Wilmot of the University of Utah won in 23:12.4 and PCSS’s Tory Hoffman finished 11th, with teammate Ian Carmack digging deep after not feeling 100% to post a 13th. PCSS skier Lucas Fassio, a senior at Park City High School who is attending college at Colorado Spring’s U.S. Air Force Academy in the Fall placed in the top half of the field which had more than 100 competitors.

 

 

 

 

 

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Then on Day three, Greenfield got another 3rd place in the Freestyle, Mass Start, 7.5k, for the women, with a time of 19:56.2. Additionally in the Freestyle Mass Start 10k U18 Men, Hoffman had an 8th place with a time of 29:22.7, Carmack came in 12th, and Fassio finished 27th. Mass Start Day kept the ski patrollers and the course crew on their toes as Spring conditions of freeze-thaw patterns caused some crashed which led to some pile-ups which then led to quick thinking and quick actions of them shoveling snow up into more of a banked-corner, slowing everybody down thus enhancing safety measures.

Day Four was relay day where in the 4×3.33k Classic U20 Mixed Relay, the Intermountain Division (IMD) Team, including Wilmot, won, beating New England in second and Alaska in 3rd. PCSS’s Elsa Futch, a U18 was on a U20 team representing IMD and placed 14th. 

Emma Garrard is the PCSS Cross Country Director and coach. She’s been a coach since 2013 and the cross cross country program director since 2017. She told TownLift after the races, “This being the last winter event for our school senoirs is bittersweet as they performed well at these JNs. and will be missed.” She was asked specifically about one of them, Tory Hoffman, who was the top performer of this event’s group. “Tory is a great example of an athlete who came to the sport at an advanced relative age class, he joined as a U12, and was able to create clear, consistent paths to podiums all along the way. Next he’s skiing for D1 Dartmouth College, spots more-often earned by Europeans, and we, as a club, and as a community couldn’t be happier for him, his mom Kari, and his dad Bryan who are the social and supportive glue that helps keep this PCSS cross country family-at-large together. We wish Tory all the best in his future academic and athletic endeavors.”

Rounding out the roster representing the Park City Club were Hannah Strachan, Phoebe Zaniello, Lucy Taylor, and Keeley Star Fisher who will graduate Park City High School this year and has signed to ski in the Fall in Maine at Colby College. 

Gabriel Norby is the development coach for Team Soldier Hollow which hosted the event.

He told TownLift prior to the races, “We’re proud to be able to invite approximately 325 of the top racers in the country to our Olympic Venue. The course and production crew here at Soldier Hollow have the expertise and passion to put on an exciting event for all the spectators, families, and most importantly the athletes.”

He continued in a discussion regarding his Team Soldier Hollow competitors saying, “We auto-qualified two this year who were just at Jr. Worlds in Sweden, then additionally five others qualified so it’s a wonderful opportunity for them to race on their home turf.”