Bredal podiums at Lake Placid SuperTour, Maybach competes at Winter Youth Olympic Games

SVSEF Cross Country team athletes are lining up against the best in the country and the world. From high school-aged Comp Team athletes to post-grad XC Gold Team athletes, they are finding inspiration in training together and cheering each other on as they pursue both individual and team goals at every level.

“It’s such an exciting time for the SVSEF cross country program,” said Becky Flynn, SVSEF XC Program Director. “While our junior teams are training here at home and looking towards their next Junior National Qualifier at Soldier Hollow in Utah this weekend, they are able to cheer on other teammates who are competing across the globe at the International Junior and World Cup level.”

At the Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup in Oberhof, Germany, Peter Wolter raced to 55th in the Men’s 20km Mass Start Classic, just +3:34.8 back from Norway’s Erik Valnes and approximately four and a half minutes ahead of the last finisher for the men. Wolter’s next stop is the FIS Cross Country World Cup in Goms, Switzerland Jan 26-28. Sammy Smith took this weekend off to recover following the Tour de Ski and will race in Goms this weekend. Fellow SVSEF XC Gold Teammate Bentley Walker-Broose will also join Wolter and Smith to race for his homeland Australia at the Goms World Cup.

Following the race in Oberhof, Wolter said, “World Cup number three is in the books and oh boy was it a bit of a shock to the system. You always know it’s a different ball game over here but it doesn’t truly materialize until, well, it does and you’re redlining up one of the steeper hills you’ve ever raced on for the sixth time with German fans yelling and smoking cigarettes on the sidelines. It’s awesome to be back on the circuit and I’m hungry for better results this coming weekend. Stay tuned.”

Molly Maybach finished 71st in her first biathlon race against 98 competitors at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Saturday morning in Gangwon, South Korea. “It was so fun – the whole atmosphere is super great and I love being here!” said Maybach. “I felt like I skied well but can work on my shooting for the next event.” Up next for Maybach is the 6km Sprint where she’ll be wearing bib number 23 with a local start time of 9:37:40 p.m. tonight, Monday, Jan. 22.

Heading to the east coast, SVSEF XC Gold Team athlete Mariah Bredal continued her presence on the SuperTour podium this season finishing in fourth place in the Lake Placid SuperTour / Eastern Cup 10km Mass Start at Mt Van Hoevenberg on Sunday. Bredal finished in 00:29:51.7, just two tenths back from third place and 21 seconds off of the first place time of 00:29:30.2. The SuperTour awards prize money for the top six podium finishers in their races. In Saturday’s 1.3km Freestyle Sprint, Bredal qualified into the heats and finished 21st overall.  Bredal will head to Craftsbury VT to compete Jan. 26-28, before heading back to Sun Valley to get ready for the 51st annual Zions Bank Boulder Mountain Tour (BMT) on Feb. 3. She finished fourth in last year’s BMT, just over one second out of first place.

Olympic and World Champion and SVSEF XC Gold Team athlete Jake Adicoff is set to compete at the Para Nordic World Cup in Toblach, Italy Jan. 24-28.

Wood River High School student and SVSEF Comp Team athlete Zach Quesnel is currently skiing as an exchange student with Sollefteå Ski Gymnasium in Sweden. Quesnel had the unique opportunity to race in the Nordic Nations Cup at Fallun, Sweden this weekend where he saw his best result in the 10km Classic Individual Start on Sunday placing 65th in the 17-18 age group. Unfortunately the races were canceled on Saturday due to frigidly cold temperatures. Up next for Quesnel, he’ll race with the Sollefteå Skidor team Feb 14-18 in Ulricehamn, Sweden. 

Photo: Peter Wolter previews course in Oberhof, Germany