Wholistic Fitness

Dewa Ilg (16), shown here cementing her attack in the Frisco, Junior National Qualifier that resulted in her best ever performance at the JNQ level with an 11th place finish in the U18 10k Classic race. pic by Steve Ilg

Frisco, CO –

With a Start Line at over 9,000′ the worlds most physiologically demanding sport of Nordic ski racing is even that more challenging.  Undaunted, the Durango Nordic Ski Club took ?? of its racers
to the Frisco Nordic Center  to contest the final Junior National Qualifier of the season for the Rocky Mountain Division over Saturday and Sunday, February 24th &25th.  The kids apparently had saved some of their best efforts for this final effort.

Saturday’s Freestyle Sprint course was only .75 miles which made for a lung and thigh combustion of lactate in the high, cold air.  Race start temperature was in the low teens. Durango’s only U18 racer, Dewa Ilg whose race age is only 16, got through Qualification with a 3:36 effort (5:37 mile/pace).  After a prolonged anxious wait due to timing issues, Dewa again toed the now warmer yet windy start line against three other Qualifiers and went hard from the gun to finish in 3:18 (4:29/mile pace) but it was not quite fast enough to survive into the Semi Finals. In the end, the fastest gun in the west would be Cassidy Wright of Vail Ski and Snowboard Club with a winning time of 2:57.06.  In the Female U16 race, Betty Holcomb threw down a super speedy 3:11 in the Quarterfinal while up-and-coming Ellie Bruckbauer lunged across the finish line in 3:33 in her Quarterfinal yet neither would get into the Semi’s.  The eventual winner was Keira Sypniewshi of Vail Ski and Snowboard Club (official time not available). In the Mens U16,  two stalwart winter warriors represented Durango in the Quarterfinal.  Jack Purcell and Halldor Vanderbilt sprinted their hearts out in the same heat with Purcell posting a 3:02 and Vanderbilt a 3:37. The overall victory went to Tristan Thrasher of Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club who thrashed (sorry) the course in 2:34.46.

Sunday’s Classic Distance course was a burly 5k loop which younger racers did one lap and older racers did twice for a 10k distance. One lap demands 250’+ of climbing before dropping over a ridge into a Giant Slalom like track with three 180-degree turns within the first 800 meters before a long, winding double-pole finish.  The warmer, windless weather and higher temps made for an idyllic race day, especially for racers coming in from as far north as Alaska!  Durango’s sole U18 racer, Dewa Ilg was the only athlete who had to do two laps of the herculean course yet Ilg, whose palmarés include several multi-sport victories in distance events over 25k was seen literally licking her lips for this race.  With Classic style being her stronger discipline plus the distance, Ilg was finally ready to deliver something better than her typical top 30 finish.  The young lady saved her best for last and delivered big time for Durango.  Starting on nearly the final row of this mass start race, Ilg held fast to the leading group of much older girls and then, on a double pole section leading into the steep hills Ilg said, “…I knew the bigger girls were faster than me on the descent so it was either now or never.  I put in a huge effort and thanks to Coach Evan (Elliot) my wax worked perfectly and I was able to pass four girls up the climb and somehow held on to finish strong.  This was definitely my best race of my season and I can’t wait till next season already!”  Ilg finally cracked the top 12 code of a JNQ and finished in 11th place  39:58 about 4 minutes behind the winner, Sawyer Ezzell of Crested Butte Nordic Team (35:10).  In the Mens U16,  Purcell and Vanderbilt sizzled one lap to finish 13th(17:51) and 24th (21:08) respectively, while in the Women’s U16 it was Holcomb crushing to a 8th place (19:07) followed by Bruckbauer in 17th (21:49).

Durango was also well represented by our next wave of 3 young Nordic warriors, Janelle Dingler and Quinn Connors who competed over the weekend in the Female U14 division and Archer Nicovich in the Mens U12  and Nicolas Dingler doing battle in Mens U8.  Dingler finished a 3k Loop in 11th place (13:50), Connors in 17th (14:59), Nicovich in 11th (13:52) while Dingler ate up a 1.5k loop to finish 4th place in a time of 9:27.   Race footage of Frisco, JNQ coming to Steve Ilg YouTube Channel on March 4th.