Summit Tigers Nordic skier Kai Oppito skis out of the start area just east of Loveland Ski Area en route to a fourth-place finish in the 7.5-kilometer skate race on the recpath to Bakerville earlier this month. On Friday, Oppito was Summit’s top racer in fourth place at the Steamboat Springs skate.
The Summit High School Nordic ski team raced to a runner-up performance at Friday’s 5.7-kilometer skate race at the Steamboat Ski Touring Center despite being without one of its best skiers.
Tigers head coach Eva Hagen said Jonah Mocatta suffered a wrist injury while Alpine skiing Thursday that sidelined him from Friday’s race and could force him out of next weekend’s state championships at Gold Run Nordic Center in Breckenridge.
Photo by Olof Hedberg
Summit Nordic Ski Club head coach Olof Hedberg said this past weekend at the Raoul Willie Memorial cross-country ski races in Aspen was one of the greatest ever for the club.
The team’s several standout individual performances were led by 15-year-old Nina Schamberger’s eye-opening results racing against some of the world’s best cross-country skiers. At Friday’s skate-sprint heats, the Leadville resident Schamberger raced against the best American and international women U-18, U-20, U-23 and senior division athletes on the 1.4-kilometer course.
After advancing in the group of top-30 finishers out of the initial race, Schamberger advanced all the way to the final round of heats. In that race, her time of 4 minutes and 8.25 seconds was the best American time in the heat, behind only race winner and University of Utah skier Julia Richter of Germany (4:03.34) and University of Utah skier Karianne Moe of Norway (4:05.95).
BAKERVILLE The Summit High School Nordic ski team dominated the 7.5-kilometer interval-start skate ski race on Friday, Feb. 12 in Bakerville east of Loveland Ski Area, with four boys in the top five and three girls finishing in the top six.
Considering the backcountry, powder conditions, the race was less of a skate and more of a downhill double-pole. Tigers senior Liam Goettelman (fifth place, 20 minutes and 1.7 seconds) said the conditions favored the Summit team, considering the team’s experience in downhill and backcountry racing.
“This one is definitely going to be going into the history books as a fun one,” Goettelman said.
A Summit Nordic Ski Club contingent 25 athletes deep made the drive to Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, last weekend to compete in the University of Utah Invitational.
The event which also served as a Junior Nordic Super Qualifier for athletes 14 and older featured skiers from California, Washington, Idaho and the New England area. The high-level races also featured college skiers from the University of Alaska at Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Denver and the University of Utah.
Nina Schamberger, 15, once again was a standout for Summit Nordic as she won the U-16 division for the 1.5-kilometer classic sprint and 5K freestyle. Her performance placed her eighth overall in a field that included three U.S. Ski Team skiers and top-ranked senior and collegiate skiers. Schamberger finished the long weekend with 13th place overall in her first 15K race.
Photo by Andy Stabile
The Summit Nordic Ski Club sent a pair of platoons to Casper, Wyoming, and Midway, Utah, this past weekend for their first races on snow since their seasons were cut short in March due to the pandemic.
At International Ski Federation races on the 2002 Winter Olympic course at Soldier Hollow in Utah, Summit Nordic 15-year-old Nina Schamberger of Leadville caught the eye of the national Nordic skiing community. Schamberger finished ninth in the skate sprint and seventh in the 10-kilometer classic in a pair of time-trial start events that featured a collection of the country’s best youth, college and pro Nordic skiers.