Sports

The Durango Nordic Ski Club had 11 skiers and three coaches representing the Rocky Mountain Division at the Junior National Championships in Truckee, Calif., last week.The skiers from Durango Nordic were OJ Class Lars Ellefson; J1 Class Rogan Brown, Paige Elliott, Elena Breed; J2 Class Alicia Rose Pastore, Hannah Madden, Rachel Hampton, Erin Kinney, Gino Pastore, Sepp Kuss and Ben Capelin.

Coaches from Durango Nordic that went with the team were Rocky Mountain Team Leader Mike Elliott, Durango Nordic head coach Josh Dalley and coach Jeanne Pastore.

Three days before the Junior National Championships, the venue of the Auburn Ski Club near Donner Pass received more than 7 feet of snow.

AliciaRose Pastore enjoyed the best results for the Durango Nordic Skiers in the four races that were conducted.

Pastore was second in the J2 female class 5K classic race. She also was the leadoff skier for the J2 female class relay that eventually recorded a third-placefinish.

In the sprints, Pastore recorded an 11th-place finish. Pastore experienced difficulty in the J2 female class 5K mass start skate race.

A fellow competitor stepped on her carbon fiber pole, and the pole broke. Before she could obtain a new pole from her coach, Pastore was near the back of the 62-skier field.

Pastore was able to ski fast and work her way up through the field to finish in 20th. Pastore also was awarded All-American honors based on her classic race and relay results.

Also from Durango Nordic in the female J2 class was Rachel Hampton, who finished 38th in the skate race and 31st in the classic race.

Hannah Madden was 31st in the sprint race, 45th in the skate race and 32nd in the classic race.  Paige Elliott was 13th in the female J1 class mass start 10K skate race, a very tight and competitive race.

There were six skiers who finished around Elliott, all within 1.8 seconds of each other when they crossed the finish line.

Elena Breed, in the J1 class, was 54th in the 10K skate race. In the classic 5K, Elliott was 30th, and Breed was 31st.

Rogan Brown was 15th in the 15K skate race and was 32nd in the 10K classic race.

Lar Ellefson was in the OJ class and was 24th in the sprint race, 35th is the skate race and repeated his 35th-place finish in the 10K classic race.

In the J2 male class, Gino Pastore was 29th in the sprints, 20th in the 5K skate race and 28th in the 5K classic race.

Sepp Kuss was 25th in the 5K skate race and 39th in the 5K classic race. Ben Capelin was 39th in the 5K skate race and 40th in the 5K classic race.

"The Auburn Ski Club did an excellent job hosting the 2009 Junior National Championships," Dalley said.

"The 11 skiers from Durango Nordic raced exceptionally well, and I'm proud of each of them for their hard work throughout this race season.

"It's an honor to compete at the national level as a junior skier," he said.

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