World Junior Championships have concluded, with Ava earning awesome finishes of 40th (Mass Start Classic), 36th (Classic Sprint), and an amazing 14th (Skate Distance). Ava led the American junior women in both the skate interval start and classic mass start.
Ava racing in the classic sprint. Photo courtesy of Loru Creative
You can find individual links to results below:
Skate Distance Results (and link to race video)
If you are interested in hearing some discussion of the race, be sure to check out this episode of the Devon Kershaw Show from Fasterskier. Tune to the 30:00 mark for some awesome recognition of Ava’s performance in the skate race!
Ava was the youngest member of the American team, and one of the youngest competitors at the entire event. This is a U20 event and Ava is a first-year U18 athletes…many skiers spend much of their career striving to make this team by the time they are a second-year U20. Ava is very talented, but make no mistake: being named to this team came about as a result of incredibly hard work and dedication in a year that has seen nothing but curveballs thrown at all of us.
This fall our Junior team was not travelling together to training camps, and in fact by mid-November we were following State guidelines and not training in groups at all. Is it any mystery that the American skier with the best women’s result in the Junior skate race would be the one willing to ski a solo skate timetrial in the pouring cold rain while the coach drove alongside with a mask on in a car? Is it any surprise that many other MNC skiers did just the same thing during that Virtual Thanksgiving Camp week?
So with Ava having an awesome week of World Juniors now behind her, and the Vermont Cup races winding down for our Juniors here in-state, it’s easy to begin looking back at just how hard everyone has worked to make this season happen. Congrats to Ava on her performances in Finland, and thank you to all of our Juniors at all levels who put in so much effort and dedication to this great sport.
And a special thank-you to MNC sponsor Green Lantern Solar, who helped to support Ava’s trip to Junior Worlds!
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