Summit Nordic Ski Club’s Nina Schamberger did not start in the quarterfinal round of the Nordic sprint race on Wednesday, March 9, due to fatigue but on Friday, March 11, it appeared Schamberger got the rest she needed as she placed second in the classic mass-start race at the Junior National Cross-Country Ski Championships.

Schamberger was fatigued from racing at Junior World Championships in Norway back in February and chose to sit out her second sprint race of the day. That decision paid off as she topped the majority of the competitive junior level talent in the women’s U18 10-kilometer classic race.

Schamberger was in second position every time she completed a loop of the course. Schamberger finished with a time of 28 minutes, 13 seconds.

Among the other Summit Nordic Ski Club talent at the national meet in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Elona Greene also raced in the women’s U18 age bracket.

Greene placed 57th with a time of 32:19.6.

Sam Thebeau had an impressive performance in the men’s U20 15-kilometer race as he placed 22nd in a time of 44:34.5. Thebeau steadily moved up throughout the race, as he was in 33rd place after the first lap and eventually worked his way to 22nd the second half of the race.

Kai Oppito placed 76th in the men’s U18 10-kilometer classic race in a time of 28:04.6.

In the U16 5-kilometer races both Roan Varble and Kiera Stabile placed 33rd in their respective races.

Varble finished in a time of 15:44.6, while Stabile finished in 18:27.3.

Both moved up about 10 places from the first lap of the race in order to place within the top 35 of U15 competitors.

James Sowers raced consistently to place 59th in the men’s U16 classic race, finishing in a time of 16:35.3.

Sophia Bertonneau placed 42nd by putting in a strong effort on the second lap of the course to pass 14 competitors. Bertonneau crossed the finish line with a time of 18:54.2.

The Summit Nordic Ski Club concluded the weekend by finding out where they ranked among other ski teams at the national meet. On the women’s side, the team placed 14th overall and on the men’s side 22nd.

The Summit Nordic Ski Club’s men’s and women’s team combined to placed 21st out of 34 total teams by scoring a total of 156 points. Schamberger contributed the most points for the team with 131 points across three different races.

Additionally, Thebeau, Varble and Stabile scored points for Summit Nordic Ski Club.