Donning their PNSA team jackets in Minneapolis are CHS students Derek Richardson, Serenity Saugen, Isabel Menna and Caroline Menna (Missing: Lien Hagedorn)
On the Monday after the first Friday of each March, the United States Ski and Snowboard’s Cross Country Junior National Championships begin. The nine-day, four-event, annual engagement among the nation's best young skiers representing the ten Nordic ski racing divisions across the country from Maine to Alaska and North Dakota to New Mexico, took place this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Plain Valley Nordic Team (PVNT) qualified eleven of its senior team racers – five of whom were CHS students - for the competition, as part of the greater Pacific Northwest’s team (PNSA). PVNT returned home with four All-Americans and nine top-ten finishes. Two of the All-Americans named were CHS senior Derek Richardson and freshman Caroline Menna, the two of whom also accounted for five of those top-ten finishes.
The PVNT contingent was comprised, roughly equally, of athletes from Plain, Leavenworth and Wenatchee. In addition to Richardson and Menna, Cascade High School’s Lien Hagedorn, Isabel Menna and Serenity Saugen were joined by Peter Norby and Silas D’Atre of Plain and Lars Sorom, Kirsten Jarmin, Quinten Koch and Addie Loewen of Wenatchee.
Derek Richardson (center) lunging at the finish of a sprint quarterfinal. Photo by Geoff Richardson
The urban venue was a stark change of scenery for the rural based PVNT athletes. Theodore Wirth Park is named for the one of the founding fathers of city parks in America and only minutes from downtown Minneapolis. Despite the unusual metropolitan location, bordering both affluent neighborhoods and public housing districts, “Theo Wirth Park” is home to a stunning 14,200 square-foot wood, steel and glass pavilion, and a legendary course in cross-country skiing circles, having witnessed, among other milestones, the debut to prominence of U.S. Olympic star Jessie Diggins. It will host a cross-country World Cup contest in 2024 – the first in the United States since 2001.
Despite some initial “fish out of water” feelings for many on PVNT, ten of whom were attending their first Junior Nationals (JNs), the team acclimated quickly as evidenced in the results. Richardson, a veteran of two previous JNs, and a leader on the team, accumulated three top ten performances: in the individual start 10k freestyle race (think skate skiing), the 10k mass start classic race, and the mixed-gendered freestyle relays. Richardson credited his success to his “training plan” and reflected that he had “as much fun off the course as on” and that “making memories are what trips like this are really about.” It is notable that Richardson and Hagedorn are graduating this year, both from CHS and PVNT, with the former planning to continue his Nordic training and racing into college.
Serenity Saugen in the classic tracks with the Minneapolis skyline in the background. Photo by Julie Howland
One of the more compelling stories to come out of championships week, was that of Loewen and Menna (Caroline). The pair garnered quite a bit of attention from the race announcers who marveled at the fact that the girls were the youngest two at the race - both having “skied up” an age group to qualify - and, despite their tender years, soared to top ten finishes in the individual 5k freestyle race, earned slots in the classic sprint quarterfinals, finished top 20 in the 5k classic mass start, and both were on podium relay teams. Just as “improbable,” noted the commentators, “both young ladies are not only from the same division, but from the very same team, in little Plain, Washington!” It almost did not need to be announced that “the duo are surely racers to look for in coming years.”
Caroline Menna racing past the leader board at Theodore Wirth Park. Photo by Geoff Richardson
When asked to consider PVNT’s accomplishments at Nationals, which included the four All-Americans, named as such because of their top ten finishes, the team’s head coach, Pierre Niess waxed dispassionately: “I tend to focus more on development and reaching personal goals than on pure numbers and results order. That said, knowing that we have a formidable team, going from the subjective to the objective against the nation, and thus seeing the proof, is satisfying. We have risen to the top of our division and more.”
That understated coaching philosophy has proven its value. The wisdom of viewing and valuing competition primarily internally and for self-improvement may be best reflected by two of the CHS/PVNT skiers who have been under Niess’ direction for the longest period of time. Hagedorn’s first reaction, when asked about the races, was that he “had fun racing with new people” and found it “hard not to be happy,” as he had his “best race ever” in his “last competitive race.” Saugen, similarly, felt that she “did really well, particularly in the classic sprints” and that the whole experience was “really cool.”
Other noteworthy impressions brought home by CHS/PVNT athletes include the Upper-Midwest weather in March, which included warm rain, followed by a blizzard and then days of sub-zero temperatures. Also, were the relationships formed by the relays. Caroline Menna mused that “despite being thought of as an individual sport, cross-country skiers really can thrive off a good team dynamic. What better way to express and demonstrate that than in relays!”
The CHS/PVNT pilgrimage to the Norwegian settled, Nordic Mecca that is Minnesota, the subsequent results there, and memories built are not soon to be forgotten for the individual racers and coaches. In its history, PVNT had only previously brought one racer to nationals but has matured quickly enough to record a record number of teens from CHS, specifically, and from the Wenatchee Valley, generally, attending Nationals under its banner. Yet, there might be an even larger story at hand. The greater upshot might not just be the promise of even loftier results for the returning racers at Junior Nationals next year in Fairbanks, Alaska, but also the health of, and enthusiasm for, skiing among CHS students and in the whole of the Valley. Events like the Junior National Championships’ greater mission is to promote lifelong love of sport and healthy living. With eleven ambassadors for that mission now returned home, the future of local cross-country skiing, and racing, is bright.
The PNSA team after being awarded first place among small divisions.
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