By Jack Vater
Iola-Scandinavia junior Charlie Vater competed in the USSA Junior National Cross Country Ski Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska, March 13-16.
Vater qualified for the Great Lakes Junior National Team by skiing in the Salomon CXC Cup races in Brillion, Wisconsin, on Jan. 28-29 and in Golden Valley, Minnesota, on Feb. 18-19.
The Great Lakes Division represents skiers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.
Results
Classic Race
Vater took 29th place in the 7.5km interval classic race with a time of 24:39.5 on March13.
“The competition at Junior Nationals is almost unheard of, other athletes are faster than you thought was possible, and it is truly humbling” said Vater. “I felt that I performed well in my classic 7.5k. I made a couple of race errors but overall my effort was there and the result turned out pretty good. Definitely wanted more out of it.”
Freestyle Sprint
With a time of 3:23.68, Vater took 64th place in the 1350m freestyle sprint qualifying race on March 14th.
“The sprint race was the hardest sprint course I’ve ever skied on, I gave it all in the qualifier but was still 11 seconds off of making heats. Ended up in 64th but I can’t complain too much about a sprint race, considering I don’t train for sprint races.”
Only the top 30 racers from that event went on to compete in the sprint heats.
Freestyle Race
In his final race of Nationals, Vater finished in 41st place in the 10k freestyle race with a time of 28:17.6.
“The 10k mass start was extremely challenging technically with 88 people all on the same line. You never truly separate from a group of people with that many skiers of national talent. I had a rough starting position, starting nine rows back from the front it was hard to move up especially on the first 5k lap,” said Vater.
He raced hard and was visibly exhausted as he approached the finish, collapsing as he crossed the line.
When he wasn’t racing, Vater photographed other Junior National competitors to post on Instagram under the handle chuck_shootwi, where he shares action photos from athletic events, mostly track, cross-country, and cross-country skiing.
Vater marveled at his week in Fairbanks.
“The whole experience is amazing, skiing on the great trails with amazing snow conditions all the time, along with watching and meeting other super-fast skiers is inspiring,” said Vater.
Vater races for the Iola Winter Sports Club Nordic Ski Team, which is comprised of athletes from around Iola including Rosholt, Amherst, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, and Appleton.
Teammates Greta Dickman of Wisconsin Rapids and Josephine Kwasny of Appleton also competed at Nationals.