Hard charging Reilly Wahlers (upper left)) and Sela Backstrom (lower left) slash hard around the gates of a slalom course at nationals. Both girls participated in the U14 Junior National ski meet held in Winter Park, Colorado. Above: Will Lamb (left) and Logan Backstrom both raced in the U16 Junior Ski Championships held at Steamboat Springs, Colorado where this picture was taken.
Reilly Wahlers, Will Lamb, and brother and sister Sela and Logan Backstrom ended a great year of downhill skiing by qualifying for and competing in the Junior Olympic ski meets held in Colorado.
To get to nationals each had to qualify at an 11-state regional meet held in Marquette, Michigan.
Both Logan Backstrom and Will Lamb competed in the U16 (ages 14-15) at the Central vs. Rocky Division Alpine Jr. Championships, which were held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on February 9 -15.
“The weather was spring like and the snow conditions were excellent,” said Jennifer Backstrom, Logan’s mother.
The two boys competed against 85 athletes from the Central and Rocky Divisions in four events: Slalom, Giant Slalom, SuperG and Downhill. Backstrom’s best finish was in the slalom event, which was held at historic Howelsen Hill. He finished 28th in a two-run combined time race. Due to the difficulty of the course, one-third of all competitors was disqualified or did not finish.
Wahlers and Sela Backstrom competed in the U14 (ages 12-13) Central vs. Rocky Division Jr. Championships which were held in Winter Park, Colorado March 17-22. The two girls competed against 108 athletes from the Central and Rocky Divisions. Both competed in the SuperG, Giant Slalom, Slalom, and Kombi. Backstrom’s best finish was 49th in the Giant Slalom race.
Wahler’s best event was in slalom where she placed 11th and 13th in her two runs to finish 13th overall.
Will Lamb had his strongest finish in slalom. The ninth grader finished 14th at the Minnesota State high school meet.
All four skiers train with the Cook County High School Alpine Team and the Lutsen Junior Alpine Club, and each of them team up with Team Duluth for the USSA races. The kids train and or race 6 to 7 days a week all winter long. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to compete at this level.
All will be back next year to ski for the Cook County High School ski team and help lead a talented group of teammates to bigger and better things next year.
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