Halvorsen and Streinz Lead U.S. Juniors in Estonia

OTEPAA, Estonia (Feb. 29, 2016) – The U18 Scandinavian Championships wrapped up Sunday in Otepaa, after three days of tough competition. The U.S. Team U18 was led by Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, CA, Sugar Bowl Academy) and Daniel Streinz (Hersey, ME, Maine Winter Sports Center), who both had top-10 finishes.

Competition kicked off with a freestyle sprint race on Friday, where Halvorsen just missed the podium finishing fourth behind Norway’s Kristine Skistad in first, followed by teammate Mathilde Myhrvold in second and Sweden’s Linn Svahn who stole third from Halvorsen in the final heat.

Hunter Wonders finished 19th in the men’s freestyle sprint at the U18 Scandinavian Champs. (Sausalitt)

In the men’s freestyle sprints, Streinz finished 11th overall. He had a strong sprint day advancing all the way to the semifinals but just missed out on the final heat. Norway’s Haakon Asdoel claimed the U18 men’s victory followed by Finland’s Verneri Poikonen and Latvia’s Raimo Vigants who finished third.

The sprints were followed by a 5/10k classic race on Saturday, where Halvorsen claimed fifth overall. Finland’s Anita Korva snatched first by 4.6 seconds over Norway’s Kristine Skistad and Finland’s Emelie Svenlin who finished third. Halvorsen was only 3.3 seconds out of a spot on the podium and 13.8 seconds back from first.

Hannah Halvorsen was fifth in the women’s 5k classic at the U18 Scandinavian Champs. (Sausalitt)

In the men’s 10k classic, four U.S. men were in the top 15. Streinz and Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, AK, APU Nordic Ski Center) led the team finishing in ninth and 10th, respectively. Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, AK, Alaska Winter Stars) and Peter Wolter (Hailey, Idaho, Sun Valley Ski Education) were 13th and 15th, respectively. Norway swept the podium with Joergen Lippert dominating the race finishing 50.1 seconds ahead of teammates Vebjoern Moen and Haakon Asdoel who finished third.

The U18 Scandinavian Championships wrapped up with 3x3k and 3x2x2.5k team relays. The relay had a unique layout, where the first leg was classic and the final two legs freestyle. Both the U.S. men and women’s relay teams finished fifth, and Norway claimed both relay victories for the men and women. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• The U.S. U18 men’s team included: Daniel Streinz, Hunter Wonders, Gus Schumacher, Peter Wolter, Karl Schulz (Lake Placid, NY, New York Ski Ed Foundation), and Noel Keeffe (Steamboat, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club).
• The U.S. U18 women’s team was: Hannah Halvorsen, Leah Brams (Belmont, MA, Cambridge Sports Union), Anna Darnell (Anchorage, AK, APU Nordic Ski Center), Brooke Dunnagan (Boise, ID, Bogus Basin Nordic Team/Sun Valley Ski Enducation Foundation), Margaret Gellert (Anchorage, AK, Alaska Winter Stars) and Ezra Smith (Breckenridge, CO Summit Nordic Ski Club).
• Both Halvorsen and Wonders competed in the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway Feb. 12-21 before competing at the U18 Scandinavian Championships.

RESULTS
U18 Scandinavian Championships