USA Wraps Up World Juniors With Marc Hodler Trophy Podium
The FIS Junior World Ski Championships wrapped up with women's downhill on Wednesday, and the Americans landing in third in the Marc Hodler Trophy standings - an award given out for overall team performance throughout the series.
Switzerland won the Marc Hodler Trophy, with 107 points, followed by Norway with 86 points, and USA rounding out the podium with 80 points. The U.S. has been steadily working towards the podium, getting fifth in the standings in Åre, Sweden in 2017, and fourth in Davos, Switzerland in 2018. U.S. Ski & Snowboard Alpine Development Director Chip Knight noted that "being in the top three was a stretch goal for us, so it's a tremendous result for us!"
The importance of the Marc Hodler Trophy was evident across the team, and definitely on their mind throughout the week. As double gold winner River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.) said after his giant slalom gold on Monday, "I was hyped up by my teammates today. We had six in the top 30 - way more than any other nation - so to have that sort of strong showing is amazing. I was just feeding off of their energy and they were feeding off of mine, and we were just trying to shoot for top-10s and get that Hodler Cup podium. We’ve been shut out of the Hodler Cup the last two years that I’ve been racing, so it was a really big goal of mine to try to get us on the podium this year. We had another strong showing today, and we’re sitting in third looking good, trying to close it out the last couple of races.”
Though AJ Hurt (Squaw Valley, Calif.) had been under the weather the last few days, she was tenth in Wednesday's downhill, while Keely Cashman (Strawberry, Calif.) was 11th. Cashman posted the fastest second training run time on Tuesday, but her high start number on Wednesday provided challenges, as the temperatures were warm and the track was deteriorating. She walked away with two top-5 results - fourth in the alpine combined, and fifth in the super-G, respectively.
Team USA will walk away from Val di Fassa with their heads held high, and look to continue to carry that momentum towards the future. Congratulations, once again, to this team for their outstanding performances.
2019 FIS ALPINE JUNIOR WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM
Name, Hometown; Team Affiliation; Club (Birthdate)
Women
- Keely Cashman, Strawberry, Calif; Squaw Valley Ski Team (4/4/1999)
- Katie Hensien, Redmond, Wash.; Rowmark Ski Academy and University of Denver (12/1/1999)
- AJ Hurt, Carnelian Bay, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team (12/5/2000)
- Nellie-Rose Talbot, Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (8/24/1999)
- Claire Thomas, Salt Lake City, Utah; Park City Ski & Snowboard and Dartmouth College (3/11/1998)
- Alix Wilkinson, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team (8/2/2000)
Men
- Cooper Cornelius, Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski Club (2/20/1999)
- Jacob Dilling, Vail, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (10/19/1999)
- Bridger Gile, Aspen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski Club and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail(10/15/1999)
- Jimmy Krupka, Waitsfield, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School and Dartmouth College (7/15/1998)
- Kyle Negomir, Littleton, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (10/03/1998)
- River Radamus, Edwards, Colo.; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail (2/12/1998)
- Ben Ritchie, Waitsfield, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School (9/5/2000)
- Jett Seymour, Steamboat, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and University of Denver (11/5/1998)
2019 MEDAL TALLY
Gold, Super-G, River Radamus
Silver, Team Event, Katie Hensien, AJ Hurt, River Radamus and Ben Ritchie
Gold, Giant Slalom, River Radamus
Silver, Slalom, Ben Ritchie
Bronze, Marc Hodler Trophy, Team
