BY WILL FALLTRICK

Will Koch and Payton Daley-Scheingraber earned bronze medals at the Soldier Hollow Super Qualifier and rocky Mountain Intercollegiate ski Association Utah Invitational this past week.

Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Cross Country athletes from the Prep, Comp, Post Grad and Gold teams kicked off their 2026 race season Jan. 23–25 at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah.

The three-day race weekend featured a Classic Sprint on Friday, a Freestyle Individual Start on Saturday and a 15km Classic Mass Start on Sunday.

Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team Member Mia Case raced in the 15-kilometer Classic Mas Start.

Friday’s sprint served as a Junior Super Qualifier, welcoming athletes from five western divisions--Intermountain, Rocky Mountain, High Plains, Far West and Pacific Northwest Ski Association. Saturday combined Super Qualifier and RMISA collegiate racing.

Sunday’s mass start capped the weekend with RMISA competition open to U18 and U20 athletes.

Despite a late start to the race season due to low snowfall, SVSEF athletes delivered strong results across age groups, advancing deep into sprint heats, earning podium finishes and gaining valuable early-season experience.

“We’re really proud of all the hard work our athletes have put in over the past few months,” said Max Polito, Head PG Coach and Assistant Comp Team Coach. “We’ve seen lots of technical and aerobic progress since our last training camp. Despite the late start, the athletes leveraged their training and preparation to produce strong performances throughout the weekend.”

The Classic Sprint highlighted the depth of the SVSEF program, with 12 athletes advancing into heats in a highly competitive field.

“The team had a great start to the race season at our first Junior National Qualifier,” said Comp Team Head Coach Chris Mallory. “Having that many skiers move on from the sprint prologue was a great sign, and we’re excited to build from it.”

Gold Team athletes anchored the weekend with podium finishes in distance events, while Prep, Comp, and PG athletes showed steady progress and resilience across multiple disciplines.

“It was inspiring to see our Gold Team members racing, finishing on the podium and then cheering on younger athletes who were racing at this level for the first time,” said Cross Country Program Director Becky Flynn. “The energy was high, the team spirit was strong, and Soldier Hollow’s race crew did an incredible job preparing the trails despite challenging conditions.”

SVSEF Athlete Results

Friday, Jan. 23 – Classic Sprint

U18/20/Open Men (Overall)

5th - Charlie St. George

11th - Zach Quesnel

19th - Nick Gardiner

U18/20/Open Women (Overall)

19th - Natalie Carlson

55th - Josie Bolinger

73rd - Anna Gilman

U16 Men (Overall)

4th - Henry Flynn

15th - Bailey Kurtz

24th - Owen Wellner

U16 Women (Overall)

11th - Stella St. George

12th - Josephine Renner

27th - Sydney Nelson

U14 Men (Overall)

15th - James Holman

16th - Augie Allaire

26th - Ben Wellner

U14 Women (Overall)

4th - Payton Daley-Scheingraber

7th - Nina O’Sullivan

27th - Penelope Zook

Saturday, Jan. 24 – Freestyle Individual Start

7.5km U18/20/Open Men

3rd - Will Koch (Gold Team)

9th - Elijah Weenig (Gold Team)

48th - Nick Gardiner

7.5km U18/20/Open Women

15th - Mia Case (Gold Team)

83rd - Natalie Carlson

116th - Josie Bolinger

5km U16 Men

16th - Thijs Lloyd

27th - Henry Flynn

29th - Bailey Kurtz

5km U16 Women

12th - Josephine Renner

15th - Stella St. George

27th - Sidney Brown

4km U14 Men

13th - James Holman

19th - Augie Allaire

30th - Ben Wellner

4km U14 Women

3rd - Payton Daley-Scheingraber

6th - Nina O’Sullivan

34th - Penelope Zook

Sunday, Jan. 25 – 15km Classic Mass Start

Open Men

3rd - Will Koch (Gold Team)

18th - Elijah Weenig (Gold Team)

28th - Tait Boschen

Open Women

16th - Mia Case (Gold Team)

Complete results can be found at:

https://www.muddydogsports.com/home

PHOPTOS