STORY BY HEATHER FOSTER

PHOTOS BY DREW PALMER LEGER

Seven members of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Nordic Team helped the InterMountain Division win the coveted Alaska Cup at the 2025 U.S. Cross Country Junior National Championships.

And SVSEF’s Tait Boschen claimed individual and mixed relay podiums at the event held March 10-15 at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.

Tait Boschen competed in the U16 Male Skate Sprint. He tied for second in the U16 Male 5K Classic.

The 2025 US Cross Country Junior National Championships welcomed 400-plus junior athletes from across the country for four days of racing: two distance races, one sprint, and one mixed-gender relay.

Tait Boschen, Duncan Fryberger, Cora Faye Scott, Mazzy Conners, Charlie St. George, Nick Gardiner, and Whit Brown all contributed throughout the week to the overall win for the InterMountain Division (IMD).

Ten divisional teams compete at Junior Nationals representing Alaska, Far West, Great Lakes, High Plains, InterMountain, Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New England, Pacific Northwest Ski Association and Rocky Mountain.

Each Division can bring up to 25 male and 25 female athletes spread across the U16, and U18/20 age groups. Athletes qualify through their performances across a series of three Junior National Qualifier events during the regular season.

Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation racers who qualified for the Junior Nationals and coaches Chris Mallory and Max Polito got some pretty nice InterMountain Division jackets for their efforts, along with some powder blue fleece hats.

At the conclusion of the Championships on Saturday, IMD was presented with The Alaska Cup—the trophy given annually to the top-performing region at Junior National Championships. IMD has not won the top spot since 2007, but their 1,216 total points this year did the trick.

New England has won The Cup for the last three years and 16 times out of the last 20—they landed in third place with 905 points this year. Alaska came in second place with 1,052 points.

“JN (Junior Nationals is always fun as you come together as a division to compete with the kids you’ve been racing against all year,” said Chris Mallory, SVSEF XC Comp Team Head Coach. “Tait Boschen really had a breakthrough week, finding his way onto the U16 podium in two races.

“Another highlight came on the final day of classic relays where Nick Gardiner surged over the final climb in the lead with 23 SVSEF Prep Teamers cheering him on. Everyone gave their all and contributed to a successful week of racing for Intermountain as they won the Alaska Cup—a huge accomplishment for the division.”

Day one saw changing conditions throughout the day for the Classic Interval Start, going from icy tracks in the morning to slush by the time the last U18/20 men finished their racing. Overall, IMD had a stellar day, with the SVSEF crew playing a huge part highlighted by Tait Boschen, who found his way to the podium, tying for second place overall in the U16 M 5km Classic race.

Cora Faye Scott and Mazzy Conners found their way into the quarterfinals of the U18 F heats, placing 17th and 28th respectively in the Skate Sprint qualifier on day two of racing. IMD had a strong day in the heat and remained in the lead for The Alaska Cup after two days of competition.

The Skate Mass Start on Friday was as challenging as you get, with conditions going from hard and icy in the morning to six inches of slush by the afternoon. Athletes’ start times determined what they would face in the ever-changing conditions.

The U16’s started first, and Boschen skied a gritty race, finding his way into the top ten finishing ninth overall for the U16 men. Duncan Fryberger improved on his first few days finishing 46th. Whit Brown moved up the ranks in the men’s U20 race finishing 30th and scoring points for The Alaska Cup.

As conditions deteriorated, the U18 men took to the start line. Nick Gardiner and Charlie St. George finished 51st and 74th respectively. In the last race of the day, Cora Faye Scott, despite suffering from plantar fasciitis and only being able to walk in a boot this week, toughed her way into 22nd place, followed by Mazzy Conners in 51st.

It came down to the Mixed Classic Relays on the last day, where only one team in each age group (U20/U18/U16) scores for the Alaska Cup points. The hope is that each region has a few teams that can fight for the top spot and IMD did just that. All SVSEF skiers contributed to the day.

In the U16 relay, Boschen’s team made its way to the podium in third place and scored 100 points for IMD to help clinch the Alaska Cup.

“I am extremely proud of our athletes who competed at JN (Junior Nationals) this year,” said Becky Flynn, SVSEF XC Program Director. “They are great examples of grit, determination, resilience, and teamwork. They represented SVSEF and our cross-country community at the highest levels.  We are so excited to see what is ahead for all these skiers, as they lead the way into the next few years.”

SVSEF ATHLETE RESULTS:

DAY 1 – CLASSIC INTERVAL START

U20 M 7.5km Classic

30 Whit Brown

U18 M 7.5km Classic

48 Nick Gardiner

70 Charlie St. George

U16 M 5km Classic

2nd Tait Boschen (tied for second on the American podium. There was a guest skier from Slovakia that finished in front of him but they all shared the second-place podium).

51 Duncan Fryberger

U18 F 7.5km Classic

44 Mazzy Conners

DAY 2 – SKATE SPRINT

U20 M Skate Sprint

49 Whit Brown

U18 M Skate Sprint

41 Nick Gardiner

54 Charlie St. George

U16 M Skate Sprint

32 Tait Boschen 

57 Duncan Fryberger

U18 F Skate Sprint

19 Mazzy Conners

27 Cora Faye Scott

DAY 3 – SKATE MASS START

U20 M – 15km

30 Whit Brown

U18 M – 10km

51 Nick Gardiner

74 Charlie St. George

U18 F – 10km

22 Cora Faye Scott

51 Mazzy Conners

U16 M – 7.5km 

9 Tait Boschen

46 Duncan Fryberger

DAY 4 – CLASSIC MIXED RELAY – 4 X 3.3km

U20 4 X 3.3km

14 IMD U20 Team 3 /41:45.5

Peter Warner

Elsa Futch

WHIT BROWN

Sarah Hottle

20 HP/IMD Unified Team/47:07.4

DUNCAN FRYBERGER

Julia Veauthier

Hunter Pickett

William Blair

U18 4 X 3.4km

11 IMD Team 2/45:09.6

Sam Hutchinson

CORA FAYE SCOTT

Samuel Madsen

Taylor Nadler

IMD U18 Team 6 /raced but did not have a full team

NICK GARDINER

MAZZY CONNERS

CHARLIE ST. GEORGE

U16 4 x 3.3km

3 IMD  U16 Team 1/43:54.2

TAIT BOSCHEN

Tula Higman

Matthew Finkel

Brooke Greenberg

For complete event results visit https://my.raceresult.com/331311/#0_28907B and https://www.muddydogsports.com/.