Shelby Reardon / Steamboat Pilot and Today
Last weekend, athletes from Steamboat Springs competed at the Junior World Championships in Zakopane, Poland and achieved high results.
Niklas Malacinski was the top finisher among all American athletes, finishing seventh in the men’s Nordic combined normal hill competition. He jumped up to 15th, putting him just over a minute behind the race leader.
He had the 12th fastest race, passing many people to cross the finish line in seventh position.
In the same event, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club athlete Gunnar Gilbertson finished 31st.
In the women’s Nordic combined normal hill, Steamboat’s Alexa Brabec came within a whisker of a top-10 finish, finishing 12th. She jumped to 17th place and had the 11th fastest race, passing the people to take 12th place overall.
Steamboat skier and United States National Team teammate Tess Arnone finished 21st overall.
Those three, Malacinski, Brabec and Arnone, teamed up with Caleb Zuckerman in the mixed team event in which the United States finished seventh out of nine teams.
Malacinski and Zuckerman combined with Steamboat’s Tate Frantz and Gilbertson in the men’s team event.
John F. Russell / Steamboat Pilot and Today
In ski jumping, the women were led by Josie Johnson and Paige Jones, who finished 20th and 21st. Steam skier Annika Belshaw took 27th place with jumps of 75 and 77.5 meters.
These three and Brabec formed the US women’s ski jumping team in the team event, finishing sixth.
Steam skier Erik Belshaw had the best result among the American men in the normal hill event, taking 18th place with jumps of 97 and 92.5 meters.
Erik competed in the team event with Stewart Gundry, Maxim Glyvka and Logan Gundry to finish 12th.
Annika and Erik Belshaw teamed up with Jones and Gundry in the mixed team event and finished 10th out of 12 teams.
To reach Shelby Reardon, call 970-871-4253, email [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @ByShelbyReardon.
