South Lake Tahoe athlete places gold at Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy's first competition of season

NORDEN, Calif. - Sugar Bowl Ski Team & Academy (SBSTA) student-athletes topped the podium in all three U18 Nordic events this past weekend at the Western Canada Cup #1 and #2 races at Sovereign Lake Nordic Center in Vernon, British Columbia.

SBA Juniors Matteus Sokulsy from South Lake Tahoe and Pascal Wettermark of Menlo Park placed first and second, respectively, in the U18 Boys Freestyle 5km race. The U18 Boys Classic 5km saw SBST’s Matt Seline (Truckee) in first place with teammates Sokulsky in seventh and Wettermark not far behind in eleventh. Seline placed seventh amongst the men’s Open Freestyle Sprint juniors and 26th overall.

“It has been a great experience to race internationally for the first time,” said Sokulsky. “Pascal and I started at the very back of the pack for the 5km skate mass start on Saturday. After a 2.5 km lap, we successfully pushed through to the front of the pack. We battled it out between us for the rest of the race, but I snuck ahead on the last downhill, taking the win!”

Sokulsy continued, “Sunday’s classic 5km race was also lots of fun. With a more competitive field, I was happy to finish seventh but would love to push for a podium spot next time. Congratulations to Matt Seline, who won that race! It was a great start to the season; I’m excited for the season ahead.”

Truckee’s Hayden McJunkin (SBA class of 2022) placed first in the U18 Girls Freestyle 5km and 40th in the Women’s Open Classic 10km race.

SBSTA Nordic program director Will Sweetser was pleased with the team’s results. “To have the fastest racer in all three U18 races we entered is a testament to the hard work this team has put in. The field included all of the top club programs in western Canada, as well as Stratton Mountain School and Green Mountain Valley School. The focus and positive energy that Hayden, Matt, Matteus, and Pascal brought to these races was just fantastic!”

The Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy (SBSTA) is a nationally recognized Alpine, Freeride, and Nordic ski team and ski academy that has produced multiple US Ski Team members, NCAA collegiate competitors, national champions in virtually all age groups, and numerous nationally ranked athletes. Sugar Bowl Academy located in Norden, CA, is the country’s only ski-in/ski-out ski academy.

- Sugar Bowl Ski Team and Academy Press Release