Holt, Castren lead Glacier Nordic skiers at festival

The Daily Inter Lake

Henry Holt and Ruben Castren had the best showings for the Glacier Nordic Prep Team at the Western States Youth Cross Country Festival in Sun Valley, Idaho, March 1-2.

Holt placed first and Castren third in the J4 (ages 10-11) 2K Skate race, which had 26 competitors.

Holt finished second and Castren fifth in the 2K Classic on the second day of competition.

Holt added a third place in the Downhill. Castren won the Obstacle Course event.

The ski team had 10 individuals competing in Skate, Ski, Downhill and Obstacle Course on the first day and the Classic race on the final day. The Lake Creek Nordic Center hosted the competition.

There were more than 150 skiers from four states - Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah - in attendance. There were five different age categories for boys and girls.

Barrett Gray was Glacier's youngest competitor. Competing in J5 (8-9), Gray placed fifth in the 1K Skate and fifth in the Downhill.

Cassidy Grady (J4 girls) won the gold medal in the Obstacle Course and placed ninth in the 2K Skate race.

Conner Gray (J3, ages 12-13) was ninth in the 3K Skate. Teammtes Izaak Castren finished 12th, Fisher Gangemi 15th and Alex Van Horn 23rd.

Cassidy Gray came in third in the Obstacle Course and fifth in the Downhill. Izaak Castren was eighth in the Obstacle Course.

Cassidy Gray place eighth in the 3K Classic, Izaak Castren 11th, Gangemi 16th and Van Horn 26th.

For the J3 3K Skate, Madison Grady placed eighth and finished fifth in the Downhill. She wound up 10th in the Classic.

Casey Beiser (J2 Novice boys ages 14-15) won the 3K Skate and took a second in the Classic.

Glacier Nordic finished fourth out of eight teams in the final standings.

Sun Valley topped the field with Bozeman second and the TUNA team from Salt Lake City third.