Jager, Laukli, McCabe and Palmer-Leger Cap U23 World Championships

Left to right; Utah's Novie McCabe, Sydney Palmer-Leger and Sophia Laukli race for the United States in the women's 20K classic at the FIS Nordic U23 World Championships

Photo by: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com

Jager, Laukli, McCabe and Palmer-Leger Cap U23 World Championships

2/5/2023 11:28 AM | Skiing

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Utah quartet competed with some of the world’s top skiers in Whistler, British Columbia

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Utah's Luke Jager, Sophia Laukli, Novie McCabe and Sydney Palmer-Leger represented the United States this past week at the FIS Nordic U23 World Championships, hosted at Whistler Olympic Park. Both the U23 and Junior World Championships, held simultaneously, welcome the world's best skiers for competition.

Perhaps the highlight of the week came in Friday's women's 10K freestyle race, when Laukli, McCabe and Palmer-Leger were among the United States contingent. All three finished the 10K freestyle in the top-nine, a phenomenally rare feat not only for the U.S. but also for all three athletes to come from the same NCAA team, going up against the top U23 athletes worldwide.

Laukli led the Utah trio (and United States) in the 10K race with a fifth-place result, followed close behind with McCabe in seventh and Palmer-Leger in ninth.

"This has been my fifth World Junior trip and my first time racing as a U23," said Palmer-Leger of the week. "As a U23 I was racing against the best under-23 athletes in the world. These athletes have competed at the Olympics and gotten top-20 results at World Cups. Going into the week, I had no expectations of how I was going to do. I went into the races wanting to ski well and enjoy racing with these other incredible athletes. Last week I ended up making heats in the sprint race and two top-10s in the other races. I was proud of what I had accomplished after having not the best past at this event."

A full rundown of U23 results follows for Jager, Laukli, McCabe and Palmer-Leger.

Luke Jager

Date	Event	Result
January 29	Men's Classic Sprints	12^th
January 31	Men's 20K Classic	33^rd

Sophia Laukli

Date	Event	Result
February 3	Women's 10K Freestyle	5th
February 4	4x5K Relay (third leg)	7^th

Novie McCabe

Date	Event	Result
January 29	Women's Classic Sprints	23^rd
January 31	Women's 20K Classic	14^th
February 3	Women's 10K Freestyle	7^th

Sydney Palmer-Leger

Date	Event	Result
January 29	Women's Classic Sprints	30^th
January 31	Women's 20K Classic	8^th
February 3	Women's 10K Freestyle	9^th
February 4	4x5K Relay (first leg)	7^th

RMISA Announces Schedule Updates
The RMISA on Saturday night finalized changes to the 2023 schedule, coming off the alpine half of the Montana State Invitational which was abbreviated due to conditions.

The MSU Invitational will now count as a Nordic-only meet, effectively making Utah the winner of the meet. The Utes scored 396 points in Nordic competition, a 120-point pad over Alaska Anchorage.
The one women's giant slalom run that did take place at MSU (January 31) will now count as an extra NCAA qualifier, but not as part of a meet. Utah's Kaja Norbye was the winner of that GS run.
A men's giant slalom race has been added for Wednesday, February 8 at Eldora Mountain Resort as an extra NCAA qualifier.
If possible, an attempt will be made later in the season to make up one more giant slalom race for both men and women.

Both the Colorado Invitational and Denver Invitational are unaffected by the schedule updates. Nordic races are complete for the CU Invitational, and alpine teams will finish the meet on February 9 and 10 with giant slalom races at Eldora.

Nordic races at the Denver Invitational are slated for Friday, February 10 (5K freestyle) and Saturday, February 11 (10K Classic), while back-to-back slalom days will occur on Saturday and Sunday, February 11-12. The Nordic half will take place at Maloit Park in Minturn, Colorado, and the alpine competitions will be held in Dillon, Colorado, at Loveland Ski Area.

Follow the Utah Ski Team on social media @utahskiteam.