The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club sent 16 of its cross country athletes to a week of races at the 2025 U.S. Cross Country Junior National Championships from March 6-15 in Soldier Hollow, Utah.

The 16 athletes to qualify include: Campbell McLaren (U18M); Tristan Thrasher (U18M); Tig Loomis (U18F); Anna Rhodes (U18F); Eva Minotto (U18F); Grace Olexa (U20F); Davis Brosterhous (U18F); Georgia Bishop (U16F);  Maia McGinnis-Smith (U16F); Sophia McGinnis-Smith (U16F); Maren Sachs (U16F); Bode Rhodes (U16M); Sawyer Landers (U16M); Henry Patten (U16M); Conor Devin (U16M) and  Jackson McLaren (U16M).

Qualification was based on each athlete’s four best performances from the Rocky Mountain Nordic season’s eight races. 

Over 425 youth cross country skiers, ages 14-20, came from across the nation to compete. Five SSWSC athletes managed top-10 results in individual races, earning them All-American honors.

Four races were slotted into the six-day competition.

The week began with the individual start classic race — 5-kilometers for the U16 athletes and 7.5k for the U18/20 category.

Campbell McLaren was the top Steamboat performer in the classic, taking 8th in the U18/20 race and was sixth among U18 racers. He crossed the finish line in 24 minutes, 26.5 second, 1:14.1 behind the race winner. 1

Following a day of rest, the competitors lined up for the 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint. Snow conditions were firm and fast at the start of the event but slowly became softer as the day went on.

Steamboat had two top-10 finishers in the sprint with U16 skier Maia McGinnis-Smith taking 10th in the girls race and McLaren slotting in at 7th among the U18 men.

Another day of rest gave athletes a chance to regroup in time for the mass start freestyle race.

SSWSC’s Tristan Thrasher broke away with two other racers mid-way through the U18 male 10k race. The trio created a huge gap between the fourth-place skier. Ultimately, Thrasher’s pace was good for the silver medal, coming in less than 10 seconds behind the race winner.

U16 female Georgia Bishop also managed a top-10 finish, placing fifth in her race.

The fourth and final race of Junior Nationals was a mixed-gender classic 3.5k relay. SSWSC athletes joined nine other Colorado-based clubs to form Rocky Mountain Division Teams for the relay races.

Thrasher and McLaren skied the opening leg for their respective U18 teams. The two tagged off within 1.5 seconds of each other, leaving their teams in second and third place. Ultimately, McLaren’s team prevailed when Steamboat’s Anna Rhodes finished the relay strong for a 7th place finish. Thrasher’s team took 9th.

Antigone Loomis raced the second leg for her 6th-place U18 relay. Georgia Bishop and McGinnis-Smith skied the second and fourth legs of the U16 relay, respectively. Their team placed 4th. Sawyer Landers was on the first leg of the 5th place U16 team.