Callahan Waters’s pair of first place finishes and Annaby Kanning’s earned spot on the Pacific Northwest national ski team highlighted Sandpoint cross-country skiing’s exploits at the Junior National Qualifier at Mt. Spokane this past weekend. Classic ski races were held on Saturday, Feb. 16, while skate ski races were held on Sunday, Feb. 17.

“It’s a whole new level of competition for these kids to race in a JNQ,” Sandpoint Youth Nordic Ski program director Vicki Longhini wrote in an email. “It can be intimidating for some skiers but our team really rose to the task and raced their hearts out.”

Skiers from all over the Pacific Northwest; Oregon, Washington and Idaho, race at Junior Qualifiers to compete for a spot on the Pacific Northwest national team. The Pacific Northwest team then competes with other top teams from across the nation in Anchorage, Alaska in three weeks.

Kanning, a current Sandpoint High School sophomore, will be one of the Pacific Northwest skiiers for the second consecutive year; she made the Pacific Northwest team last season and has skated for six years.

But for most of the Sandpoint junior skiers, the race in Spokane was their first JNQ.

“The kids on the race team have been training since early December and this race was sort of the grand finale for their race seasons,” Longhini wrote. “[It’s] hard to believe the Nordic ski racing season is wrapping up but with great snow conditions in the valley and on the mountain, a lot of the kids seem pretty motivated to keep skiing.“

Other strong finishers include Clara Cave, Jett Longanecker, Fletcher Barrett and Kasten Grimm.