American team earns fifth place in Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 5 days, 13 hours AGO
Euell Browne and Mark Fey compete for the United States in the first days of the Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships in Sweden this week. (Kara Browne photo)
Luleå, Sweden, rolled out the welcome mat for ski orienteerers from around the world this week. Three sets of siblings, from Columbia Falls, Missoula and New York competed in frigid temperatures around minus 17 degrees.
The M17 class was swept by Finland. Mark Fey led the way for the United States placing 19th. Fey was followed by Columbia Falls’ Euell Browne in 23rd. Espen Chitty of Missoula made his international ski orienteering debut in 32nd place. He also had the unexpected surprise of skiing up on a herd of reindeer during his race.
Erik Fey and Liam Browne placed 31 and 32, respectively, in the M20 class. Erik broke a pole early in the race but powered through with two-thirds of a pole in his left hand.
Day two of of the competition brought some problems for the American competitors including another broken pole, a missed punch, some poor route choices, and illness.
The Browne brothers pulled out some nice starts in the Mass Start Middle Distance Races. Liam was able to show he can ski with the fastest M20s for the first several controls.
The highlight of the Americans’ third day was the M17 relay. Euell Browne started strong and focused, tapping off to Mark Fey in 5th place. Mark maintained that position throughout his leg and sent Espen Chitty to anchor the team. At the finish line Espen was greeted by jubilant teammates knowing they had put together the best international SkiO Relay finish in US history.
“All three athletes skied very good races, and it was exciting to see them beat Estonia and others in the end,” Coach Carl Fey said. “This was a real team effort.”