PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – After a near miss at a medal in the 10km classic, then a bronze medal and another near miss at an individual junior national championship title, #Eleanor Magnuson# (
So.-Champlin Park, Minn.) finally stood atop the podium at the USSA Junior Olympics Saturday in the older junior girls 3x5km freestyle relay.
Magnuson led off the trio that included Lynn Duijndam of Roseville, Minn. and Corinne Malcolm of Hayward, Wis.—all three of whom posted the fastest time of their respective legs—to win by a comfortable margin in a time of 44:27.8 seconds. The Alaskan team finished second 39.3 seconds back in 45:07.5 seconds. New England finished third in 45:39.1 seconds.
It was Magnuson's spectacular first leg that put Midwest in position to win right from the beginning, taking 22 seconds out of Friday's 5km freestyle National Champion, Corinne Prevot of New England, giving Duijndam, and subsequently, Malcolm, a lot of breathing room. Magnuson's 22 seconds proved to be over half of the gap the Midwest team would put on the field by the finish. She becomes the first Saints skier to own a U.S. National Championship title.
Magnuson was somewhat surprised at the performance as she didn't feel like she had to push that hard to get the lead she built. “I felt great,” said Magnuson. “It felt just like I was skiing a 10km, not really rushing like a 5k.”
Saints' head coach
Chad Salmela believes that was probably the key to Magnuson's performance.
“The difficulty with a 5km is that you really have to go. There's no pacing. It's too short. But while you have to race hard, a big difficulty is trying too hard and tensing up. When Eleanor relaxes, she goes faster. It's that simple, and today's result with her perception of the effort shows her exactly that.”
Magnuson was also nominated for the annual Dave Quinn award that recognizes the Junior Olympic athlete who best exemplifies the ideals of cross country ski sport, who beyond outstanding results at the JOs, have special attributes like love for the sport, leadership, overcoming hardship, and work ethic, that makes the nominees unique. Each team puts nominates a candidate for the award, and Magnuson received the honor for the Midwest team.
“I just found out five minutes before the ceremony, so it was pretty cool,” said Magnuson of the honor. According to Salmela, the Midwest team couldn't have picked a better candidate. “Eleanor transferred here (to St. Scholastica) at semester break, not knowing if it was the right move. She not only fit right in, but instantly had a positive impact on our team, both on and off the field of play,” said Salmela. “She has a naturally great attitude combined with a reasonable, fierce determination, mixed with joy in the effort that this sport requires, both for success, and for enjoyment. It's nice to have her recognized for these qualities as well as see her perform so well on the national stage.”
Magnuson's efforts at the Junior Olympics put a bookend on the season for her and the Saints program. “It is a nice little bonus to have Eleanor do so well this week,” said Salmela. “It's a small let down, despite an overall excellent season by the team, to not send anyone to NCAAs when we've done so the past two seasons. We're a young team with great talent, and Eleanor's week has been a nice little boost to the end of the team's season.”
USSA Junior Olympics
Older Junior Girls 3x5km Freestyle Relay
Presque Isle, ME
3/13/10
1 Midwest 44:27.9
Eleanor Magnuson (Champlin Park, Minn./Champlin Park HS) St. Scholastica 17:00.8 1
Lynn Duijndam Finn Sisu Skiers 14:02.1 1
Corine Malcome Montana State Univ. 13:24.9 1
2 Alaska 45:07.6
Kailey Mucha Alaska Nordic Racing 17:30.6 4
Jessie Yeaton Alaska Nordic Racing 14:03.6 3
Marisa Rorabaugh Fairbanks FXC 13:33.5 2
3 New England 45:07.6
Corine Prevot Middlebury College 17:22.8 2
Cambria McDermott Stratton Mtn School 14:03.5 2
Emily Attwood Cape Nordice 14:12.9 6
