Gangemi, Gray ski at Soldier Hollow

Whitefish Nordic skiers Fischer Gangemi and Connor Gray both competed against a field of 650 racers from around the West Jan. 19-20 in a Junior National Super-Qualifier race at Soldier Hollow in Utah. Their J1/OJ boy’s category had 120 boys competing from seven Western states.

Both Gray and Gangemi qualified for the quarter finals of the 1.3 skate sprint race in 23th  and 26th, respectively. In the quarter-final heats, Gray was narrowly edged out from advancing and ended up third in his heat after the photo finish was reviewed for a 15th place. Gangemi was 5th in this heat and ended up 23rd.  

The boys raced a 15k classic race on Saturday, which consisted of three laps on the very challenging course from the 2002 Winter Olympics. In a tough field, Gangemi was a solid 13th in 43.35, with Gray 32nd in 45.43.