{"id":803067,"date":"2020-01-14T18:38:58","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T01:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=377332"},"modified":"2020-01-14T18:38:58","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T01:38:58","slug":"summit-duo-helps-usa-race-to-6th-in-ski-mountaineering-team-relay-at-youth-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/summit-duo-helps-usa-race-to-6th-in-ski-mountaineering-team-relay-at-youth-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit duo helps USA race to 6th in ski mountaineering team relay at Youth Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jeremiah Vaille of Summit County ascends during the ski mountaineering men\u2019s sprint quarterfinal in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland, at the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games on Monday.<\/strong>
Courtesy Olympic Information Services<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

FRISCO \u2014 The competition element of the Youth Olympic experience wrapped up for Summit High School seniors Grace Staberg and Jeremiah Vaille after the final two ski mountaineering competitions in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland, on Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The ski mountaineering sprint competition course at the Lausanne 2020 Youth Winter Olympic Games was a short one that involved 80 meters of elevation change via an ascent on skins, an ascent by boot-pack hike and then a downhill-ski descent.<\/p>\n

Staberg raced to 15th-place \u2014 the top American finisher \u2014 at Monday\u2019s sprint race. Staberg was seeded 12th after posting the 12th-fastest time of 3:53.25 in the seeding round.<\/p>\n

Staberg just missed qualifying for the semis, with her quarterfinal time of 3:49.58 falling behind eventual gold-medalist Caroline Ulrich of Switzerland, eventual bronze-medalist Margot Ravinel of France and Ema Chepklova of Canada.<\/p>\n

In the boys sprint competition, Vaille was seeded 18th after completing the course in 3:12.19 in the seeding round. He finished in 19th-place overall and fifth in his quarterfinal group with a time of 3:05.73, which wasn\u2019t good enough to qualify through to the semifinals. Rocco Baldini of Italy eventually won the gold medal with a time of 2:30.14.<\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s mixed-gender relay, Staberg and Vaille joined forces with fellow American ski mountaineers George Beck and Samantha Paisley to race to sixth place among a dozen teams. The mixed relay featured a course with about 180 meters of elevation change, two ascents and two descents.<\/p>\n

Team USA finished the course with a total time of 39:07, just behind fifth-place Germany (39:04) and about two minutes behind bronze medalist Spain (37:13). Switzerland won the competition with a time of 35:07, more than two minutes faster than silver medalist France (37:11).<\/p>\n

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