US Nationals & U20 Europe Training Camp Begins

Ben Berend and I racing in US National Championships

This past weekend we had US National Championships in Park City, UT on the k125 meter hill. Going into this weekend I was feeling a little bit tired from all the intensity work my team and I have been doing, however I was psyched to compete. The day of the comp was another hot day in Park City but everyone was ready to compete. We do our National Championships along with the Ski Jumping team so we competed in Ski Jumping Nationals as well. We used the first comp jump from this event for the Nordic Combined race. We all had a pretty good day on the hill and everybody was starting fairly close together. Bryan Fletcher started first followed by Adam Loomis about 20sec back, then Ben Berend and I about 40sec back, Taylor Fletcher and Michael Ward started a little over a minute back. I was happy with my jump as it was a pretty good jump for me and it put me right in the mix of things starting in 4th place! During the race Ben and I skied together for the majority of the time, we were caught and passed by Taylor and Michael but still skied a solid race together! On the last hill of the climb I was able to put a small gap between Ben and I which I held to the finish line. I ended the day in 5th place, my best performance at US National Championships so I was happy with a solid performance. Bryan held everyone off for his second consecutive US National Title, followed by Adam Loomis in 2nd, Taylor Fletcher in 3rd, Michael Ward in 4th, myself in 5th, and Ben Berend in 6th. My team was followed by several different packs of strong young skiers! I had a great time competing in Nationals and pushing the pace with Ben as we tend to do in every part of our training! 

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Jasper Good flying at US National Championships

US National Championship Podium, Left to Right: Adam Loomis, Bryan Fletcher, Taylor Fletcher

Two days after Nationals I traveled to Europe for a three week training camp with 7 other U20 US Nordic Combined Athletes. We are now in Planica, SLO a place that feels like a second home with amazing training facilities and beautiful mountains in the surrounding area. We have already jumped three different hills and done a sweet interval session up a stunning pass with 24 switchbacks to the top. For endurance there is a bike path right outside our hotel going down into Italy and deeper into Slovenia depending on the direction one chooses to ski. I am having a great time training and hanging out with all of the U20 athletes from the US. We will be traveling to Ramsau, AUS tomorrow where we meet the Czech Republic U20 Nordic Combined team whom we will be training and doing some coaches comps with for the rest of the trip. Below are some pictures of the trip so far! Stay tuned for more on our training camp!