Carrabassett Valley ski cross team going to FIS World Junior Championships

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine (WABI) - The Carrabassett Valley Academy ski cross team is going to the FIS World Junior Championships from March 25-28 in San Pellegrino, Italy.

(From Left to Right Morgan Shute, Francois Meloni, Head Coach Michael Phelan, Sullivan Butler,... — (From Left to Right Morgan Shute, Francois Meloni, Head Coach Michael Phelan, Sullivan Butler, Maggie Swain)(WABI/Kim Karn)

“It’s really exciting that we’re going to Italy. It’s a big thing for all of us to just be invited to this event to compete alongside the best athletes in the world. It’s a really big deal, and it’s the biggest competition that any of us have ever competed in so far,” said Maggie Swain, Kingfield.

They’ve been competing with each other to qualify with their best scores on their North American Cup schedule.

“Teamwork makes the dream work, like our coach says. We press each other forward and get along really well with each other too,” said Francois Meloni, Luxembourg, Belgium.

The San Pellegrino landscape poses a new challenge for the skiers from CVA.

“Compared to our courses that we train on, this course is really flat. It’s got more features, so we’ve been working on turning and really pumping and absorbing,” said Sullivan Butler, Carrabassett Valley.

It’s a stepping stone for a World Cup start.

“Being so young and getting the invite to this big event is an amazing accomplishment. They’ve done such a good job,” said Michael Phelan, head coach.

The skiers are seeing the world as they achieve their dreams.

“It’ll be just a great experience. Going to Europe is always super cool. Earlier this year, we went out to Austria for an early-season training trip. It was just a great experience to be out there. It was some of our first times in Europe, so it was just a great experience,” said Morgan Shute, Allendale, N.J.

They’re growing up from starting at two years old to the world stage.

While the full list of World Junior competitors are from ages 16-21, the Carrabassett Valley team is just 16-17.

Six male and female U.S. athletes are selected to the World Juniors.

Three men’s spots and and two women’s spots are coming from CVA.

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