By Patrick Stumpf
CABLE, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Two members of the Green Bay men's Nordic Ski team continued their respective seasons at the 2016 USSA Skiing Junior National Championships on Monday, as the Phoenix duo of Cory Rouw and Jake Ajax both recorded top-10 finishes to garner All-American honors.
"It is great to see Jake [Ajax] and Cory [Rouw] able to handle less than ideal weather conditions and put together two very solid results," said associate head coach Tim Cook. "They both put in a great deal of work over the last two weeks on their technique, and becoming more efficient across the snow. Obviously, that paid off."
Appearing in their first race of Championship week, Rouw placed eighth in the 10K individual classic at 30:10.7, while Ajax also made the cut in 10th position in 30:23.5 on the Telemark Trails in Cable, Wis.
"Our philosophy for training and this ski program is not to train just to qualify for team or championship events, but rather to train to compete and compete well at those events in March. Both Jake and Cory are showing with results that we are headed in the right direction."
For their performances, both earn the distinction as All-Americans in the U-20 category, becoming Green Bay's first top-10 finishers at Junior Nationals since 2014, when senior
Matt Nichols placed 5th and 10th, respectively, in two events in Vermont.
Rouw and Ajax's week will continue with the Classic Sprint on Wednesday, before the races conclude with a freestyle mass start on Friday and freestyle relay on Saturday.
For updates throughout the remainder of competition, check back to GreenBayPhoenix.com.
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