Olivia Bobbie and Eliot Soderholm Collegiate National Snowshoe Champion honors, leading both team to national team titles

2024 US Snowshoe Nationals – 5K Collegiate Championships

Lowes Creek County Park, Eau Claire, WI

Saturday 10 February

Despite the lack of snow coverage, the 2024 Snowshoe Nationals were held as a late season cross country running race at Lowes Creek County Park in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on a combination of undulating single track, some long stretches where passing and accelerating was quite possible and opening up your stride, while also dealing with plenty of twists and turns to keep the runners focused on the race at hand. 

Sixteen members of the Paul Smith's College Snowshoe Team took part in the 5K Collegiate National Championship race and both teams emerged victorious as National Collegiate Champions.  Eliot Soderholm and Wesley Burkit paced the Bobcat men with first and third place finishes and positions on the podium with times of 19:10 and 20:32 respectively.  Logan Krahn placed fourth to round out the team scoring with a time of 22:17, followed by Carson Wohlers in 22:38 and a fifth-place collegiate finish. 

Olivia Bobbie (Brushton-Moira HS/North Bangor, NY) emerged the women's collegiate national champion with a time of 27:03, followed by Brooklynn Shumway (Saranac Lake HS/Bloomingdale, NY) in 27:23.  Joanna Kerchner finished third in 29:26 to round out the scoring trio.  Haven Bradt finished 5^th overall for the women with a time of 31:05, and Reese Covington placed 6^th for the women in 33:15. 

The Paul Smith's College runners seemed especially pleased with the terrain and rolling hills, as this matched their training in the Paul Smith's College VIC.  Surely there was disappointment with the lack of snow, but given the long warm dry spell in the upper Midwest, the organizers made the best of the conditions presented this winter season. 

Half Marathon:  Eliot Soderholm and Wesley Burkit came back from their fine 5K collegiate performances to compete in the 2-lap 13.1-mile half marathon, also held at Lowes Creek County Park the following day.  Eliot hit the course hard, finishing the first two miles in 11 minutes, only to learn that there were a trio of vastly more experienced trail runners waiting for their opportunity to leave Soderholm behind.  Erik Barkhaus (Burien, WA) finished the half marathon in 1:20:24, averaging 6:04/mile.  Scott Gall of Cedar Falls, IA placed second in 1:21:14, averaging 6:12/mile, and Jeffrey Quednow (Ogema, WI) placed third in 1:24:44.  Barkhaus and Gall both earned spots on the US National Team for their impressive placement in the men's 10K on Saturday.  Soderholm averaged 6:32 per mile in his first official half marathon race ~ a solid performance for an eighteen-year-old. 

Wesley Burkit placed fifth overall in the half marathon in 1:35:47, averaging 7:19 per mile.  Soderholm and Burkit both earned a position on the US Snowshoe Nationals podium with their top five finishes.  Ian Montgomery-Gehrt finished in 9^th place with a time of 1:48:25, while Carson Wohlers finished in 2:01:19.  Nate Shader finished out the Bobcat finishers with a time of 2:15:25, in 16^th place overall. 

The Paul Smith's College snowshoe runners will be heading to Dewey Mountain for the Dewey Mountain 7.5Km Challenge this coming Saturday with a 10 AM start.  It will be great to have several of the local runners at our local recreation center in Saranac Lake for the re-birth of this great snowshoe race on Saturday. 

5K Collegiate Results – Paul Smith's College 

  Half Marathon Results

12 February 2024

Coach:  Jim Tucker

Assistant Coach:  Phil Dybfest-Muha