Mirra at JNs

 One more race update before we close the book on the 2023-24 race season.  Thanks to her outstanding biathlon performances earlier this season, Mirra qualified to represent Team New England at Junior Nationals in Lake Placid over Spring Break.  Somehow, Mt. Van Hoevenberg still had decent snow coverage despite warm temps leading up the to event - although the weather was up and down and conditions were variable all week, they managed to pull off four good races featuring the top junior skiers in the US.  Mirra was feeling pretty cooked after carnival season plus a trip to Estonia for biathlon worlds, but she rallied for some of her best performances of the season.  The 7.5k skate was a good "wake up" race for her - she was 7th for U20s.  After qualifying 16th in the classic sprint, she skied a blistering quarterfinal to advance, and then narrowly missed out on a lucky loser spot in the semis, ending her day in 9th.  The 15k classic had tricky conditions and lots of crashes, but Mirra navigated the downhills brilliantly, paced her race well, and skied onto the podium with a 2nd place finish.  She capped off the week with a strong scramble leg for the winning U20 team in the 4x3k skate mixed relay.  Four races, four All-American performances - pretty nice way to wrap up the season!