Local Jumpers Make History in Lake Placid

From left are U.S. men’s ski jumpers Jason Colby, Henry Loher, Tate Frantz and Bryce Kloc after placing second in the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championship’s men’s team competition on Feb. 14 in Lake Placid. (Provided photo — New York Ski Educational Foundation)

LAKE PLACID — Tate Frantz sat on the cold bar of the HS100 ski jump on Feb. 12 waiting to soar through the air. Behind him was no one. In front of him was a crowd of eager jumpers and spectators waiting to see his result.

The Lake Placid native was in first place in the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships individual competition with only one jump to go. It was unfamiliar territory for him and for any U.S. ski jumper, but he was ready for the moment.

After a nearly 10-minute delay, Frantz leaped further than anyone else that night. However, it wasn’t enough to earn the gold medal. Austria’s Stephan Embacher, who won the event last year, bested him by only 0.4 points after wind-related deductions. Frantz lost 2.7 points due to the wind, which dropped him to second place.

“When it came down to the points, I was kind of surprised and definitely kind of frustrated,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how to feel because I was frustrated and happy at the same time.”

This was a historic moment for both him and USA Ski Jumping, as Frantz became only the second U.S. men’s jumper to medal at the event – following Erik Belshaw of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, who won silver last season.

Frantz, who grew up skiing for the New York Ski Educational Foundation – initially as a Nordic combined athlete before switching to ski jumping in 2022 due to an injury – was thrilled to have posted these results at his home jumps. “I had my grandparents, my brothers, my parents and everybody was there,” he said. “It was fun to know that they were cheering me on and my brother brought some friends along, so it was extra special to sit on the podium with a medal around my neck.”

Frantz posted the best score in both the qualification round and the opening round. In the first round, he jumped 95.5 meters for 127.9 points, and in the final round he soared 98.5 meters for 129.8 points – combining for 257.7 points – to earn the silver medal. Stephan Embacher scored 258.1 over two jumps, and Austria’s Simon Steinberger took third with 255.3 points.

Because of his podium finish, the U.S. ski jumping team secured an extra spot on the FIS World Cup circuit for the next year. “It’s a really big deal that we’re going to also have an extra man be able to start for the next 12 months,” Frantz said. “Development-wise, it’s going to be an important factor going into the Olympic season just having another spot available.”

Other strong finishes for the U.S. included Jason Colby from Steamboat Springs (9th place, 228.7 points), Henry Loher of Wilmington (21st place, 203.3 points), and Bryce Kloc of Clifton Park (40th place, with a one-jump score of 85.9).

The top 10 finishers in the World Cup standings at the junior level have all medaled at World Juniors, a fact highlighted by NYSEF’s head ski jumping and Nordic combined coach, Colin Delaney.

In the women’s individual competition, Josie Johnson led with a 13th-place finish, followed by Sandra Sproch in 17th, Estella Hassick in 37th, and debutant Kaija Copenhaver in 43rd.

The team events were equally exciting. The U.S. men’s team – comprised of Frantz, Loher, Colby, and Kloc – made history by becoming the first ever U.S. men’s team to reach the podium in a team event, finishing third behind Austria and Slovenia. In the mixed team event, featuring Frantz, Colby, Josie Johnson, and Sandra Sproch, the U.S. secured a second-place finish with a total of 861.6 points, marking the first U.S. podium in a mixed team event.

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Nordic Combined

In the Nordic combined events, Lake Placid native and NYSEF athlete Kai McKinnon led the U.S. women with a 12th-place finish in the Individual Gundersen Normal HS100 event with a time of 17:34.4. "The event in Lake Placid was amazing; ORDA and Lake Placid did a really great job getting everything ready, and the conditions were perfect,” McKinnon said. “I didn’t perform as well as last year but I am really excited to turn that around for World Championships.”

The U.S. women also included Steamboat Springs natives Haley Brabec (20th place, 17:59.0) and Ella Wilson (26th place, 19:36.4). Norway’s Ingrid Laate won overall at 14:58.6, with Slovenia’s Teja Pavec (15:12.9) and Germany’s Trine Goepfert (15:15.5) rounding out the podium.

On the boys’ side, Caleb Zuckerman of Hanover, New Hampshire, led the U.S. in the individual competition, finishing 30th in 28:35.8. Austria’s Paul Walcher (24:12.2) won the event, with Japan’s Atsushi Narita (24:18.2) and Germany’s Richard Stenzel (24:54.7) coming in second and third respectively. Other U.S. results included Arthur Tirone (37th, 29:05.4), Anders Giese (42nd, 30:14.9), and Ethan Maines (44th, 31:20.3).

In the boys’ team sprint, Zuckerman and Tirone teamed up to place 10th in 33:30.3, while the Austrian duo of Walcher and Andreas Gfrerer won in 30:03.5. Later, in the mixed team Gundersen, the U.S. team of McKinnon, Wilson, Giese, and Ronen Woods of Anchorage, Alaska, placed eighth with a time of 49:16.5, as Germany took the top spot with 42:27.3.

McKinnon is set to compete in the Women’s Mass Start Normal Hill HS102/5K event at the upcoming World Championships in Trondheim later this month, with the possibility of also participating in the team normal hill and individual normal hill competitions.