Local cross-country skiers continued their strong start to the season last weekend, competing at World Cup events in Lillehammer, Norway.

For the second straight event North Tahoe’s JC Schoonmaker reached the semifinals of a World Cup cross-country race.

Schoonmaker, 21, led the Americans in the freestyle sprint, finishing 11th place after a runner-up finish in the quarterfinals.

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“That course was super fun,” Schoonmaker said in an interview with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “I’ve never raced on the old Lillehammer course … it would’ve been cool to race on the one that was used in the Olympics, but still a sweet course that skied super well in the heats. I thought the race went great and was really happy with it. I would’ve liked to have squeaked into that final, but was just missing a little bit of steam in that last 100 meters. Super pumped for Davos now!”

Schoonmaker’s 11th-place finish comes after a career-best seventh-place finish in Ruka, Finland.

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Schoonmaker and other members of the U.S. team competed in a 4×7.5 kilometer relay on Sunday, and finished 15th.

On the women’s side, local skier Hannah Halvorsen also competed in freestyle sprint. Halvorsen, 23, made it out of qualifying, but had her day end in the quarterfinals to finish 28th overall.

World Cup racing continues this weekend in Davos, Switzerland.

NORMAN MAKES 2ND WORLD CUP APPEARANCE

The VISA Big Air snowboard contest at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was held last weekend and featured the second World Cup appearance by 17-year-old Hahna Norman, of Truckee.

Norman made her World Cup debut on Oct. 23, in Chur, Switzerland, and brought home a 14th-place finish. She went on to finish 30th in Saturday’s big air competition.

Hailey Langland, 21, who grew up riding in the area, placed fourth behind a Cab frontside 900 and a frontside 900 Weddle — both of which were first-time tricks for the three-time X Games medalist.

Justin Scacco is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at jscacco@sierrasun.com