The Olympic Winter Games in Torino have put the sport of Nordic skiing in the limelight, and the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club's Nordic team plans to keep it there, locally at least, even after the Olympics end.

Last weekend, members of the TSSC Nordic team competed in the final races of their first-ever competitive season. Rachel Hampton and Ashli Socorro represented TSSC at the two-day race, held in Aspen and Carbondale, with both young athletes showcasing their enthusiasm for the club's newest discipline.

"They were really excited about it," TSSC Nordic coach, Jamie Wienk, said of last weekend's races. Despite battling a case of "walking pneumonia" earlier in the week, Hampton broke out with a sixth place finish in J4 girls on Saturday, and Socorro came in less than a second behind her to take seventh place in J4s.

Socorro led the Telluride team on the second day of competition, finishing fifth in her division, with Hampton taking eighth.

The team's competitive season may be over for the year, but it should by no means dampen local youngsters' enthusiasm for the sport, Wienk said.

"It's amazing to see more and more people, especially kids, getting interested in Nordic in the region," she said. "The Nordic team has helped open kids' eyes to what's available to them in the sport, and they've gotten excited about it."

Thanks to the Telluride Nordic Association's Ski P.E. program in the elementary school, Wienk anticipated the Club's Nordic team could see marked growth in the future.

"I see the team growing a lot more," she said. "The kids on the team now are great advocates for the sport, and I think the Nordic Ski P.E. program with the younger kids will definitely help to bring more kids into the club as well."