Juggling a crazy spectrum of weather conditions — from lack of snow to rain to soft snow, and then biting temperatures and hard, fast snow — Northstar-at-Tahoe seamlessly swapped its skiing venue from Challenger to Pioneer and showcased three first-rate days of giant slalom for the 2009 Wild West J3 Junior Olympics Qualifier races this past weekend, Jan. 24 to 26.

The Diamond Peak J3 Ski Team garnered several podium spots and top-20 results while banking valuable points for their journey to the Junior Olympics.

The Wild West Series consist of nine races — three giant slaloms, three slaloms and three super-Gs. Racers are awarded “new” World Cup points for their best five-out-of-nine results; a select group of J3 racers in the Far West Region then earn a spot to compete in the Junior Olympics at McCall, Idaho, on March 19 to 22.

Challenged by personal tragedy, injury and illness, the Diamond Peak ladies showed immeasurable heart and determination. The highlight of the weekend was on Saturday, when first-year racer, Julia Bjorkman, whose father Frank had died just two days earlier, came through the finish with a brilliant run and placed 10th overall for the day with a combined time of 2 minutes, 4.56 seconds.

Cheered on by her mother, Ellen, and many friends who had come out to support her, Bjorkman went on to place 13th on Sunday (2:05.05) and 12th on Monday (2:03.56), positioning her nicely amongst the Junior Olympic contenders.

Teammate Lila Lapanja, still working through a rib/back injury suffered racing three weeks ago, gave what she could and finished third on Saturday (1:59.12 seconds), third on Sunday (1:59.19) and fourth on Monday (1:57.47), clocking the fastest second-run time (55:74) on the last day. Her results secured top seeding in the Junior Olympics’ GS.

“Considering that I wasn’t even going to race Sunday because my back hurt so badly, I was pretty proud of myself to come back on Monday and win the second run and be only two-tenths (of a second) from first place,” Lapanja said. “I’ve got more in me and am excited to feel better and race again soon.”

First-year J3s Kerrie Tonking and Sarah Wright enjoyed good results as well over the weekend. Tonking placed 17th (2:06.71), 19th (2:07.60) and tied for 18th (2:06.54) on day three. Wright finished in the top half of the field in 35th on Saturday (2:13.59), was out ill on Saturday, and powered back the final day, improving to 31st with a time of 2:11.49.

“Julia, Kerrie, and Sarah exceeded expectations and showed great progress in their skiing,” said coach Vojko Lapanja. “And Lila did amazingly well, not knowing if she could even race.”

Incline racer Grace Dolan, who skies for Sugar Bowl, placed fourth, fourth and third in three days of focused racing, which also gives her a premium GS start-position for the Junior Olympics.

Ty Sprock, the lone Diamond Peak J3 boy, took on an impressive field of competition with remarkable skiing and solid results. On day one, Sprock nailed a third place overall (and a first for the first-year J3s) with a 1:55.82 combined result and finished in fifth (2nd for first-years) with 1:54.66 on Sunday. On Monday, after an excellent first run, Sprock was scorching the second run when his ski hit a rut and threw him off course three gates from the finish.

“Ty’s last second run was uncompromising and it was obvious he was going for the win,” said coach Lapanja. “I am very proud of my racers.”

The Diamond Peak J3s now join older racers today at Boreal for a USSA Open night slalom. The Wild West Junior Olympic Series meets next for the slalom qualifiers Feb. 14-16 at Snow Summit, Calif. For complete results, visit www.fwskiing.org.