Thurston wins Vermont Cup, heads to Finland with Green Lantern support
January 30, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
Harwood Union's Ava Thurston, of Waterbury, competes at U-32 in a 2020 race. File photo by Gordon Miller.
Harwood Union High School’s standout Nordic skier Ava Thurston heads out on an adventure to Finland today where she will compete in the Junior World Cross Country Ski Championships.
The Waterbury junior’s sendoff was preceded by the announcement that hometown renewable energy firm Green Lantern Solar was sponsoring her as she competes for Team USA in Vuokotti, Finland.
The world’s top junior (under age 20) cross country skiers will race February 8-14. This is Thurston’s second time qualifying for international competition after competing last year in Sweden in the Scandinavian Cup.
In announcing its support for Thursday, Green Lantern Solar noted that part of its mission is community support that includes sponsorship of numerous local nonprofits and sports clubs as well as renewable energy and environmental awareness events.
“It is super-exciting and an honor to support Ava and Team USA as they go up against the best in the world in Finland this winter. Ava is an incredible athlete and an incredible person. I couldn’t think of a better ambassador for Vermont and for the USA,” said Green Lantern CEO Luke Shullenberger. “Also, she is the youngest athlete to be named to the team which is a huge accomplishment! Keep your eyes on this young woman. She is going to go places over her skiing career.”
Sponsoring a winter-sport athlete such as Thurston made sense to the company, Shullernberger said, given its focus on combatting climate change by shifting to carbon-free energy. “We feel like we have a duty to support winter sports and to promote policy that will protect the places and lifestyles that are at risk due to climate change,” he said.
Green Lantern Solar has more than 100 projects throughout Vermont and New England that produce approximately 75 gigawatt hours of solar-powered electricity per year, reduce thousands of tons of carbon emissions, and save customers more than $1.5 million annually.
On her last weekend before the trip to the international competition, Thurston made time for the Vermont Cup competition last Sunday, Jan. 24. Skiing for Mansfield Nordic Ski Club where she is a member, Thurston placed first, second, and fifth in her three races at Prospect Mountain in Woodford in southern Vermont.
Thurston won the 10-kilometer classic race with a time of 34:55.3, finishing 1:24 ahead of the closest competition. Her second- and fifth-place finishes were in a pair of 1.2-k sprint races.
Making the Vermont Cup a family affair, younger sister and Harwood freshman Julia Thurston competed in the under-16 category. She took second place in the 5k classic and finished fourth place in two sprint races.