Smitty Striders Dominate Snowshoe Championships

Eliot Soderholm becomes PSC's first US Nationals and World Champion in Snowshoeing's Open Division, while Bryce Shannon wins US and Junior World Titles

Eliot Soderholm stands atop the podium after winning back-to-back World Snowshoe Championships. (Matt Dougherty photo)

December 22, 2025

Brillion, WI ~ In what may go down as the most dominant performance by a single institution in snowshoe history, the Paul Smith's College snowshoe team just swept the junior and senior men's competition at both the US & World Snowshoe Championships.

The event, which saw athletes from 12 states and five nations compete for cash prizes, prestige, and the title of Snowshoe World Champion, was a three day event starting on Friday with the US Championships and ending on Sunday with the Santa Ski and Open 5k. The Ariens Nordic Center and town of Brillion hosted an estimated 1,000 racers, spectators, fans, and race organizers. Matt Dougherty, the Paul Smith's College Nordic ski coach, was on hand in his capacity as Executive Director of the North Country Sports Council, which helped secure grant funding of over $110,000 for the event.

"The Ariens Nordic Center truly is a remarkable venue, and we're so excited to see the U.S. and World Snowshoe Championships come to such a welcoming community," said Dougherty. "Wisconsin and Brillion are opening up their arms to the world, and this event will bring wonderful energy and opportunity to the area while inspiring future generations of athletes," he added.

On Friday, the first day of competition, Paul Smith's College took top honors in both the Jr and Sr men's championship as Eliot Soderholm (Reston, VA) and Bryce Shannon (Port Jervis, NY) won in their respective categories. Shannon paced the Jr men's competition with a time of 22:06 followed by Matthew Matis (Susquehanna, PA) at 24:06 and Brock Boissey (Cadyville, NY) at 26:54 as the Bobcats swept the junior podium. Soderholm won the Senior US Championship with a time of 19:18, calmy and coolly biding his time and dropping competitors as the race progressed.

Shannon commented on the relatively new experience for him regarding snowshoe racing and how he was able to excel in such a short period of time.

"As a newcomer to the sport, I am quite pleased with my performance only three races into my career. While my sport of choice is still cross country, snowshoeing has a similar feel to it, and I believe I will enjoy it just as much," said Shannon.

Head coach Jim Tucker knew the task of getting his athletes ready would be challenging. They had just a month to prepare for the event after finishing the cross country season in Uniontown, PA for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) XC National Tournament in mid-November.

"Knowing that we would be going directly from the fall cross country season to the snowshoe season and with the major events of the snowshoe season taking place in December... I was really working to try and get the students to grasp that they needed to work out more in the fitness center to engage their hip flexors (rowing machine work, cycling workouts) and then really work the hills through the entire fall XC season," said Tucker.

Luckily for the team, the area has experienced higher-than-normal snowfall, which resulted in terrific conditions for training for the December events. Whiteface opened a month earlier than last season and the Paul Smith's College Visitors Interpretive Center (VIC) has been grooming trails since just after Halloween.

"I had to really hope that the first year students, who likely had no clue as to how challenging snowshoeing and snowshoe racing might be could do their best to get into the groove and train as much as possible, especially after they returned from Thanksgiving," continued Tucker. "They had so little time to prepare for races of this magnitude, and the dozen students really worked on the VIC trails to become acclimated to the challenge."

"Thanks to Paul Smith's College this was even made possible for me, but especially to Jim Tucker. I hadn't decided on PSC and was considering other colleges until I was able to talk with Jim," added Shannon.

Saturday's World Snowshoe Federation World Championships saw a Paul Smith's College student athlete top the podium in the senior men's race for the first time in history. After finishing as junior world champion last year in Fuente de, Spain, Eliot Soderholm followed that up this year with the senior world championship, winning the men's race and defeating all competitors by nearly four minutes on the 10k course. His blistering time of 38:06 puts him on the US Men's National Snowshoe team and establishes himself as one of the premier snowshoe racers in the world. He is also the youngest world champion in history by a whopping eight years.

"I would like to dedicate both my win at the US National Snowshoe Championships and my gold-medal performance at the World Snowshoe Championships in the loving memory of Jake Myer and Brandon Jarvis," said Soderholm in his official statement.

When asked about what preparation went into the event, Soderholm was candid. The endurance athlete trained extensively for the event, using his Jr World Championship Snowshoe title last year in Spain as an eye opener and motivation for competing in the senior event this year with the best snowshoe racers in the world. Over the summer, Soderholm awoke at 4am daily to train for 90 minutes before his 11-hour shift at work to push his body and mind to the absolute limit.

On the women's side, the trio of Chloe Freund (Clinton, NY), Morgan Cheney (Pulteney, NY), and Olivia Bobbie (North Bangor, NY) finished third, fourth, and fifth in the US Snowshoe 5K event in the 20 - 29 age class. Freund followed that up with a silver medal in the 10K event in the women's 20-29 age category, with Cheney earning bronze.

Both Soderholm and Shannon earned spots on the US National team at the senior and junior levels, respectively. Shannon is joined on the US Junior team by Matis, Boissey, and Aidan Minihan, bringing the total number of Bobcats representing US Snowshoe on the men's side to five. Freund, Cheney, and Bobbie were also recognized by earning Collegiate National Team honors on the women's side. The most the college had had in any previous year was one, with Isaac Leach occupying a spot on the junior team in 2017. Having eight athletes represent both Paul Smith's college and the United States is truly monumental.

In addition, Paul Smith's College has now won three consecutive Collegiate Snowshoe National Championships on both the men's and women's sides, showcasing the college's ability to produce consistent results in such a unique sport.

US Snowshoe Nationals 5K Championships –

Paul Smith's College Student Results

Friday, December 19, 2025

Name	Place/ Gender	Finish Time	Age Cat.	Place Cat.
Men's Results
Eliot Soderholm	1	19:18	20 - 29	1
Bryce Shannon	6	22:06	13 - 19	1
Matthew Matis	10	24:06	13 – 19	2
Aidan Minihan	11	26:15	20 - 29	5
Brock Boissey	13	26:54	13 - 19	3
Cazimir Couble	18	28:18	20 - 29	7
Noah Keys	23	30:43	20 - 29	8
Timothy James	25	31:57	13 – 19	4
Devin Stalnaker	31	49:05	13 – 19	5
Women's Results
Chloe Freund	7	31:24	20 - 29	3
Morgan Cheney	9	31:58	20 - 29	4
Olivia Bobbie	14	36:34	20 - 29	5

2025 Snowshoe World Championships, Saturday 20 December

Ariens Nordic Center, Brillion, Wisconsin

Paul Smith's College – Student Results

Name	Distance	Place/ Gender	Finish Time	Age Cat.	Place Cat.
Men's Results – 10K
Eliot Soderholm	10K	1	38:06	20 - 29	1
Aidan Minihan	10K	11	57:51	20 - 29	4
Noah Keys	10K	19	1:05:35	20 - 29	6
Cazimir Couble	10K	20	1:08:26	20 - 29	7

Men's Results – Junior 5K
Bryce Shannon	5K	1	21:52	13 - 19	1
Mat Matis	5K	2	24:11	13 – 19	2
Brock Boissey	5K	3	27:02	13 - 19	3
Timothy James	5K	4	37:56	13 – 19	4
Devin Stalnaker	5K	DNF	DNF	13 – 19
Women's Results – 10K
Chloe Freund	10K	11	1:09:40	20 - 29	3
Morgan Cheney	10K	14	1:15:02	20 - 29	4
Olivia Bobbie	10K	DNF	DNF	20 - 29

The event homepage can be found here

Race results can be found here

You can follow the snowshoe team on Instagram at @paulsmithsxcandsnowshoe or follow the general athletics account at @smitty_nation for schedules, updates, photos, and much more!

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At Paul Smith's College, it's about the experience. As the only four-year institution of higher education located in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York, Paul Smith's provides real-world, hands-on learning in fields such as business and hospitality, culinary management, forestry, environmental sciences, and natural resources. We can draw on industries and resources available in our backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. Our community of resourceful, enterprising, supportive, and adventurous individuals collectively provides experiential education, student support in the classroom and beyond, and meaningful opportunities for our alumni. We pride ourselves on research and advocacy on issues that improve our planet and the lives of the people who inhabit it. Learn more at www.paulsmiths.edu.