Cazenovia native Jeanette Cudney has done it again.

Less than one month after winning the junior women’s 5K world championship title in snowshoe racing in Quebec, Canada, Cudney recently won her second consecutive U.S. national junior women’s snowshoe title at the 15th annual Dion Snowshoes United States National Snowshoe Championship in Eau Claire, Wis.

Cudney’s domination of the junior’s women’s category in the sport of snowshoe racing during the past year has also landed her recognition in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated as an outstanding amateur athlete in the “Faces in the Crowd” section of the magazine.

“It is amazing to be able to be on the national team again with a bunch of wonderful people that I know from last year and also a lot of newcomers,” said Cudney, who is currently a freshman at LeMoyne University. “It is great that our sport is growing so quickly!”

The sport of snowshoe racing has been around for a number of years, but recently has been gaining in popularity. One of the pioneers of the sport is Cazenovia native Chary Griffin, herself the winner of multiple race awards, and the person who introduced Cudney to the sport.

Cudney, a 2014 graduate of Cazenovia High School and top track and cross country athlete, last year won the 2014 U.S. National Snowshoe Championship in Vermont in what was only her second race on snowshoes. That victory made her part of the U.S. National Snowshoe team, as a member of which she won the World Championship title in Jan. 31 of this year.

One month later, on Saturday, Feb. 28, she won the Junior women’s 5K national championship, ages 14 to 19, with a time of 24:00 — more than two minutes faster than her winning time at the 2014 U.S. Nationals in Vermont. Cudney placed fifth overall for the day. This recent victory makes Cudney a member of 2015 US National Snowshoe team.

“It was amazing to be able to fly out to Wisconsin with my mom and compete in a national championship again,” Cudney said. “The environment was great as it always is at snowshoe races and everyone was really friendly and supportive.”

Race day was clear but chilly, and Cudney faced a fast course with some steep hills and a few tiny bare spots without snow, she said. She and Rachael Jones, from Fairport, N.Y., who finished second in the female junior division last year and again this year, faced off from the beginning of the race.

“Rachel and I pushed each other early on in the race but I managed to pass her and she finished in 27 minutes and 12 seconds,” Cudney said. “I was pushing myself the whole race because I thought there was another girl ahead of me, but it turns out that there wasn’t!”

In addition to her recent victory in Wisconsin, Cudney found herself — unknowingly — nationally recognized again for her snowshoe racing prowess, this time in a profile in the March 23 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Cudney was one of six amateur athletes profiled in the “Faces in the Crowd” section as being outstanding in their respective sports.

“I didn’t know that I was going to be in the Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd segment until a woman from the magazine called me and told me,” Cudney said. “I thought that it was a prank call at first. … My friend from the Le Moyne cross country and track teams, Sean Beney, sent in a nomination for the magazine and a bunch of other runners from the team were in on it! It is such an honor to be recognized in the magazine.”

Cudney said that throughout all of her high school, college and national-level racing experiences, the people of Cazenovia have been incredibly supportive. This week, she plans to return to her hometown with her friend and fellow snowshoer, Rae Tobey, to visit the high school girls outdoor track team and help them learn how to snowshoe and share a little about her experiences since leaving Cazenovia.

“I am incredibly proud of Jeanette and all she has continued to achieve athletically,” said Cudney’s high school cross country coach Kurt Wheeler. “She left Cazenovia as the most acclaimed distance runner in school history and has only built on those accomplishments while running for LeMoyne and taking up competitive snowshoe racing. She is a great role model for our current scholar-athletes about the correlation between effort, attitude and achievement.”

Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].