The Lake Placid native was in first place in the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships individual competition with only one jump to go. It was unfamiliar territory for not only himself, but for any U.S. ski jumper still, he was ready for the moment.

Following a nearly 10-minute delay, Frantz leaped further than anyone else that night.

However, it wasn’t enough to earn the gold medal. Austria’s Stephan Embacher, who won the event last year, bested him by only 0.4 points. The less than half-a-point was deducted because of the wind, as jumpers are scored based on their distance and style points given by judges, before compensation for wind speed is added or subtracted. Frantz happened to lose 2.7 points as a result of the wind, enough to knock him down to second place.

“When it came down to the points, I was kind of surprised and definitely kind of frustrated,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how to feel because I was frustrated and happy at the same time.”

Lake Placid native Tate Frantz slides down the HS100 hill after completing his jump in the first round of the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

It was a historic moment for him and USA Ski Jumping, as Frantz became only the second U.S. men’s jumper to medal at the event. Erik Belshaw of Steamboat Springs, Colorado won the silver medal last season.

“At the end of the day, being on a World Championship podium is pretty unbelievable, so I’ve just got to take that with me,” Frantz said.

The young jumper who grew up skiing for the New York Ski Educational Foundation — first as a Nordic combined athlete, before switching to just ski jumping in 2022, following an injury — was thrilled to have posted these results at his home jumps.

“I had my grandparents, my brothers, my parents and everybody was there,” he said. “It was fun to know that they were cheering me on and my brother brought some of his friends as well, so it was fun to sit on the podium with a medal around my neck with my family there in the crowd.”

Frantz posted the best score in both the qualification round and the opening round, which put him within reach of the podium. In that first round he jumped 95.5 meters for 127.9 points.

In the final round, he soared 98.5 meters for 129.8 points — for a combined 257.7 points — to earn the second place finish. Embacher had a two-jump score of 258.1, while his Austrian teammate Simon Steinberger placed third with a score of 255.3.

Because Frantz landed on the podium, the U.S. ski jumping team secured an extra spot on the FIS World Cup circuit for all of next year.

“(It’s a) really big deal that we’re going to also have an extra man be able to start for the next 12 months,” he said. “Development-wise, it’s going to be an important factor going into the Olympic season just having another spot available.”

The U.S. also had strong finishes from other athletes. Steamboat Springs, Colorado native Jason Colby, who’s father Scott grew up in Lake Placid, placed ninth with 228.7 points. Meanwhile, NYSEF athlete Henry Loher of Wilmington was 21st with a two-jump score of 203.3, and fellow NYSEF jumper, Bryce Kloc of Clifton Park was was 40th with a one-jump score of 85.9.

“As a team we’re looking very strong,” Frantz said. “This is definitely the best junior worlds maybe ever or in the last many, many years. I think we’re in a nice position going into the men’s team and the mixed teams, as well. It’ll really be interesting to see what we can do to fight. I know we’re definitely going to be in the fight for a medal, and who knows, maybe even a gold one? But we’ll see how it goes.”

The men’s team competition will kick off with the trial round at 5 p.m. today. The first round will start at 6 p.m. at the Olympic Jumping Complex. The women’s team competition is scheduled before that with trials at 1 p.m., and the opening round at 2 p.m.

On Sunday, the mixed team event will start with a trial round at 4:45 p.m., with the first round at 6 p.m.