It’s been a busy and informative 5 days for coaches around New England, with time for some fun too.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, 18 coaches took part in the first ever L200 coach certification training to be held in the East. Bryan Fish, development coach for the USST taught this very informative course, and with any luck, and some hard work, we will have 18 new L200 certified coaches in NE, once every has passed their exams.
On Friday, the USSA played host to their semi-annual National Cross Country Coaches Symposium held at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. Over 35 coaches from Alaska to Maine, and all in between, attended this 3-day conference held at the OTC. US Ski Team development coach Bryan Fish, USST woman’s coach Matt Whitcomb, USST men’s coach Jason Cork, and overall USST coach Chris Grover where all on hand to welcome the coaches, and run the weekend, as well as USSA’s new Nordic Director Robert Lazzaroni.
There was a full slate of very informative Keynote speakers, including – Anders Bystrom, the Norwegian Junior National team coach, who gave two great talks on the Current Norwegian Training for Juniors and their Development, as well as Current Norwegian Technique Training Principles.
Vern Gambetta, of Gambetta Sports Training System, gave his unique generalist approach to the Application of Coaching Excellence, as well as an informative presentation on Endurance Training Principles and the Integration of General Athleticism.
Brian Krill, the Director of Sport Education and Club Development for USSA shared his philosophy on Grass Roots/High Performance/and Long-Term-Athletic-Development Ski Club development within the USSA.
Jay Gump, a professor of anatomy and psychology, as well as cycling coach, gave a talk about Preparation for Multi-Day Events.
Troy Taylor, USSA’s new High Performance Director, also gave two presentations – the first on Learning from Medal Winning Programs Around the World and the second on Bridging the Gap – Juniors to Seniors International Success.
And last, but certainly not least, the USST coaches hosted a round table discussion with lots of time for Q&A, and gave a very informative presentation of New Projects happening within the USST and Lessons from 2015.
ORDA hosted a very fun opening dinner for everyone Friday evening at the Olympic Jump Complex, complete with the thrilling and adrenaline pumping opportunity to go tubing down the ski jump hill! See the NENSA Facebook page for photos!
ORDA will be hosting one of the Supertour and Eastern Cup race weekends in Lake Placid this coming January 30th and 31st. They are so excited to be able to showcase the Mt. Van Hovevenberg venue, so rich in Nordic history, and they look forward welcoming all our New England Nordic athletes, as well as the Supertour athletes, next January!
National Training Group (NTG) Camp started Monday in Lake Placid
National Training Group (NTG) Camp started in Lake Placid [on Monday, Sept. 14] – so thrilled to be able to join them on their morning interval workout – thanks to the USST coaches for letting me tag along! Many of our NENSA Elite Team members there – Sophie Caldwell, Jessie Diggins, Erika Flowers, Andy Newell, Simi Hamilton, Paddy Caldwell, Anne Hart, Annie Porkorny, Katharine Ogden, Julia Kern, Kamran Husain and Ben Saxton, as well as our NENSA Development Team Member Daniel Streinz, to name a few.
The group started the day off with a brief meeting at the OTC, where they are all staying this week, and to watch 5 minutes of World Cup footage for visualizaiton, and to get pumped for the skate intervals they were about to do. We loaded up in the vans and headed 20 miuntes south to a loop near Jay and Keene NY for intervals. The team started with a nice warm up skate up one road, then all met in a grassy area, where USST Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach Tschana Schiller led them all in a dynamic warm up, which lasted 5-10 minutes. Then they went off as a group to do their intervals. The USST coaches Bryan Fish, Matt Whitcomb and Jason Cork took video footage from the vans and from the side of the road, as well as providing feedback along the way. USST member Andy Newell even got the full service treatment of getting a broken pole tip changed, in less then 30 seconds, as the team van slowly trailed him. The rain that was falling during breakfast cleared, and the team got in a great morning workout. See our NENSA Facebook page for photos!
Erik Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) strides to 17th place in the 15 k at the 2014 U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com/NNF)
Satisfied, yet unfulfilled was the sentiment of the North Americans who competed in the 2014 U23 World Championship 10 k and 15 k individual classic races at Val di Fiemme, Italy on Thursday. With fresh snow falling on the challenging course of Lago di Tesero, the best U23 skiers from North America put their best efforts forward in an attempt to make their mark on the international stage. While they were able to conquer the challenging conditions with ease, both the U.S. and Canadian squads had mixed performances, with five skiers between the two teams breaking into the top 30.
The best result of the day came from American Erik Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team/APU) who finished 17th in the men’s 15 k individual classic.
Skiing with the signature Bjornsen smoothness, he increased his pace every lap. As the Washington native powered through the falling snow, he moved up seven spots throughout the race, advancing from a 24th place split at the 2.3 k mark to 17th at the finish.
“I’m really happy with where my fitness is at,” Bjornsen wrote in an email. “I had a smoking fast last lap and I got to the finish feeling like I had more left in the tank. I’m happy to have finished in the top 20 and I think with a different race strategy I could have been 25 seconds faster which would have put me in the top 10.”
Bjornsen will be able to put a new race strategy to the test this upcoming weekend. In a change of plans, he left immediately after Thursday’s race to meet up with the U.S. Ski Team in Toblach, Italy where he will compete in the World Cup 15 k individual classic to prepare for the Sochi Olympics.
“I’m so excited for the Olympics, I think my fitness is just coming into form so it should be perfect timing. It was a blast being with the WJ/U23 crew,” he said.
Scott Patterson gives it his all in the 15 k classic at the 2014 U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Patterson finished 18th overall. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com/NNF)
Scott Patterson finished just behind Bjornsen in 18th position. The University of Vermont racer had fast skis, great kick, and a relaxed mindset throughout the 15 k, which served him well. Although he finished roughly three seconds back from Bjornsen, the 22-year-old had maintained a lead over the 17th place finisher up until the 14.7 k mark, and was disappointed that he was unable to hold the lead over his teammate.
“I am reasonably happy with my result. I think I could have easily been fighting for a top 15 and maybe even a top 10 on a really good day,” he wrote in an email. “The main disappointment for me is that Erik Bjornsen got me in the end. It almost feels like I was out-sprinted which I never enjoy. Its a friendly competition going all the way back to my first JOs in 2006. However, he skied a solid race but I think has much more potential for the world cup and Olympics.”
Canadian Knute Johnsgaard finished 21st, marking Canada’s top result of the day. After fighting off weariness in the Canadian Olympic Trials, Johnsgaard was feeling rested before the Championships and was motivated to have top results. After taking a long break from racing after the trials, the 21-year-old was excited to be racing again.
Ben Lustgarten of Middlebury College, who impressed the domestic field with his sixth place finish in the 15 k individual classic at U.S. Nationals earlier this month, placed 30th, a career best finish for Lustgarten in the international racing scene.
Ben Lustgarten skiing to 30th place in the 15 k individual classic at the 2014 U23 World Championships. (Photo: flyingpointroad/NNF)
The Burlington, Vermont native knew he could have ranked better, but is looking forward to the 30 k skiathlon on Saturday.
“I am not as happy with my result as I would like, which actually surprises me. But its a great place to start,” he said.
New to international racing, Lustgarten didn’t want to make excuses about fatigue from the lengthy travel or overwhelming feelings associated with racing in Europe. However, he admitted they might have played a factor in Thursday’s result. “I just need to rest up and try and be positive about it, move on, and get pumped for the 30k,” he said.
Like Lustgarten, Patterson is looking forward to the 30 k.
“Saturday will be lots of fun and I am feeling quite a bit more confident after today,” he said.
He also believes his experiences at the Championships have not only opened his eyes to individual possibilities, but also to the American’s potential in international racing.
“I got a really good feel for more things to work on for the rest of this season and beyond; from watching others and my own splits,” he wrote. “There is no reason for the U.S. skiers not to be competitive with the best U20s and U23s. I think everyone will be bringing back motivation and personal insights into their skiing.”
Not too far from Lustgarten was Patrick Stewart-Jones in34th, whose strategy to start fast brought him roughly seven seconds out of the top 30. American Ben Saxton (SMST2) finished in 38th and was followed by Canadians Andy Sheilds in 43rd and Sebastien Townsend in 57th.
Annie Pokorny racing to 33rd in the 10 k classic at the 2014 U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com/NNF)
In the women’s 10 k, Heidi Widmer of Canada was the fastest North American on course, finishing 30th. After ranking 35th at the 2.8 k mark, the Canadian was able to accelerate her pace and gain five spots.
Widmer, who was unavailable for comment, will also be competing in the Sochi Olympics in roughly a week and a half.
Not far behind Widmer was fellow Canadian Cendrine Browne, who placed 31st.
“I am very happy of this result because I almost did a top 30, which is very good for my first year in the U23 category,” she wrote in an email. “I am also happy of my performance because I came in right after Heidi Widmer, who just qualified for the Olympics in Sochi.”
With the the absence of yesterday’s second place finisher, Jessie Diggins, the U.S. women were led by Annie Pokorny (SMST2) who finished 33rd. For Pokorny, who also competed in last year’s U23 Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, the fresh snow created some variable conditions.
“The snow started falling right before my start and picked up throughout the race, but our skis rivaled the fastest teams in both glide and kick,” she said. “Due to the variance, it became a competition for who could handle the changes the most gracefully, which I probably could improve on.”
Pokorny was hoping for more from the 10 k classic, but was pleased with her effort. For now, the 21-year-old is planning on resting as much as possible before Saturday’s skiathlon.
Mary Rose in the 10 k classic at the 2014 U23 World Championships in val di Fiemme, Italy. Rose went on to finish 34th. (Flyingpointroad.com/NNF)
“Going into the 15 K it’s going to be really important for me to recover from the last two days’ efforts and focus on keeping my composure in the mass starts. If the support and team energy continues as it has been, we could be in for a really successful day!”
Behind Pokorny was American Mary Rose of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation who finished in 34th. Lauding her great skis, Rose sited her fatigue as the reason for a slower pace in the latter part of the race. “I went into the race with a the game plan of hammering from the start. In hindsight that probably wasn’t the best because I was pretty tired for the second lap,” she said.
“I am definitely not jumping up and down with excitement because I know I can ski better. However, it was a good learning experience.”
Heading into Saturday’s 15 k, Rose hopes to use the experience as a tool to help her land a place in the top 25.
The rest of the North American squad was rounded out by Canadian Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt in 35th, and Americans Rosie Frankowski and Mackenzie Kanady in 38th and 49th.
The U23 World Championships continue on Saturday with a 15 k and 30k skiathlon on the trails of Val di Fiemme.
Jessie Diggins (U.S. Ski Team) skiing to first in the qualification round of Wednesday’s freestyle sprint at U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She finished second overall in the finals, a best-ever finish at U23 World Championships. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com/Proceeds go to the National Nordic Foundation)
Jessie Diggins once again demonstrated that she’s a skier with a lot of heart at the 2014 U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. On the same course where she earned a historic gold in the World Championship team sprint with Kikkan Randall in 2013, the 22-year-old was once again the talk of Lago di Tesero as she powered through the rounds of the 1.2 k freestyle sprint.
With perfect conditions blessing the quaint Italian village of Tesero, Diggins started the day with a blistering pace that was boosted her to top of the field in qualification. Continuing to build confidence and speed, she just kept going.
Deciding to go hard from the sound of the gun, Diggins sped to the front of the pack in her quarterfinal, semifinal, and the A-final en route to her silver medal. Although she breezed through her quarterfinal, the semifinal proved more challenging.
Jessie Diggins (l) was second in Wednesday’s freestyle sprint at the U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She was joined by Germany’s Elisabeth Schicho (c) and hometown skier Giulia Stuerz (r). (Photo: Gerry Furseth)
Trying to save energy, the Minnesota native relaxed at the top of the main hill, allowing her competitors to step in behind her, draft, and then slingshot around her into the finish. She finished third in her heat, hopeful that the other semifinal would be slower.
Fortunately for Diggins, her heat was significantly faster and she was the first lucky loser into the A-final.
Diggins knew that in order to perform well in the final, she needed to learn from her previous mistakes and take her strengths into account. “In the final I knew that I hadn’t been skiing the finishing lanes very well today but if I could tire people out, that was going to be my chance to win it,” said Diggins in an interview.
Tire them out she did. One by one her competitors dropped until it was just Elisabeth Schicho of Germany who clung to the heels of the charging American.
Coming down the hill, Schicho blew by Diggins and after that the German “just skied off.”
Despite being unable to hold her lead, Diggins was extremely happy with best ever finish at a Junior or U23 World Championships.
Diggins’ main goal was to make the heats and have fun in the process. After coming off a large training week, Diggins was fatigued and she knew she wasn’t at her best. Despite her tiredness, there were valuable lessons to gain from the sprint.
“It was so good to practice dealing with pressure and use this as a tune up race to get more experience,” she said “All I wanted to do was to make the final, get the experience, and get the tactical practice.”
Annie Pokorny (SMST2) skiing in the qualification round of Wednesday’s freestyle sprint at the U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Pokorny finished 28th, a career-best international result. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com/NNF)
Roughly a week and a half out of Sochi, it certainly didn’t hurt the U.S. Ski Team member to receive a confirmation that she can ski well even when she isn’t feeling up to par.
“This has been a great confidence booster going into Sochi knowing that when I hit my peak I’ll have more energy. Gaining the experience of skiing through to the finals has really great for me because it’s been so long since I’ve been in finals.”
The freestyle sprint is Diggins only race at the U23 World Championships, and she will return to train with the U.S. Ski Team to prepare for the Olympic Games in Russia.
The only other American to make the heats was Annie Pokorny (SMST2) who earned her best international result to-date after qualifying 28th and finishing in the same position.
“When we woke up, the valley was sunny for the first time since we arrived, so I had a feeling that, whether for me or my teammates, today would be a good day,” said the Spokane, Washington native in an email. “Today was my first time starting an international championship sprint, so I focused most on keeping myself calm before the qualifier. I’ve been focusing more on sprinting this year, and wanted my races to speak to that.”
Rounding out the American women’s results were Elizabeth Guiney (Craftsbury GRP) who finished 39th and Mackenzie Kanady (UAA) who placed 40th.
In the U23 men’s 1.5 k two Americans cracked the top 20. Erik Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team and Tyler Kornfield of APU finished 18th and 19th after finishing fourth in each of their heats.
Erik Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) in the qualification round of the freestyle sprint at the 2014 U23 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Bjornsen finished 25th in qualification and 18th in the finals. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com/Proceeds go to the National Nordic Foundation)
Bjornsen who is also headed to Sochi in the coming weeks wasn’t pleased with his result, but viewed it as a learning experience.
“The two guys that won my heat ended up going 2-3 in the final so that’s a good sign. I took some notes on how I think I can improve, for now I will put those in the safe and try to just focus on tomorrow,” said Bjornsen, who won the 15 k classic at U.S. Nationals earlier this month. “I know that tomorrow is another great opportunity to have a good result.”
Unlike Diggins, Bjornsen isn’t treating the Championships as a tune up for Sochi. Instead he plans on racing as he normally would, aiming to earn his best results in the two distance races.
A two-time classic sprint national champion in 2010 and 2012, Kornfield was excited that this was his first time qualifying for the heats in the three years that he’s been to the Junior/U23 World Championships.
“I am definitely happy to be in the mix, but I know that I am capable of more. There were portions of the course that I was dead even with the field, but it was when I got boxed in that I lost time,” he said. “I may have had better days over the past few weeks, but I felt like my fitness did not hold me back today.”
Ben Saxton (SMST2) finished just outside of the top 30 in 33rd. He was followed by Benjamin Lustgarten (Middlebury) in 48th.
In the junior men’s 1.5 k Cole Morgan was the only American to advance to the heats, after qualifying in 14th position. Morgan, who ended his day in 17th, was motivated by his good qualification result because it showed him that he “could be competitive in the rounds.”
The University of Vermont skier had only raced internationally once before Wednesday’s race, but didn’t let the advanced level of competition get to his head. “I don’t like to think of international racing as anything different,” he wrote in an email. “Regardless who is racing you just have to go out there and race your own race. Getting hung up on where the other skiers are from is only going to hurt your chances.”
Patrick Caldwell (SMS) followed Morgan in 39th. Jack Hegman (UVM) and Thomas O’Harra (APU) were 53rd and 54th.
The American junior women were unable to place any of their starters in the top 30. The top finisher was Stephanie Kirk (UVM) finishing 36th. She was followed by Marion Woods (AWS), Sloan Storey (UU), and Nicole Bathe (UAF) in 51st, 54th, and 56th.
The Americans will continue racing in Val di Fiemme Thursday with the 10 k and 15 k classic for the U23 skiers.
Athletes could have been forgiven last week if they thought they were racing on the west coast in the bright sunshine that was the hallmark of last year’s Junior Olympics in Truckee, California. However, Presque Isle delivered in every aspect – trails, grooming, and, most surprisingly, with bright sun, klister conditions and tans that the 2010 Junior Olympics will be remembered for.
The Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, ME. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
New England used their characteristically dominant performance in Monday’s classic sprint event and never looked back, claiming their second straight Alaska Cup. In what has been historically a three-team race for the podium, New England accumulated 1660 points, nearly a third of which were won in the classic sprint, to outdistance Alaska with 1275 points. Intermountain, led by strong results from their J2 boys, placed third with 980 points.
Athletes were treated to a good luck video message at the Opening Ceremonies with inspirational words from US Ski Team athletes Andy Newell, Liz Stephen, Kikkan Randall and James Southam, as well as various World Cup athletes, fresh off the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
“Training starts now for the next go around,” says Newell in the video. “It’s four years until Sochi, so I expect to see a lot of you guys, especially some of you OJs out there, to train really hard and you can be on the team with us four years from now in Sochi, Russia.”
Monday
Corey Stock (Cambridge Sports Union) raced to gold on Monday in the J2 girl's sprint. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
New England opened the week of competition by winning five of six races and an impressive 13 of 18 spots on the podium in the classic sprint. Only Cole Morgan (Bridger SF) from Intermountain was able to spoil New England’s perfect run of gold medals with his victory in the J2 boys sprint.
Corey Stock (Cambridge Sports Union) got racing underway for the J2 girls, leading two of her New England teammates into the top three for a New England sweep of the podium. Stock won the A final going away, with Heather Mooney (Stratton Mountain School) and Maddy Pfeifer (Proctor) claiming second and third.
Intermountain's Zach Lindhall (83) leads teammate and eventual champion Cole Morgan (85). (Photo: flyingpointroad.com
Cole Morgan (Bridger SF) from Intermountain captured his first national title of the week in the J2 boys sprint. After battling with New England’s Jack Hegman (Mansfield Nordic) down the stretch in his semifinal, Morgan put some distance on his A-final competitors and crossed the line nearly three seconds ahead of New England silver medalist Eli Hoenig (Cambridge Sports Union). Haakon Sigurslid (Durango Nordic) from Rocky Mountain took third to round out the podium.
“My strategy was to get out in front and lead the whole way,” said Morgan of his gold-medal performance, “because there was not enough distance to wait for opportunities to pass. I gained a lot of time on the two humps before the final hill and carried that gap into the finish.”
After just missing the J2 sprint podium in Anchorage in 2008, Isabel Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School) from New England more than made up for it today, placing first her quarterfinal and semifinal en route to winning the J1 girls A final. Annie Liotta (Alaska Winter Stars) took second, just 1.4 seconds behind Caldwell, with Caldwell’s New England and high school teammate, Gage Fichter (Stratton Mountain School) claiming third place.
“It was great to be able to ski with my teammate Gage [Fichter] in the A-final,” said Caldwell. “She’d been having a great day, qualifying 4th and easily making it through her quarters and semis… I don’t really know what was going through my head in the final stretch, but it felt really cool afterwards to realize that I’d just won JOs and my teammate was third. It was definitely a great day for us!”
David Sinclair (GMVS) rose to the top of J1 boys A-final and led two of his New England teammates onto the podium with him. Sinclair, after qualifying first and winning each of his prior heats, stayed true to form and crossed the line first in the A-final, followed by teammates Jackson Rich (Cambridge Sports Union) in second and Hans Halvorsen (GMVS) in third. Rich and Halvorsen significantly improved upon their morning qualifying performances of 17th place and 12th place, respectively, to make it onto the podium.
Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury) surprised herself with a gold-medal performance to win the OJ women’s sprint title. The Bowdoin-bound senior from Vermont skied to a 5th place finish in qualifying and impressed with strong, tactical skiing in the afternoon to win her first national title. Alaska’s Rebecca Konieczny (UAF) was second with the Midwest’s Corinne Malcolm (MSU) taking third.
Middlebury's Chase Marston took third in the sprint for New England. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
“Winning the sprint was a big surprise for me,” said Miller. “I was thrilled to qualify fifth and my goal going into the heats was to make the finals — something I had never done before. My strategy was to get out of the start in front so as to avoid any possible crashes in the sharp turn at the bottom of the hill. What helped make this strategy work was that I always started in the far right lane, which set me up well for the right hand turn leading into the downhill. After climbing the hill, along the flat rolling stretch and final climb to the finish, I focused on skiing relaxed while maintaining my power.”
Dartmouth sophomore Alex Schulz helped New England close out the day with five of six gold medals by winning the OJ men’s sprint title. Schulz led an improbable 13 New England men into the top 20, including a sweep of the top four places in the A-final. Skyler Davis (Stratton Mountain School) and Chase Marston (Middlebury) skied gutsy races, despite broken poles and a puncture wound to the thigh, to take second and third, with fellow New England athlete Welly Ramsey (MWSC) just missing the podium in fourth place.
Monday ended with New England (515 points) amassing nearly double the amount of points as their nearest competitor (Alaska, 280 points). Intermountain (169 points) edged the Midwest (161 points) to fourth on the day.
Wednesday
After some crashes on a downhill corner the prior day resulted in knee injuries to two athletes, the jury elected to change Wednesday’s mass start classic races to an individual start format. Athletes would still race the same distances, with J2s covering 5K, J1/OJ women racing 10K and J1/OJ men tackling a 15K.
PNSA's Annie Porkorny (Spokane) won gold in the J1 girls classic race. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
New England’s J2 girls nearly replicated their 1-2-3 performance from Monday with Corey Stock and Heather Mooney placing first and second in the 5K classic race. Alaska’s Marion Woods (Alaska Winter Stars), fourth in the sprint, moved up one place to finish on the podium in third place.
J2 silver medalist Jack Hegman (Mansfield Nordic) from New England. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
The J2 boys 5K classic race featured a host of tight finishes at the top. Intermountain’s Cole Morgan captured his second national title by the narrowest of margins, edging Jack Hegman (Mansfield Nordic), racing for New England, to second place by six tenths of a second. Midwest athlete Matthew Nichols (Knicker Nordic) placed third, only 2.5 seconds out of first place.
“I’ve learned that you have to always push it to the limit because you never know what can happen,” said Morgan of his race. “Everyone is giving it their all and you know that you have to bring your best every day.”
Annie Porkorny (Spokane Nordic SEF) gave the Pacific Northwest their first national title of the 2010 Junior Olympics with a 7.8 second victory in the J1 girl’s 10K classic race over the Midwest’s Annie Hart (Minneapolis Ski Club). Monday’s sprint champion Isabel Caldwell finished third for New England.
Alaska's Scott Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars) won the J1 boy's classic title. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
Like Porkorny, Scott Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars) captured his team’s first national title in the J1 boy’s 15K classic race. Patterson put a 12.8 second margin over sprint champion David Sinclair who took second place. Patterson’s Alaska and club teammate Silas Talbot (Alaska Winter Stars) placed third, a minute and nine seconds back.
With a win already under her belt, the pressure was off for Kaitlynn Miller, but the New England athlete found confidence in her victory on Monday to repeat as the national champion in the OJ women’s 10K classic race. Miller’s time was just 1.7 seconds better than Intermountain’s Liza Goodwin (MSU) who took the silver medal. Alaska’s Rebecca Konieczny, second on Monday, placed third in the race.
David Norris (Fairbanks FAST) from Alaska followed up on Patterson’s title worthy performance with a victory of his own, capturing the OJ men’s 15K classic title. Norris was just 3.3 seconds faster than New England’s Sam Tarling (Dartmouth), who took second.. Capturing the first medal of the week for the Far West team was Russell Kennedy (Auburn Ski Club) in third place.
David Norris (Fairbanks FAST) captured gold in the OJ men's classic race. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
“David Norris and I had a great battle,” said silver medalist Tarling of his race. “I was leading after the first lap but he had a fantastic second lap and put 15 seconds on me. On the third lap I was really able to empty the tank and I closed to within a few seconds after being down 15 seconds with 2.5km to go. I really felt like David and I were skiing very fast and it was cool to see that after 15km and different pacing strategies, we were only separated by 3.3 seconds.”
Norris was similarly excited about Wednesday’s classic races. “It was super fun to battle with Sam,” he remarked, “as we both have raced together a lot and both are very competetive. I was bummed that the race could not be a mass start, but it didn’t change the fact that I just wanted to race hard and have fun.”
New England (946 points) emerged on top in the team standings for the second day in a row, though Alaska tightened the gap (584 points). Intermountain remained in third place with 385 points.
Friday
In the final day of individual racing, Alaska made a statement in the freestyle races by nearly overtaking New England in team scoring for the day, thanks in large part to an outstanding performance by their J1 boys squad.
Corey Stock went three for three in individual gold medals with an 8.2 second win over Intermountain’s Sloan Storey (Sun Valley SEF) in the J2 girl’s 5K freestyle. Storey’s time was just 2.2 seconds better than her Intermountain teammate Anika Miller (Payette Lakes Ski Team) who took third place.
J2 freestyle gold medalist Patrick Caldwell (Ford Sayre). Photo: flyingpointroad.com
Patrick Caldwell (Ford Sayre) of New England broke Cole Morgan’s streak of first place finishes with a national title of his own. With Morgan just one bib behind him, Caldwell took off and skied away for an impressive 25 second win — made all the more impressive given that Caldwell’s winning time was just under 12 minutes for a 5K. Morgan took the silver medal edging out Intermountain teammate and bronze medalist Marc Jackson (Team Soldier Hollow) by a scant three tenths of a second.
Rocky Mountain’s first gold medal of the week went to Michaela Frias (Steamboat Springs WSC) who captured the J1 girl’s 5K freestyle title. Frias bested Intermountain’s Katie Gill (Bridger SF) by nearly four seconds to win, with the Midwest’s Annie Hart climbing on the podium for the second time this week to take the bronze medal.
Scott Patterson of Alaska led five teammates into the top ten with a huge win over Alaska teammate Forrest Mahlen (APU). Patterson’s margin of victory in the 10K freestyle race was almost a minute and a half over the J1 field and nearly 20 seconds better than the top OJ male in the same race. Will Wicherski (Bogus Basin NT) of Intermountain took the bronze. Alaska’s team score was also significantly boosted by top-ten finishes from Jack Novak (APU) in fifth, Silas Talbot (AWS) in eighth and Carl Smith (Alaska Nordic Racing) in ninth.
Middlebury freshman Corinne Prevot won the OJ women's freestyle title for New England. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
New England’s Corinne Prevot (Middlebury) won the OJ women’s 5K freestyle race, topping a speedy trio of Midwest women. Prevot captured the gold medal with just six tenths of a second to spare over Corinne Malcolm (MSU). Bronze medalist Eleanor Magnuson (Go Training) was third, with another Midwest teammate, Lynn Duijndam (Finn Sisu Skiers), just three seconds back in fourth place.
After placing second on Wednesday, New England’s Sam Tarling turned the tables on David Norris and captured the OJ men’s 10K freestyle title, edging Norris to second place. Norris’s time was just fast enough to nip Intermountain’s Erik Fagerstrom (Sun Valley SEF) by four tenths of a second.
Tarling’s finish was one of a remarkable eight New England athletes, representing five different EISA colleges, in the top fourteen of the OJ men’s race. Athletes from Dartmouth, Middlebury, Bates, Bowdoin, Harvard and Colby qualified for the New England Junior Olympic team, many just spots away from making their college’s NCAA squad, and despite normally competing against one another each weekend at carnivals, the group came together for an impressive performance in the OJ men’s races.
“We all get along very well and even though we are competing against each other in the Carnival races,” said Tarling, “there is a strong camaraderie amongst us. We had great coaches and great leaders. There is friendly competition between us of course, but at the end of the day, we are Team New England, and that is the priority.”
Alaska came within three points of taking the win for the day in freestyle competition. New England accumulated 344 points to lead the team standings for the third straight day, with Alaska right behind in second place with 341 points. Intermountain was third with 285 points.
Saturday
Heather Mooney (Stratton Mountain School) scrambled for the gold medalist New England J2 girls relay team. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
With perfect, sunny weather, the freestyle relay competition closed out the 2010 Junior Olympics. Filled with close battles, exciting lead changes and six final national titles, the relay was a spectator-friendly finale to a great week in Presque Isle.
New England’s J2 athletes captured the boy’s and girl’s relay titles with strong scramble legs from Patrick Caldwell and Heather Mooney to set the pace. Eli Hoenig kept his team in the lead and Jack Hegman closed to win the J2 boy’s title by ten seconds over the second place Intermountain team. Rocky Mountain’s top team was five seconds back in third place.
Maddy Pfeifer passed a slim lead over Intermountain to New England anchor Corey Stock and the CSU athlete put the finishing touches on her golden week with the fastest leg of the field to capture another gold medal for her team.
Eli Hoenig (Cambridge Sports Union) had a great week, picking up silver in the J2 sprint and gold in the relay for New England. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
Building on the dominance they showed in Friday’s freestyle races, Alaska’s J1 boys put the pressure on in the relay, with their top two teams taking the gold and silver medals over the third place Intermountain team, as well as an impressive fifth place performance by Alaska’s third team. Alaska’s top team of Forrest Mahlen, Jack Novak and Scott Patterson took the win, not to be outdone by their teammates on the second team (Silas Talbot, Carl Smith and Isaac Lammers) who kept it close for nearly the entire relay and won the silver medal.
Matching the performance by their J1 counterparts, the J1 girls from Alaska used a blistering anchor leg by Annie Liotta to win gold. Mackenzie Kanady (Alaska Winter Stars) skied her team into seventh place in the scramble leg, with Hannah Boyer (Fairbanks FXC) passing several teams to move her team into second place. Liotta found a final gear and overtook the New England J1 girls team, who had to settle for silver, for the win. Rocky Mountain’s top team captured the bronze medal, with anchor leg Michaela Frias lunging at the line to take third by just one tenth of a second.
After going 2-3-4 in Friday’s freestyle races, the Midwest OJ women looked to be the team to beat going into Saturday’s relay. Eleanor Magnuson took it out with a fast pace to give her team nearly a twenty second advantage over New England’s OJ team. Lynn Duijndam kept that lead and allowed Corinne Malcolm to anchor her team to a 40-second relay win. Alaska’s Marisa Rorabaugh skied a gutsy anchor leg to vault her team into silver medal position, knocking New England’s top team to the bronze medal.
“After such a good showing in the skate race the day before I think there was definitely a little bit of pressure on us to try to climb to the top of the podium in the relay on Saturday,” remarked Malcolm, following her team’s win. “Coming into the stadium was an incredible feeling! Two of our coaches had made me a flag out of a ski pole and team jacket to ski in the finishing stretch with! After coming up short of national titles in the classic sprint and the individual skate it felt really good to finally get to stand on the top of the podium, and even better to get to share it with two of my teammates!”
Sam Tarling (Dartmouth) anchored New England's OJ men's relay team to gold with a thrilling final leg. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
Maine native Sam Tarling gave his team an anchor leg to remember, overtaking Alaska’s David Norris in the final kilometer of the relay to win New England’s fourteenth and final gold medal of the week in the OJ men’s relay. New England’s Chase Marston (Middlebury) and Alaska’s Jordan Buetow (Fairbanks FXC) went head to head in the scramble leg reaching the tag zone with less than two seconds separating their teams. Neil Liotta (Alaska Winter Stars) skied an impressive second leg and was able to put some time on Gordon Vermeer (Dartmouth) and David Norris took off for the anchor leg with a five second lead over Tarling.
“My strategy was just to try and close the gap and hope for a sprint finish,” said Tarling. “Our wax technician, Will Sweetser, informed me before the race that my skis were waxed for the stadium, so I was confident that even if they were not as fast in the woods, I would have good skis for the finish. Skiing behind David up the last big hill about 1km from the finish, with the crowd roaring, I found a little extra in my legs and I was able to pull closer. I was very tired, but I figured he might be as well, and when I passed him over the rollers I put in a huge burst and I was able to hold on for the win. I had great skis, a great team, and fantastic support from the spectators. It couldn’t have been better.”
Putting a cap on a great week for New England’s OJ men, New England’s second, third and fourth relay teams went 3-4-5 behind Alaska to crowd the podium and push the Intermountain’s top OJ team to sixth place.
Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury) picked up two gold medals in the OJ sprint and classic races. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
“It was a very exciting week for the New England team,” said two-time OJ national champion Kaitlynn Miller following the races, “It was fun to be the host region and I am very grateful to the volunteers for all their hard work. Competing as the “home team” in Maine was awesome. I was really touched by how many people came to the Heritage Center to cheer on the racers and it was inspiring to see so many local school children bused in to watch.”
New England Head Coach Matt Boobar is all smiles as he catches up with Cambria MacDermott (Stratton Mountain School) at the finish line after her 7th place finish in the J1 girls race. Photo: flyingpointroad.com
J1 sprint champion Isabel Caldwell echoed Miller’s sentiments: “One of the best aspects about JOs were all the little kids who were at the races,” noted the Stratton Mountain School athlete. “The schools in Presque Isle were let out so that the students could come watch the races and there were hundreds of little kids at each race. Having JOs at Presque Isle was great and we all had an amazing time!”
“The trails at Presque Isle were awesome!” added OJ women’s relay champion Eleanor Magnuson. “We don’t really have such technical courses in the Midwest and I was really glad to have gotten to race on something like that. The conditions were really good… I have never been out the East coast before, so that was a really cool experience for me.”
The Junior Olympics swing back through the Midwest next winter with the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation hosting the 2011 Junior Olympics in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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