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Tag: junior nationals

  • Midwest, Rocky Mountain Girls Top OJ/J1 Relays at Junior Nationals

    Midwest, Rocky Mountain Girls Top OJ/J1 Relays at Junior Nationals

    Elizabeth Simak (right) finishes first in the OJ/J1 girls 3×3 k relay on Saturday to give the Midwest the OJ victory at the 2012 Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Emily Hannah (left) as the first J1 anchored Rocky Mountain's winning relay.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah – There’s something about racing for others that makes pain more tolerable.

    Elizabeth Simak and the girls from the Midwest found it on Saturday as they stayed in contention and sealed the OJ 3×3-kilometer freestyle relay victory at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals. She and her teammates, Sharmila Ahmed (Go Training) and Alice Flanders (Sisu Ski Club), combined for the winning time of 20:01.1.

    Third at the handoff, Simak (F.A.S.T. Performance Training) powered through the rolling course at Soldier Hollow and caught the leaders, Rachel Hall (New England/Middlebury) and Emily Hannah (Rocky Mountain/Steamboat Springs), on the final hill.

    OJ girls 3×3 k freestyle relay podium at 2012 Junior Nationals. 1. Midwest (center), 2. New England (left), 3. Alaska (right)

    It was the longest, steepest one of all, and the OJ girls had already raced up it four times this week.

    Although Hannah was a J1 and contending for a different podium, Simak had to pass Hall if she wanted to win. After placing second in the freestyle mass start, third in the 10 k classic and fourth in the classic sprint earlier in the week, that’s probably what Simak was hungry for.

    She also had her team to race for.

    “I felt like, if things didn’t go right, I would have felt really bad for my teammates,” Simak said. “They put so much hard work into it.”

    Simak posted the fastest split of the OJ girls race in 6:31, beating Hall and New England (with Isabelle Pelletier and Mary Kate Cirelli) by 7.2 seconds. Alaska (with Kinsey Loan, Kimberly Delfrate, Annie Liotta)was third. Liotta as the anchor recorded the second-fastest time (6:33.5), and finished 11.9 seconds after Simak.

    Coming down the backside of Hermod’s Hill on a 50-degree day and curving into the stadium, Simak said she took everything in at her last Junior Nationals.

    2012 Junior Nationals
    New England OJ anchor Rachel Hall (Middlebury College) skates out of the exchange zone after receiving the tag from Isabelle Pelletier (Stratton Mountain School). New England ended up second to the Midwest in the 3×3 k relay on Saturday at the 2012 Junior Nationals.

    “The finishing stretch was so much fun,” she said. “With this gorgeous weather, you can’t help but feel good coming down that stretch.”

    The 19-year-old commented on how strong her team was – how they hung in the top five from the start with Ahmed as the scrambler.

    “I did best I could,” Ahmed said. “I stayed on my feet. Hermod’s was super fun. I was right with [Midwest teammate] Nicolette [Amber]. We pushed each other up it and it was amazing.”

    After Amber tagged off in first, the Midwest’s second team went on to place sixth in the OJ race.

    The second leg of the winning squad, Flanders brought her team from fifth to third.

    “I tried to get back up with lead, hold onto that and hopefully get in good position for anchor,” Flanders said. “Simak’s a really strong skier. We knew she could pull it together if she had the setup for it.”

    Note: A day after competing at the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, Mont., Joanne Reid of the University of Colorado/Auburn Ski Club anchored the Far West team to a fifth-place finish at Junior Nationals. Reid was 19th in the 15 k mass start on Friday.

     

    Rocky Mountain Girls Win J1 Title

    Finishing just 2.7 seconds after Simak, Hannah brought home the J1 victory for her Rocky Mountain teammates, Mary O’Connell (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club) and Rachel Hampton (Durango Nordic Ski Club).

    J1 girls freestyle relay podium at 2012 Junior Nationals: 1. Rocky Mountain (center), 2. Alaska (left), 3. New England (right)

    The three claimed the championship in 20:03.8. Alaska finished second (+5.1) with Teagan Yutrzenka, Sarah Freistone and Marion Woods. New England pulled off third (+6.1) with Heather Mooney, Olivia Meyerson and Corey Stock.

    Hampton skied the fastest second leg to bring her team from fifth to second, and Hannah kept up the pace to pass New England’s Hannah Benson for the victory.

    “Truthfully, my goal was to not let Corey catch me,” Hannah said of this year’s three-time individual champion with nine Junior Nationals titles total.

    Stock came out of the exchange zone in third and finished third.

    “Rather than try to catch people, I was trying to not be the rabbit and not get caught,” Hannah added. “But it worked out pretty nicely.”

    Hampton tried to stay patient while catching people, and said it wasn’t easy to sprint for 3 kilometers.

    “[Coming] down the downhill, all I could think about was giving Emily enough room,” she said. “I’m pretty sure this is the cherry on top of the week for all of us.”

    O’Connell said that while they were new to the course at Soldier Hollow, some 5,500 feet above sea level, they were well-conditioned for it. O’Connell trains at nearly 7,000 feet in Steamboat Springs.

    “Altitude helps,” she said.

    “This was basically an extended sprint,” Hannah added. “I love relays.”

    Complete 3×3 k freestyle relay results

    Audrey Mangan contributed reporting.

  • Junior Nationals Classic Individual Starts in Photos (Updated)

    Junior Nationals Classic Individual Starts in Photos (Updated)

    Annie Harvieux (MW/Duluth) at right and Hannah Miller (NE/Craftsbury) power to the top of the 5 k classic course at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Friday..

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah — Friday was full of staggered starts and plenty of striding around Soldier Hollow at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals. To see some racers in action, click on the links to galleries below:

    J1/OJ girls 5 k classic individual start

    J2 girls 5 k

    J1/OJ boys 10 k

    J2 boys 5 k

    All 2012 Junior Nationals photos

    (Note: We’re in the process of uploading photos from every race on Friday. Stay tuned for the rest. Also, photos are generally in order and with most racers, but some got lost in the shuffle). Look up racer by start list

     

  • Talbot, Hall Notch Long-Awaited OJ Wins at Junior Nationals

    Talbot, Hall Notch Long-Awaited OJ Wins at Junior Nationals

    The OJ girls 5 k podium at 2012 Junior Nationals in Soldier Hollow on Friday: 1. Rachel Hall (NE/Middlebury), 2. Mary Kate Cirelli (NE/Green Mountain), 3. Elizabeth Simak (MW/F.A.S.T.)

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah – Altitude, schmaltitude.

    That’s probably what the New England racers have been thinking all week, as the crew has won 11 of 18 races at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals.

    Rachel Hall of New England/Middlebury nears the top of Hermod's Hill at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Friday. Hall won the OJ girls 5 k classic individual start.

    Friday was no exception for those in the snowflake-speckled green and blue suits, racing higher than home at Soldier Hollow (nearly 5,500 feet above sea level). New England topped the podium in four of six classic individual starts, and its girls earned a championship in every age category.

    For Rachel Hall of Middlebury College, the OJ victory in the 5 k classic race was her first in four years at Junior Nationals. She placed third in Wednesday’s 10 k freestyle mass start, which was a personal best at the time. Learning from that experience, she went for it on Friday.

    It didn’t matter that Hall typically trained at an elevation below 2,000 feet in southern Vermont. The 18-year-old knew she could handle one lap around Soldier Hollow.

    In a staggered start mixed with J1 racers, Hall was the fastest OJ around the modified Olympic course in 14:43.5. She edged New England teammate Mary Kate Cirelli (Green Mountain Valley School) by 6.2 seconds. Elizabeth Simak of the Midwest and F.A.S.T. Performance Training placed third (+9.5).

    “My skis were awesome,” Hall said. “I tried to ski fast over the tops of the hills and work the flats. Everything went well.”

    Aware of her lead based on splits around the course, Hall said she tried to ski relaxed and even took in the scenery, noting how beautiful it was.

    But when it came to the last hill, she put her head down and powered through the lengthy climb. Mentally, she had everything going for her. She felt good, was confident in her improved classic technique and loved the 5 k distance. Also, her lungs didn’t hurt as badly as in the 10 k.

    “I didn’t feel altitude as much,” she said. “It’s shorter. I think that helped New England.”

    On Monday, the team won five of six sprint finals.

    “It’s later in the week and we’ve been proving we’re still strong,” Hall said. “We’ve shown in distance races we have that top notch.”

    Also in the top 10: Felicia Gesior (GL/Northern Michigan) finished fourth, Sarah Cresap (AK/APU) was fifth, Annie Liotta (AK/Alaska Winter Stars) was sixth and Paige Schember (MW/F.A.S.T.) was seventh. Rachel Mason (GL/MTU) placed eighth, Nicolette Amber (MW/CXC) was ninth, and Hannah Boyer (AK/NSCF-FXC) was 10th.

    Talbot Wins 10 k

    Two days ago, Silas Talbot dogged it a little in the 15 k. The Dartmouth College freshman said he probably approached the mass start too conservatively and had to catch several people as a result.

    Dartmouth and New England skier Silas Talbot (l) passes Cal Deline (RM/SSC Vail) on his second and final lap in 10 k classic interval start at Junior Nationals on Friday. Talbot won the OJ race at Soldier Hollow.

    Fortunately, saving some for the end worked for the New Englander as he finished third in the mass start for his best-ever Junior Nationals result in five years. Talbot went two notches higher on Friday, winning the OJ boys 10 k classic race in 25:45.5.

    He beat Wednesday’s 15 k freestyle winner, Ben Saxton (Midwest/Minnesota Valley Ski Club) by 20 seconds. After Saxton as the runner-up, Sam Reed (New England/University of New Hampshire) was third (+30.0).

    “That went really well,” Talbot said. “I decided to take it out hard. I had a really aggressive start up the first hill and kept going. The splits I was getting were good, and I ended up first.”

    After getting a taste for the podium on Wednesday, Talbot wanted more.

    “[I] wanted to get to that next level today,” he said. “I figured the way to do that was to start strong and control the race, hopefully not die.”

    With granulated conditions that held up despite 40-degree temperatures, Talbot said the snow was a little slower than on previous days, but was great for classic racing with several hard hills and enough places to recover.

    He went hard climbing out of the hollow and felt the burn the second time around. To keep up his tempo, Talbot said he focused on his rhythm and later held on while ascending the infamous Hermod’s Hill on the backside.

    After Talbot and Reed picked up two of the top three spots for New England, Rocky Mountain had three racers in the top 10. Mike Vigers (SSC Vail) led the way in fourth (+32.5), Tucker McCrerey (Summit) was seventh, and Charlie Von Thaden (Steamboat Springs) was ninth.

    Also in the top 10: Kevin Bolger (IM/Sun Valley) placed fifth, Austin Meng (FW/Auburn) was sixth, Alexander Mahoney (Canada/Rocky Mountain Racers) was eighth and Sawyer Kesselheim (IM/Bridger) finished 10th.

    OJ boys 10 k podium at Junior Nationals: 1. Silas Talbot (NE/Dartmouth), 2. Ben Saxton (MW/Minnesota), 3. Sam Reed (NE/UNH)

     Audrey Mangan contributed reporting.

    Complete results from Friday’s classic individual starts

  • Junior Nationals Mass Starts in Photos

    Junior Nationals Mass Starts in Photos

    Midwesterners Elizabeth Simak (left) and Sharmila Ahmed (second from left) and Mary Kate Cirelli (NE/Green Mountain) leading the OJ girls 10 k freestyle mass start at the 2012 Junior Nationals.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah — There was plenty of excitement in six freestyle mass starts on Wednesday at the 2012 Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow. From breakaways to broken poles, each race had its own storyline and dramatic ending.

    Check out the following photo galleries of the J2, J1 and OJ events:

    J2 boys/girls 5 k mass starts

    J1 boys/girls 10 k mass starts

    OJ boys/girls 15/10 k mass starts

    All 2012 Junior Nationals photos

  • Saxton, Ahmed Surprising OJ Winners at Junior Nationals

    Saxton, Ahmed Surprising OJ Winners at Junior Nationals

    Ben Saxton (l) of Midwest/Minnesota Valley Ski Club edges Canadian Daviod Palmer (Black Jack) at the finish of the OJ 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Wednesday.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah – A lone Canadian more than 30 seconds ahead of the pack, Daviod Palmer seemed untouchable at some points of the OJ boys 15-kilometer race at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals on Wednesday.

    Either that or just plain risky.

    Daviod Palmer (Canada/Black Jack) leading Wednesday's 15 k freestyle mass start, at least 30 seconds ahead of any OJ competitors. Palmer went on to place second after losing a sprint to the finish with Ben Saxton (MW/Minnesota).

    An 18-year-old from Black Jack Ski Club in Rossland, British Columbia, Palmer jumped out to an early lead in the freestyle mass start at Soldier Hollow, cruising ahead with at least 10 kilometers to go.

    Some might have wondered what he was doing. He had two laps left, and all that time to lose the lead.

    Meanwhile, Ben Saxton of the Midwest/Minnesota Valley Ski Club hung on with about seven others, trying to chase Palmer without blowing up. Saxton didn’t think Palmer was out of reach, and he proved he wasn’t on the last downhill before the finish.

    On the corner before the stadium, Saxton came up on Palmer’s heels. The Canadian must have felt it because the two sprinted down the straightaway, and Saxton threw himself over the line.

    When he picked his head up, Saxton realized he did it. He edged Palmer and won the OJ title outright.

    “I knew he was Canadian, but never want to win a race by default,” Saxton said after winning the photo finish by 0.3 seconds in 41:50.3. “I just went my hardest. It was a wicked race. I loved it.”

    Palmer said he had fun as well; he just didn’t have much left on the last climb.

    Ben Saxton (l) leads a chase group at the start of the last lap in the OJ 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2012 Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow on Wednesday.

    “I just felt that it was time to pick up the pace on the second lap so I just went my own pace,” Palmer said. “I was getting pretty tired on that last hill, but it was super fun.”

    Saxton seized his opportunity on the long climb after taking most of the hills easy throughout the race. Recognizing his skis’ speed on the first lap, when he sped by the others on a major descent, Saxton reevaluated his game plan.

    “From then on, I tried to take it easy on the uphills and hammer down,” he said. “I knew I could make a move. I wasn’t expending a ton of energy up there.”

    Dartmouth freshman Silas Talbot finished third (+14.5) for New England after skiing outside the top 20 at the beginning of the race. He picked off competitors as he plugged along, eventually catching the chase group and challenging its contenders.

    “I knew I was going to take it out pretty conservatively and I maybe took it out a little too conservatively,” Talbot said after notching his first podium in five years at Junior Nationals. “[I] got dropped by the lead pack on the second lap and had to close that gap. … I just dug deep and pushed it over the top of the hill. Coming into the finish I just had that next gear and was able to kick it in.”

    Sawyer Kesselheim (IM/Bridger) came through in fourth (+19.2), and Tucker McCrerey (RM/Summit) was fifth (+29.7).

    Also in the top 10, Kyle Bratrud (MW/Minnesota) was sixth, Jordan Fields (NE/Woodstock) was seventh, Kevin Bolger (IM/Sun Valley) finished eighth, Austin Meng (FW/Auburn) was ninth and Alexander Mahoney (Canada/RMR) placed 10th.

    OJ boys 15 k freestyle mass start results

     

    Elizabeth Simak (l) and Sarmila Ahmed (second from left) lead at the beginning of the last lap in the OJ girls 10 k freestyle mass start at the 2012 Junior Nationals on Wednesday.

    Ahmed Advances on Descent

    Elizabeth Simak came this close to locking up a Junior Nationals title. At least her teammate got it instead.

    Elizabeth Simak (MW/F.A.S.T.) at right leads a pack of OJ girls up Hermod's Hill, the last big climb of the 10 k freestyle mass start course at Junior Nationals on Wednesday.

    The OJ girls 10 k freestyle mass start might as well been a sprint given the way it turned out for the frontrunners. After Simak (Midwest/F.A.S.T. Performance Training) led for most of the two-lap race, she fell victim to her own exhaustion.

    “Coming around corner, I kind of freaked out on the hill,” she said of the steep and sweeping descent before the finish at Soldier Hollow. “My legs were so dead. I snapped my pole between my legs. A New England coach handed me a pole and my teammate blew by me.”

    Sharmila Ahmed (MW/Go Training) avoided her scrambling teammate and took the lead with a few hundred meters remaining. Fifth after the first loop, she had positioned herself in second on the final descent, and it made the difference.

    Ahmed won the OJ championship in the last race of the day in 32:18. Despite softening conditions with temperatures reaching the high 30s, Ahmed kept up her speed to win by 11.9 seconds. Simak recovered and finished second to put the Midwest in the top two.

    “I’ve never gotten a top ten in a distance race,” Simak said. “I really wanted to podium. I just got excited and went, just wanted to go my hardest. You know, it sucks not to win, but my teammate is a really good skier and I’m really happy for her.”

    Simak and Ahmed initially pulled away from the pack together at the beginning of the second lap. They figured they were already halfway done and could go harder.

    “We went for it then, kept switching off, talking to each other,” Ahmed said. “Over on the bridge, Simak pulled away. She was going for it; that was one of the best sprints I’ve ever seen.”

    Ahmed chased her teammate to the top of Hermod’s Hill. Although she said she was gaining on the downhill, Ahmed wasn’t sure what happened.

    Sharmila Ahmed (c) of Midwest/Go Training celebrates her OJ 10 k freestyle mass start at the 2012 Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow. Elizabeth Simak (MW/F.A.S.T.) was second (l) and Rachel Hall (r) of NE/Middlebury was third.

    “I was really confused,” she said. “I don’t know, I just went. It’s crazy.”

    About four seconds after Simak crossed the line, Rachel Hall (NE/Middlebury) finished in third (+16.4) and immediately collapsed alongside Simak. The two had to be picked up and/or dragged away from where they fell just beyond the finish.

    Hall recovered soon after and was excited about her first podium in four years at Junior Nationals.

    “The lactate didn’t really hit you until the second lap so I just tried to gradually work into it so I didn’t explode,” Hall said.

    When the two leaders broke away, she helped set a manageable pace with her New England teammates Isabelle Pelletier (Stratton) and Mary Kate Cirelli (Green Mountain). Together, they formed a chase group, and Pelletier and Cirelli finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

    “I felt like I was catching number two, but not enough,” Hall said. “The finish was so slushy that it was hard to sprint to the end.”

    Also in the top 10, Emily Stitt (NE/Green Mountain) was sixth, Alice Flanders (MW/Sisu) was seventh, Paige Schember (MW/F.A.S.T.) was eighth, Claire Galvin (MW/Go Training) was ninth and Rachel Mason (GL/MTU) finished 10th.

    OJ girls 10 k freestyle mass start results

    Audrey Mangan contributed reporting.

  • Stock, Caldwell Lead Dominant New England J1s at Junior Nationals

    Stock, Caldwell Lead Dominant New England J1s at Junior Nationals

    Corey Stock (r) and Sloan Storey (l) lead the J1 girls 10 k freestyle mass start to the top of the final climb at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Wednesday. Stock (NE/Cambridge Sports Union) made her move on the hill and edged Storey (IM/Sun Valley) for first.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah – As Corey Stock glanced up Hermod’s Hill, the grueling climb at Soldier Hollow made famous by the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, she thought about the three racers in front of her.

    The 17-year-old from New England couldn’t get over how good they looked.

    2012 Junior Nationals J1 girls podium after the 10 k freestyle mass start at Soldier Hollow on Wednesday: Bib 1. Corey Stock (NE/Cambridge); 2. Sloan Storey (IM/Sun Valley); 3. Marion Woods (AK/Alaska Winter Stars)

    That’s Stock for you. After winning eight Junior Nationals titles, including Wednesday’s J1 10-kilometer freestyle mass start, she still shifts the focus to others.

    Yes, she caught up to Sloan Storey (IM/Sun Valley), Marion Woods (AK/Alaska Winter Stars) and Emily Hannah (RM/Steamboat Springs) on that hill and took a permanent lead.

    Yes, hills are one of her strengths, which is partly why the Cambridge Sports Union skier has achieved two titles in as many races at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals.

    But Stock, who won Wednesday’s mass start in 29:20.6, said she went into the race without expectations. Initially second then fourth by the second of two laps, she hoped she get back in the mix.

    “They had a gap on me for a lot of it so I was just trying to stay as close to them as I could,” Stock said. “But it was really cool watching them. They’re such strong climbers.”

    Stock finished 6.3 seconds ahead of Storey, who was second after leading most of the last climb. Four girls converged at the bottom of the hill, and Storey started them up it.

    “Corey Stock caught back up to the lead group and then I decided to try to go for it,” Storey said. “They all stayed along and it was just a fight all the way until the finish.”

    As the two met near the top of Hermod’s Hill, named after the course’s Norwegian designer Hermod Bjorkestol, Stock took off.

    “I realized I needed to start making a move to stay on the podium,” Storey said.

    Unable to catch Stock, she successfully held off Woods by 0.9 seconds. Woods finished third (+7.2).

    Smiling after the race, Stock, who won Monday’s classic sprint, talked about how much she liked the course and the girls she raced against.

    “It was a great race,” Stock said. “It was a really hard one, but it was really fun. Really fun.”

    Hannah finished fourth (+12.5) after mostly skiing in second. Sarah Freistone (AK/Alaska Nordic Racing) was fifth, Jesse Knori (IM/Sun Valley) was sixth, and Canadian Maya McIsaac-Jones (Rocky Mountain Racers) placed seventh.

    Kelsey Phinney (RM/Boulder Nordic) was eighth, Margaret Pope (IM/Sun Valley) was ninth and Rachel Hampton (RM/Durango Nordic) was 10th.

    J1 girls 10 k freestyle mass start results

     

    Caldwell Breaks Away

    Paddy Caldwell knew exactly who was trailing him and by how much in the J1 boys 10 k freestyle mass start on Wednesday. Hearing splits from his New England coaches throughout the race, Caldwell was aware of his 5- to 10-second gap as he neared the end of the first loop.

    Patrick Caldwell (NE/Stratton) about 30 seconds in front of the pack on the last lap of Wednesday's 10 k freestyle mass start at the 2012 Junior Nationals in Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Caldwell won by nearly 30 seconds.

    With one lap to go and four New England teammates working together behind him, Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School) said he had a surge of inspiration.

    He not only felt good; he knew was setting the pace for a potential team sweep.

    “Coming through the lap lane, I started to put the hammer down and really pushed through the transitions as much as I could,” Caldwell said.

    His skis proved they were fast as he rode them to the front of the pack on a gradual downhill before a massive climb. On the backside of Hermod’s Hill – the Whale’s Tail – he soared ahead and decided to keep pushing the pace.

    With four kilometers to go, Caldwell heard four of his teammates were about 20 seconds behind him. That was great news, he thought, and soon Caldwell was 30- to 45- seconds ahead.

    He crossed the finish line in 24:39.3, nearly 30 seconds ahead of anyone else. For Caldwell, it was his second individual victory at Junior Nationals and third including a relay.

    “It’s huge,” Caldwell said. “It’s been a long season and this is championship time, and it’s really fun and exciting to have it all come together.”

    Behind him, Eli Hoenig led a pack of New Englanders to the finish. Hoenig (Cambridge Sports Union) was second (+27.9), Fabián Stocek (NE/Holderness) was third (+28.2), and two others on the team – Sean Doherty (Mt. Washington) and Gino Pastore (Stratton) – rounded out the top five.

    Four New Englanders chase teammate Paddy Caldwell (not shown) in the J1 10 k freestyle mass start at Junior Nationals on Wednesday. From left to right: Sean Doherty, Eli Hoenig, Fabian Stocek and Gino Pasatore

    Monday’s classic sprint winner, Hoenig said it was a great feeling to be part of a New England sweep. On Tuesday night, he said one of their coaches told them to work cohesively if they found themselves in a pack ahead of the 80-plus racers.

    While they were a chase pack of their own, the four maintained the momentum in an effort to catch Caldwell, switching the lead every 500 yards or so.

    “We might have been slowly gaining, but we were definitely slowly breaking away from the pack,” Hoenig said.

    Unsure if they’d close the gap, they tried anyway. On the final downhill, Hoenig as the group’s leader realized he needed to work for second.

    “I thought [Stocek] was gonna shake-and-bake me, like, slingshot ahead,” Hoenig said. “It was a close one.”

    After Doherty (+39.6) and Pastore (+41.6), Cal Deline of RM/SSC Vail finished sixth (+1:07.4). Jackson Hill (RM/Summit Nordic) was seventh, Max Scrimgeour (RM/Steamboat Springs) was eighth, Patrick McElravey (FW/Auburn) was ninth and Christian Shanley (RM/SSC Vail) was 10th.

    J1 boys 10 k freestyle mass start results

     Audrey Mangan contributed reporting.

  • Sprint Day at Junior Nationals: Photo Gallery

    Sprint Day at Junior Nationals: Photo Gallery

    Wyatt Mayo (AK/University of Alaska-Fairbanks) striding in the OJ/J1 sprint qualifier at the 2012 Junior Nationals on Monday at Solder Hollow in Midway, Utah.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah — More than 400 racers zipped around the 1.3 k classic course at Soldier Hollow on Monday, each trying to advance to the sprint heats later that afternoon. Since the qualifier included everybody, we did our best to capture most of the racers in action during the interval start.

    Check out our Junior Nationals photo galleries, broken down by gender and age (J2, J1/OJ).

    Unsure where to begin looking? Refer to the following start lists, categorized by order and team affiliation from the sprint qualifier.

    Click here for other Junior Nationals start lists and live timing of the event.

  • Harmeyer, Kern Tally J2 Sprint Victories for New England

    Harmeyer, Kern Tally J2 Sprint Victories for New England

    Henry Harmeyer of Mansfield Nordic and New England leads the J2 boys A-final down the last descent of the 1.3 k classic sprint at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Monday. Harmeyer won the sprint ahead of Mansfield teammate Ben Hegman (c) and Cully Brown of RM/Durango (r).

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah – Amid more than 400 racers at Soldier Hollow on Monday, Henry Harmeyer and Ben Hegman stood as the lone representatives of Mansfield Nordic.

    Fourteen and 15 years old, respectively, the two did about all the northern Vermont club could have asked for at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals. They likely pleased their New England team as well.

    Junior Nationals J2 sprint podium
    New England and Mansfield Nordic racer Henry Harmeyer in bib No. 1 celebrates winning the J2 classic sprint at Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow on Monday. Ben Hegman (l) of NE/Mansfield was second and Cully Brown (r) of Rocky Mountain/Durango finished third.

    Harmeyer won the J2 classic sprint in 3:54.99, more than a second ahead of his closest competitor: Hegmen.

    “That was amazing,” Harmeyer said, smiling.

    He had found the 1.3-kilometer course challenging and exciting, using his strong double pole to his advantage.

    “I was in front, got passed on the hills and then, on the double pole at the end [I] brought it in, in front,” Harmeyer said.

    He couldn’t stop smiling. His teammate finished just 1.12 seconds behind, and Cully Brown of Rocky Mountain/Durango Nordic placed third (+3.91).

    The win contributed to New England’s 5-for-5 sweep on the day. In every A-final in which it had a competitor, the region topped the podium.

    There were six races total, the last of which included five Midwest skiers and a Great Lakes racer in the OJ girls A-final. Paige Schember of F.A.S.T. claimed the MW victory.

    In the J2 boys A-final, Koby Gordon (NE/Stratton) pulled off fourth, Karston Hokanson (Intermountain/Wasatch) was fifth and Matthew Muffoletto (AK/Alaska Winter Stars) finished sixth.

    On a balmy afternoon with the sun beating down on the open course, fast skis mattered, and New England evidently had them.

    After qualifying for the heats in seventh, Harmeyer won his quarterfinal and semifinal. Hegman was second in his semifinal, and Brown made the A-final in third. Gordon won the other semifinal by nearly six seconds over Hokanson and Muffoletto, respectively.

    Thomas O’Harra (Alaska/APU) won the morning qualifier and later placed fourth in Harmeyer’s semifinal. In the B-final, O’Harra finished second to Steve Hokanson (Midwest/Sisu SC), putting them eighth and seventh overall.

    J2 boys sprint brackets

    J2 boys qualifier results

    Overall results

     

    Kern Claims Championship Upon Return

    Just over a week ago, Julia Kern was racing in Estonia at the J1 Scando Cup and led the American women in the 5 k classic, placing 14th. If that wasn’t impressive enough, consider she’s a J2.

    Julia Kern (center) on the podium after winning the J2 classic sprint crown at Junior Nationals at Soldier Hollow on Monday. New England teammate Brooke Mooney of Stratton (l) was second, and Alayna Sonnesyn of Midwest/Sisu SC (r) was third.

    The Cambridge Sports Union skier from Massachusetts returned to the states to race at Junior Nationals, nearly 5,500 feet above sea level at Soldier Hollow. She overcame the elevation as well.

    Third in Monday’s 1.3 k classic sprint qualifier, Kern was second in her quarterfinal and third in her semi. Skiing in third on the last downhill of the A-final, she figured it was time to aim for first.

    Kern won the J2 girls sprint title in 4:19.03 after passing New England teammate Brooke Mooney (Stratton) on the final stretch. Mooney was second (+3.33) and Alayna Sonnesyn (MW/Sisu SC) placed third (+5.98).

    “I was in the back to start, and then I realized, ‘Oh shoot, I need to catch up,’ ” Kern said after the A-final. “I went pretty hard and our skis were really, really fast and then I tucked behind Brook … We pulled it in and fought it out at the end.”

    Kern said the sprint racing with several heats was a little tough on the body, making her sick at one point. But she pulled it together and gave the A-final her best effort.

    “I feel pretty good,” she said. “I had expectations to maybe make the finals but I wasn’t thinking I was gonna win, but it was my goal.”

    Her Cambridge teammate, Zoe Snow was fourth, and New England took four of the top five spots with Katharine Ogden (Stratton) in fifth.  Canadian Marte Haakenstad-Braaten (Rocky Mountain Racers) finished sixth.

    The fastest J2 girls qualifier, Mooney won her quarterfinal and placed second in her semifinal to Ogden. Sonnesyn won the other semi, 0.79 seconds ahead of Snow.

    Both Sonnesyn and Snow won their preceding quarterfinals.

    J2 girls sprint brackets

    J2 girls qualifying results

    Overall results

    Audrey Mangan contributed reporting.

  • Schember, Lustgarten Take Chances; Win OJ Sprint Titles

    Schember, Lustgarten Take Chances; Win OJ Sprint Titles

    Paige Schember of F.A.S.T. Performance Training (center) hugs one of her Midwest teammates after winning the 1.3 k sprint A-final for the 2012 Junior Nationals OJ sprint title at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Monday.

    All 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of The Memory Clinic, in Bennington, Vt., committed to caring for the mind since 1987. Currently conducting clinical research on the Alzheimer’s disease vaccine.

    MIDWAY, Utah – Paige Schember knew her strengths, and they didn’t include sprinting.

    Regardless, the St. Olaf College skier and F.A.S.T. Performance Training athlete decided to go for it in the 1.3 kilometer classic sprints at the 2012 Cross Country Junior Nationals on Monday. She held her own and represented the Midwest all the way to the OJ A-final, where Schember continued her gutsy racing.

    Paige Schember (Midwest/F.A.S.T.) celebrates after crossing the line first at the 2012 Junior Nationals OJ sprint A-final. Rachel Mason of Great Lakes/Michigan Tech (in yellow) finished second, and Sharmila Ahmed of the Midwest/Go Training (l) was third.

    Trailing Rachel Mason (Great Lakes/Michigan Tech) for the first half of the race, Schember attacked on the up-and-over final climb at Soldier Hollow and cruised ahead to an OJ sprint title in 4:20.25.

    Mason was second (+4.02), and Sharmila Ahmed (Midwest/Go Training) was third (+4.65).

    In the last race of the nearly eight-hour opening day of competition at Junior Nationals, Schember was the only non-New England winner. In five other races, the eastern team had a champion in every category, from the J2s to the OJ boys.

    Without a New Englander in the OJ girls A-final, the race was all about the Midwest. Five of six competitors were from there.

    Schember’s F.A.S.T. teammate, Elizabeth Simak finished fourth. Claire Galvin of Go Training was close behind in fifth, and Alice Flanders (Sisu Ski Club) placed sixth.

    “It hasn’t even registered yet; I feel so awesome,” Schember said after the race. “That race was so much fun and I’m just in shock.”

    That morning, she had been excited to qualify for the heats in 17th.

    “I’m not a sprinter. I don’t consider myself one,” she said. “Every race I thought, I’ll just look forward to the next one and take it race by race. If I qualify, I qualify—and then every race was like, ‘Wow,’ so I’m just amazed right now.”

    After placing second in her quarterfinal to Simak, Schember won her semifinal ahead of Galvin and Simak, who were second and third, respectively. Mason as the fifth-fastest qualifier won both her quarterfinals and semis.

    The top qualifier, Felicia Gesior (GL/Northern Michigan) finished fifth in the B-final and 11th overall.  She won her quarterfinal and was fourth behind Schember in the semis.

    OJ girls heats results

    OJ/J1 girls qualifier results

    Overall results (scroll for J1 girls)

     

    Lustgarten Leads New England

    In a 1.3 k sprint, there isn’t much time for decisions. So when Eric Lustgarten, a sophomore at St. Lawrence University, forged ahead on the second and final significant climb at Soldier Hollow, he knew there was no turning back.

    St. Lawrence University and New England skier Eric Lustgarten (c) on the podium after winning the 2012 Junior Nationals 1.3 k classic sprint at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, on Monday. Austin Cobb (l) was second and Nick Michaud (r) rounded out the New England podium sweep in third.

    Previously hanging behind his New England teammates in the A-final, Lustgarten said the pace was relaxed. With five of six racers from New England, it wasn’t rocket science to figure out why. Regardless, Lustgarten chose to push the tempo.

    “I realized I either needed to make a move or stick in second on the downhill to catch a draft,” Lustgarten said. “I decided to take it. Skis were perfect, magic skis today, and just finished as fast as I could.”

    Lustgarten won the final for the OJ sprint championship in 3:08.15, nearly three seconds ahead of Austin Cobb (NE/Stratton Mountain School), who made up considerable ground from skiing around fifth to finish second (+2.71).

    Nick Michaud of the Maine Winter Sports Center was third (+3:23) after passing the only non-New Englander, Sawyer Kesselheim (Intermountain/Bridger Ski Foundation), toward the end of the race.

    With Dartmouth’s Silas Talbot in fourth (+3.78), New England swept the top four. Kesselheim finished fifth (+6.73) and Hans Halvorsen (NE/Green Mountain Valley School) was sixth.

    Michaud qualified in first earlier on Monday. He went on to place second in the quarterfinals to Kesselheim and second in the semifinals to Lustgarten.

    Lustgarten was the fourth-fastest qualifier and placed second in his quarterfinal to Kevin Bolger (IM/Sun Valley). Bolger went on to place second in the B-final after Kyle Bratrud (MW/Minnesota Valley), putting Bratrud in seventh and Bolger in eighth.

    OJ boys heats results

    OJ/J1 boys qualifier results

    Overall results (scroll for J1 boys)

    Audrey Mangan contributed reporting.

  • USSA Announces Race Format Changes for SuperTour, Junior Nationals.

    USSA Announces Race Format Changes for SuperTour, Junior Nationals.

    Simi Hamilton leading a quarterfinal heat at the 2011 SuperTour Finals.

    Every May, after storage wax has cooled and spandex has been washed for the first time since November, coaches, officials, and athletes from around the country descend upon Park City for four days to discuss scheduling for the following year and implementing new race rules and formats.  This is the USSA Congress.

    FasterSkier caught up with John Farra, USSA Nordic Director, to get a run down of the most import developments to come out of these meetings.  Farra sits on a committee with about a dozen other veterans of the sport that vote on matters presented to them by subcommittees, which in turn are made up of coaches and athletes who work out the details of each issue in the days leading up to the final vote.

    “It’s a great process,” said Farra.  “It’s exhausting, but for people to take the time away from their families to get together in May and talk skiing for four days is really impressive.  If we’ve all been organized throughout the season, keeping notes all year long, the spring meetings are really effective.”

    Here’s what came out of the congress this year:

    New Guidelines for the SuperTour Finals

    The season-ending SuperTour Finals are now more clearly defined, and will continue to include the 30/50K US Championships, a sprint, a mass start 10/15K, and a pursuit start Hill Climb, with the goal of having a prologue when possible.

    “As a director, it was really good to get that kind of clarity, so that when I’m looking for a venue and organizer, I can give those parameters,” Farra said.

    “People really liked having the distance championship associated with the finals,” he continued.

    The mini-tour format for the SuperTour Finals has evolved since 2010 in Maine, where the series included a mass start distance race, a sprint, and a hill climb.  Sun Valley added a prologue this year, and though the 30/50K Championships were at the same venue a few days before, they weren’t officially part of the mini-tour.

    SuperTour Finals to head East

    The start of the 2009 Craftsbury Marathon. Photo: Kris Dobie.

    “The SuperTour Finals have become a significant event for the US skiing pipeline, but the size of the event and the prize money also makes it quite expensive.  No one was really scrambling to host the event next year,” Farra said of the largest elite US ski event outside of the National Championships.

    At this point it appears that the multi-day event will be at either the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont or the Nordic Heritage Ski Center in Presque Isle, ME—right down the road from 2010 venues Fort Kent and Madawaska.  A final decision will be made some time in July.

    The proximity of both eastern venues to the Canadian Nationals venue in Quebec would present a favorable opportunity for the US athletes.

    “Having the event in northern Maine or northern Vermont would make it easier for the top US athletes to compete at Canadian Nationals the week before, which are only a few hours away in Mont-Ste-Anne, and vice versa, having the Canadians come here.  Both events would benefit from the heightened level of competition and predictably lower race points.”

    Ski exchanges to be allowed in the 30/50K Championships

    For the first time, ski changes will be allowed in a domestic Championship event.  Racers will be allowed to swap out their skis for a new pair during the race.  In events as long as 30 and 50K, the difference fresh wax makes in the middle of the race can be huge, especially if conditions are variable.

    Germany's Thomas Bing in the exchange zone at World Juniors.

    “The thinking behind this decision was that it’s been a rule now on the World Cup for a few years, and some of our athletes have struggled with their first racing experience with a ski exchange being at World Championships or the Olympics. “

    This change will allow athletes to become familiar with the system before experiencing it in Europe.

    One exchange will be permitted in the 30K and two in the 50K. While this rule doesn’t exactly follow FIS regulations—in which skiers are allowed to switch skis whenever they pass through the exchange area for up to three times in a 30K and four times in a 50K—it will nevertheless be a useful opportunity to try out a new format.

    The new rule will require more space in the stadium for the exchange area, but Farra doesn’t expect the rule to be too limiting on which venues will be able to host the SuperTour Finals in the future.  However, says Farra, “If a particular stadium is not suited to providing enough space for ski exchange boxes for each athlete, then we can choose to go without the ski exchange.”

    Junior Nationals race format changes

    The J1 boys at Junior Nationals in Wirth Park, MN. Photo: David J. Owen Photography.

    Two significant developments came out of discussions in the junior subcommittee, both of which have been in the works for over a year and are aimed at getting juniors more prepared for performing in the tight racing environments that are seen at Scando Cup, World Juniors, and beyond.

    First, the J1 boys’ distance race is being shortened from a 15K to a 10K.  “This came from discussions about creating developmentally appropriate events for our kids and keeping them skiing faster, and not just longer,” Farra explains.  “We had J2 boys going from a 5K at the age of 15 to a 15K at the age of 16, one year later.  This was a bit of a dramatic shift and not necessary for most of the field.  The concept seemed to be: lets shorten the race and get them going faster.”

    The second major decision applies to the team relay, with the option for appropriate venues to shorten the final race of the week from a 3x3K relay to a sprint relay of about 1.5K.  “A year ago, this committee approved to shorten the 3x5K relay to a 3x3K which was tested successfully in Minneapolis in March of 2011.  This idea for a sprint relay follows this same logic to keep the teams closer together and in traffic longer. ”

    Soldier Hollow, the 2012 host for Junior Nationals, lends itself to a sprint relay, with plenty of space for a wider exchange zone.  Farra says they’ve expressed interest in testing it out.  “This event will be predictably tight and crazy, but that works well to accomplish the goal of getting our young athletes comfortable moving amongst a crowd.”

    For a more complete list of the USSA Congress highlights, click here.

     

  • Woods, Hanneman, Diggins complete individual title sweep at Junior Olympics

    Woods, Hanneman, Diggins complete individual title sweep at Junior Olympics

    New England's Tyler Foulkes (Stratton Mountain School) captured his first Junior National title in the J2 5k freestyle race on Friday. Photo: David J. Owen Photography

    Going into the third day of Junior Olympic competition, Friday’s skate individual start, four athletes had a chance to sweep all individual events: Hamish McEwen (Cambridge Sports Union) in J2 boys, Marion Woods (Alaska Winter Stars) in J2 girls, Logan Hanneman (FAST) in J1 boys, and Jessie Diggins (CXC) in OJ girls. When the day was finished, only McEwen was knocked off the top step of the podium.  (He was still second!) Woods, Hanneman, and Diggins each succeeded in the rare feat of winning all individual events at the Junior Olympics.

    As a result of the wet snow on Wednesday and below freezing temperatures overnight, the course set up firm and lightning fast.  Silas Talbot (Alaska Winter Stars) called the course “challenging.” “It was a little scary on the downhills.  There were some tough turns at the bottom of hills.  You had to ski as fast as you could, but be sure to be in control.”  Still, athletes commended the course conditions.  J1 Sawyer Kesselheim: “It was a good course.  I’m glad they raked the corners. It kept it really nice. I thought it would get more chopped up.”

    For the J2 boys, Stratton Mountain School’s Tyler Foulkes managed to upset the previously dominant McEwen.  Foulkes finessed the technical course to a 18-second win. This margin of victory is even more impressive when one considers the short time the athletes spent on the course; the top-10 skiers were all under 12 minutes. Foulkes was joined on the podium by McEwen (2nd) and Durango Nordic’s Haakon Sigurslid.

    J2 Girls Podium: Halie Lange, NE (5th), Sarissa Lammers, AK (3rd), Marion Woods, AK (1st), Annika Miller, IM (2nd) and Maggie Williams, IM (4th). Photo: David J. Owen Photography

    As anticipated based on previous results, Marion Woods was the J2 girls golden girl yet again.  Second-place finisher Anika Miller (Payette Lakes Sports) started 4th in the bib order, ten spaces ahead of Woods, so she had the disadvantage in terms of splits. Splits given on the long climb just short of 5 km had Miller clearly leading, until Woods and Sarrissa Lammers came by. Woods had made up the 15-second spread on Lammers, but Lammers bravely hung on up the long climb, earning her best result at JOs thus far.

    In the J1 girls 5 km, Corey Stock earned her second gold and third podium result.  At the finish, she was embraced by her coach who said, “Next year, we’ll do some training, and it will hurt less!” obviously referring to her late season return to racing after compartment syndrome surgery.

    Runner-up Heather Mooney was just two seconds behind Stock. Mooney went into the race with a plan that she executed. “My plan was to ski the first kilometer really whippy, and then to relax and ski the transitions well.  At about three and a half kilometers, I just went as hard as possible.”  Mooney, who is a senior at Stratton Mountain School, noted Stratton’s role in her success. “The biggest thing is just being around a group of great girls to train with.  There’s also the academic flexibility to come to a race like this and know the school is totally behind it.”

    Stratton Mountain School’s Cambria McDermott earned third place, just seven seconds out from the win.

    Logan Hanneman is all smiles following his podium ceremony for the men's J1 10k freestyle race. Photo: David J. Owen Photography

    Logan Hanneman (FAST) took over the J1 boys race in lap one and then held it throughout.  On the first lap, Patrick Caldwell looked to be a contender. He was tied with Hanneman at just under 4 kilometers, and then 10 seconds down (but in second place) at the lap.  However, Caldwell faded on lap two and finished fifth. Second and third for the J1s went to APUNSC teammates Forrest Mahlen and Jack Novak.

    J1 boys fourth-place finisher Sawyer Kesselheim (Bridger Ski Foundation) might be a name to watch in the future.  Kesselheim, who was tenth in the sprint and fifth in the classic, did not even qualify for last year’s Junior Olympics. He used to be a soccer player, but last year he quit and “really committed to skiing.” This is the first year he trained for skiing year-round. Kesselheim played the pacing game just right; he was in a three-way tie for seventh at the lap.  “I had a slower first lap and tried to build over the second lap.  I think I found a pace I could maintain.”

    Jessie Diggins once again showed complete domination over the OJ girls field, winning the 5 km race by 51 seconds!

    Hometown favorite Jessie Diggins on course. Photo: David J. Owen Photography

    Given Diggins’ results at the World Championships, and throughout the week at the Junior Olympics, Annie Pokorny’s second-place finish must have felt as good as gold.  While Pokorny doesn’t consider herself a power skier (she usually races in the West), she was delighted to find that the firm conditions worked for her.  “It was probably my best 5 km skate ever, easily…” Pokorny, who will be at Middlebury next year, took time to thank Minneapolis Junior Olympics volunteers: “This event is so well organized.  It is really easy to be a skier here.”

    Kinsey Loan (APUNSC) missed second-place by the narrowest of margins, just four tenths of a second.  Loan had a clear plan for racing the firm and fast course: go as hard as possible.  “With the fast snow and so many downhills, I tried to race this like a sprint.”  In planning her tactics, Loan is able to draw upon her experience in two sports.  She says she races nationally on her bike in the summer (road and mtb).  “Skiing and cycling complement each other very nicely.” Success in the OJ boys race depended on a fast second lap.

    Dartmouth’s David Sinclair was down to George Cartwright at 5 km, but turned it on in lap two to take the win. Third-place Silas Talbot also had a strong second lap, moving from fifth at 5 km to third at the finish. Without yet having seen the official split, he said, “The beginning was slower.  It took a while to get into it.” George Cartwright’s pacing was just the opposite.  He took a four-second lead through 5 km, but ultimately finished second by the narrowest of margins, just seven-tenths of a second off Sinclair.

    In the Alaska Cup competition, New England brought a solid lead into Friday’s races. While current points had not yet been tabulated as of this writing, it seems unlikely that Alaska’s Friday performance was enough to make up the significant points gap.  The fact that the cup will likely go to New England makes tomorrow’s relay races all the more important.  While the cup is determined by place points, each age group’s relay will go to the team who can string together the fastest skiers.  Anticipate that underdog Alaska will fight for the win in every race, while the Midwest will hope to upset in one or more.

  • When the Town Fits…

    When the Town Fits…

    Whitefish, Montana, from a ski run called “Inspiration” (Photo courtesy of PJ Sullivan, creative commons content)

    Heaven is pretty much how Robin Brooks feels about her job as the head coach of the Glacier Nordic Team in Whitefish, Montana. Sometimes, coincidences just seem to happen at the right time: Brooks was looking for a new home, Whitefish was looking for her.

    The 25-year-old Seattle native left her parents’ driveway and set out on a 12-month bicycle tour across the U.S. in September of 2009. Brooks spent most of that time on her own, exploring new areas of her home country and trying to figure out what she wants in life.  She found it in Whitefish. While she was camping there in August, only a couple of weeks before her 365-day bike tour was officially finished, she called her dad to check in and tell him about this amazing little town she had landed in.

    Her father, Don Brooks, had just seen an ad on FasterSkier a few days earlier, which announced that the Glacier Nordic Team in Whitefish was looking for a head coach.

    Robin (left) and sister Holly Brooks at the 2010 West Yellowstone Ski Festival

    “I decided I was very interested in living here. I liked the feel of the town, I liked the downtown area, there was a farmer’s market with live music and that was something I really looked for. And growing up in Seattle, I always wanted to have skiing out my door, and there is amazing mountain biking and running here,” Brooks said.

    Brooks has been skiing since she was 2 years old, and started racing with the youth ski program at Snoqualmie Pass, coached by her dad. She always loved skiing, and imagined that some day, she’d be living in a place with consistent snow in the winter. Like Whitefish.

    Why Whitefish?

    The only thing Brooks was missing in Whitefish was an established social network, something she had identified as important to her during her long bike ride.

    But Brooks was willing to take a gamble on that. The opportunity was too good to give up.

    “I’ve always been independent, and always gone into things with the attitude that I will make it work,” Brooks said.

    Her gut feeling turned out to be the right choice for Brooks.

    “I was really excited and very nervous at the same time. Part of me didn’t expect the job to be offered me. But I was psyched to know I was coming back to Whitefish and this area, excited to work with the team, and definitely nervous since I had never been a head coach,” Brooks said.

    In terms of building that social network she was looking for in the place she wants to call home, the Whitefish community has been more than welcoming as well, Brooks added.

    “The ski community has been fantastic. The parents have really made a great effort to include me and help me get involved,” Brooks said, adding that she stayed with one of the ski team families for a couple of weeks while looking for a place to rent. Living with them also helped her get to know the community better.

    Also, it turned out that two of Brooks’ good friends from junior skiing in Seattle now live in Whitefish. One of them, Noah Young, will be her assistant coach this season.

    Although Brooks is a city kid and grew up in Seattle, she’s been drawn to smaller places since she graduated from high school and took off for college. A 2008 graduate, Brooks was an environmental studies major at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, a town of roughly 5,900 people. She skied for St. Lawrence for four years on the collegiate circuit.

    Last year, Brooks spent the winter in Cle Elum, Wash., a town of less than 2,000 people about two hours from Seattle, just east of Snoqualmie Pass. While living in Cle Elum, she helped coach the Bush School nordic team, a private high school ski squad from Seattle that trains and races at Snoqualmie.

     

    Learning on the job

    Holly Brooks with the Glacier Nordic Ski Team at the 2010 West Yellowstone Ski Festival.

    While Brooks doesn’t have a long list of formal coaching experiences beyond her winter with the Bush school, she feels well-prepared to start building training plans and setting goals for the athletes. For starters, her sister Holly Brooks has been coaching at Alaska Pacific University for several years, and she also raced for the U.S. Ski Team at the 2010 Olympics. Holly offers help and advice whenever Robin needs input.

    Additionally, Robin said that she spends a lot of her time looking up coaching and physiology resources online – and, with years of personal competitive experience at the junior national and collegiate level, Brooks has a good understanding of what it takes to bring out the best in young racers.

    The Glacier Nordic Team has seven competitive skiers this season, and Brooks thinks two of them could qualify for the J1-Scandinavian Cup races this winter. 17-year-olds Stella Holt and Jack Steele have to make the U.S. team at National Championships in Maine in early January, but Brooks is optimistic.

    The five other athletes on the team are good development skiers, Brooks said, and she added that she’s hopeful at least two of those will qualify for the Intermountain Division team racing at Junior Nationals in Minneapolis in March.

    “They’re all looking good, and I’m happy with where they are at this point, so they should be able to qualify,” Brooks said.

    Challenges and surprises

    Technically, the head coach position in Whitefish is a part-time job, and Brooks thought she would get a second job to help make ends meet and stay busy. But that remained a thought.

    “I am a lot busier than I expected, making training plans, doing one to two practices a day with the team, all the logistics for the different ski events…the meeting list, the board, the parents, and doing some training on my own,” Brooks said. “It’s definitely a learning experience for me. Things that don’t seem like they should take very long take forever.”

    Since Brooks doesn’t know the area well, she said she also spends a lot of time trying to scout out good places for her team to do different workouts. The nordic area at the downhill resort is no longer groomed and maintained, so the team has to train on a local golf course. But Brooks said she’s hoping to find other good locations for on-snow workouts.

    As far as Brooks’ own athletic goals, they have been scaled back this season to make room for her kids. She has skied since she was two years old, raced through her youth, junior and collegiate years, and now, she said, she’s ready to step down from the start line and onto the side line.

    “It won’t be a lot of racing for me, but that’s okay,” Brooks says, noting that she still has some competitiveness left in her. “There is a Tuesday night race series in town that I’ll try to jump in, and I’ll definitely do some local races as long as I’m not coaching the whole time.”

    The Brooks family: (left to right) Mother Chris Syrjala, brother Scott Brooks, Holly Brooks, Robin Brooks and father Don Brooks.

  • Blue Skies Through the Lens of Flying Point Road at Junior Nationals

    The collegiate skiers competing at the NCAA Championships in Steamboat, CO have nothing on the juniors racing in Presque Isle, ME this week… at least as the weather is concerned.  Flying Point Road captures the scene, desire and spirit that is Junior Nationals.

    Please visit Flying Point Road to see more of their photos.

  • Distance Races on the Classic Boards at Junior Nationals – Photos Added

    Distance Races on the Classic Boards at Junior Nationals – Photos Added

    Today was the second day of racing here in Presque Isle and was the first day of distance, with the J2’s skiing classic 5ks, while the J1/OJ women and men skied 10k and 15ks. The J2 girls started at 10a.m and the boys at 10:30. The conditions for this race were hard and fast making the race very interesting.

    Corey Stock of New England and Cole Morgan of Intermountain (who also celebrated a birthday today) each repeated their championship performances from Mondays sprint races. Stock won her race by 13.5 seconds over teammate Heather Mooney, while Morgan barely squeaked out another victory by .6 seconds over New England’s Jack Hegman.

    The J1/OJ girl’s races were equally as entertaining with PNSA skier Annie Pokorny coming out on top for J1 girls by 7.8 seconds over Midwest racer Annie Hart. The OJ women also had a very close race with only 30 seconds between the winner Kaitlynn Miller of New England claiming her second title and fifth place Corrine Prevot of New England. This only leads one to wonder how close the race would have been if it had stayed a mass start.

    “I was pretty disappointed that it wasn’t a mass start”, said Prevot “I think I could have skied well in the mass start”.

    This was the general feeling of many of the athletes who were very excited about a mass start this year at JO’s.

    A couple of the athletes that didn’t mind having an individual start were among the J1/OJ boys field.

    One of these athletes is second place David Sinclair of New England who finished 12.9 seconds behind Alaska’s Scott Patterson. Instead of being let down by having no mass start, Sinclair used the individual start to his advantage.

    Sinclair explained “I saw the start list and noticed that Dave Norris (OJ boy’s winner from Alaska) was starting 30 seconds behind me, so when he caught me at 6k I just stayed on his tails and tried to match his rhythm until he lost me at 13.5k”.

    Two other boys that were happy for the individual start were Dave Norris and Sam Tarling of New England.

    “The individual start didn’t matter”, said Norris “I just wanted to go out hard and see if anyone else could match me”.

    Tarling was also excited to have the individual start as he felt it “favored him in a 15k classic race”.

    For both of these athletes the race style worked out very well for them as they both skied away from the field by almost a minute while only 3.3 seconds separated Norris and Tarling.

    Today didn’t show the same dominance from team New England, as the results showed a much more even distribution of teams throughout each of the age groups. The hunt for the prestigious Alaska cup is still on and the fight will continue Friday here in Presque Isle, Maine with the distance skate race.

    Complete Results.

  • A Glimpse of the JN Sprints

    A Glimpse of the JN Sprints

    Even when captured static in an image these guys still look fast.  A look at the Junior National sprint race through the lens of Boulder Nordic Sport and FasterSkier’s Shane MacDowell.

  • Talking to Junior National Sprint Champions

    Yesterday showed a hard day of racing with constantly changing conditions, but for six junior skiers, the hard work paid off in the form of a national title.  Five of the winners were from New England and one from Intermountain.

    From the get go, most of the races were up in the air for who could grab the title in each of the age groups.  J1 women’s winner Isabel Caldwell qualified 19th for J1 girls, nearly 15 seconds behind Stella Holt of Intermountain who won the J1/OJ qualifier.

    “My prelim wasn’t great”, said Caldwell, “I screwed up a little bit and felt pretty flat”.

    The same went for New England racer and OJ boys champion Alex Schulz, who said he was worried after the prelims that he wouldn’t qualify considering that this season hasn’t been the best he’s had in recent years.

    In the case of Alex Schulz and the rest of the New England boys, there was a good amount of team racing that helped each of them to succeed in all of their races.  According to Schulz he and teammate Skyler Davis talked about working together to keep advancing through the rounds.

    “I knew Skyler was a fast starter and could get out fast”, said Schulz “so I just skied with him and when Skyler broke a pole it paved the way for me to win”.

    Not all of the athletes had to work as hard for their national titles once they got into the rounds.  Two of these racers are Intermountain J2 boy Cole Morgan and New England J1 boy David Sinclair.  Morgan won his prelim by five seconds while Sinclair also won his prelim.

    “After winning the prelim by five seconds, I was pretty confident I could win”, said Morgan, but “I was still pretty worried about the New England kids after seeing how strong they were”.

    Sinclair skied his final heat as if he were the one who had won his prelim by a large margin.  Sinclair decided to work with his teammate Hans Halvorsen in the final heat and on the first long climb decided to put his head down and go for it.

    “I just went as hard as I could up that hill and didn’t look back”, said Sinclair.  “By the time I got through the camel humps and up the last hill, my coach told me I had a big gap so I just relaxed the last 100 yards”.

    As Sinclair crossed the line with a large lead he threw up his arms and let out a victory yell.

    “I didn’t even think about it”, Sinclair said, I realized I was about to win a national title and it was just a spur of the moment thing.”

    Tomorrows 5, 10 and 15k classic races should be very interesting since conditions are still proving to be difficult and unusual for northern Maine.

  • Video: Junior Olympics Classic Race

    We missed the girls (sorry!!) but were able to get lots of footage from the J1/OJ boys 10km classic race at Auburn Ski Club on Friday. Enjoy!

    Part 1:

    Part 2:

    Part 3: