This season Vermont has seen week-in and week-out of cold temperatures, fresh snow, frozen fingers, and icy wind. The skiing has been the best we’ve had in years.
Yet on the morning of the Eastern Cup classic race in Waterville, Mainem, as we huddled in a wax trailer at -11F and heard the call of a delayed start, I let my mind wander ahead to Junior Nationals.
March at Soldier Hollow in Utah is pretty consistent. It is the definition of spring skiing…sunscreen, 50F, corn snow, and short sleeves. You know, I thought, I’d even take it being minimal snow if that was the week of weather we get at those races…turns out I was pretty on-the-money, as we arrived in Utah to glorious spring skiing and sun! We had an MNC crew of 8 athletes, and we arrived early for a few days of prep at altitude ahead of the big event. The travel was relatively smooth, and our arrival and acclimation seemed to hit just as we wanted. There’s a reason we do a training camp in this exact location each August and we had the data, local knowledge, and familiarity to make the most of it.
Team MNC at the opening ceremonies
It was a frantic week, especially as I was head of service and not actually a “coach” for the week. Most of my time was spend in the wax cabin, but it was an AMAZING experience to spend lots of time with other coaches and leaders from around New England. By far the most fun I’ve had in a “tech” role at a big event.
But the MNC athletes proved they certainly don’t need my physically there cheering them on to kick butt! The races were great, with an individual classic race starting things off. Our club made a statement in the very first race of the whole championships with Acadia, Astrid, and Mia finishing 4th, 5th and 6th! Club followers will not be at all surprised to learn these three finished this individual-start race within the same ten seconds. And in third place, right ahead of our squad, was Brooke Greenberg, MNC skier up until this fall when she and her family moved out to Utah. It was an honorary MNC 3-4-5-6 in this race!
Finishing 4th, 5th, and 6th! Photo by George Forbes
Jorgen takes to the course, with SoHo in all its glory behind (George Forbes photo)
On the skate sprint day it was a chance for some of the older MNC Juniors to shine. With Anders, Niko, and Jonah storming to 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the qualifier it was sure to be a barnburner. The slush got deep, but the skiers persevered. Anders made it to 12th in the U20 B-Final, and in the A-Final for U18 men it was TWO Pugs on the start line, as Jonah and Niko both made it through all of the rounds.
Anders racing to 3rd in the U20 qualifier (George Forbes photo)
The day ended with Niko 5th and Jonah 6th…for the second race in a row, MNC put TWO skiers in the top-6 at this Junior Nationals! What’s more, make that 5 different skiers each with a top-6 result.
Coach was allowed to run out of the wax room to catch both MNC boys in their A-Final!
The day wasn’t over yet, as Jorgen battled his way to his second JNs top-20 and Acadia overcame being tripped in her quarterfinal to score yet more points for the gang. But much like the older Gorman, it was Mia who made her way all the way through the rounds to the A-Final and matched Jonah’s 6th place! To hit 6th place in a classic distance race and skate sprint showed some serious consistency, but (hint) Mia wasn’t done yet.
Thursday brought a mass start skate race. For the U16s the conditions were fast and icy. It was James’ best race of the week, where he took advantage of the New England conditions to hit top-40 for the first time and produce what might’ve been his best skating race of the season, only 1:48 off the lead in a 7.5k race. Continuing to improve, Jorgen narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish in 12th.
James skating strong (photo by George Forbes)
In the U16 women’s race Mia, Acadia and Astrid skied right up near the front. When the race started to string out, Mia held strong and ended up…you guessed it, 6th place once again! That made it a 3-for-3 in 6th place finishes in each individual race. Pretty cool!
As the sun continued to turn the course into total slush, it was time for Niko to play the tactical game of staying consistent and moving up throughout his race. Much like the Waterville mass start, he moved up nonstop, passing about 10 people on each lap to end up with a really great distance race! It was another busy day with plenty of action.
You know that Astrid and dynamic skating technique go hand-in-hand (photo by George Forbes)
On relay day, MNC athletes helped their combined teams to fight through an absolutely BRUTAL weather and snow day, with soft slush giving way to epic snowstorms at 32 degrees. Zeros were flying out of the wax room, klister was dripping across skis, hardwax was frantically rubbed onto kick zones…it was absolute insanity.
When all the dust settled, it was Intermountain and Alaska both coming out on top of the team scores for the week, with New England in third place. Since the early 2000s New England has rarely lost at Junior Nationals. To not win is one thing, but to be beaten by TWO regions is somewhat unheard of. This is akin to Norway being beaten by both Sweden and Finland in the same event…what does this say?
Well, for one, MNC skiers certainly did their part to help out Team New England. Our club was 11th overall in the club standings, just shy of GMVS and the top-10. What’s more, our women’s score was 10th overall, and our men’s score was 11th overall, showing great depth and parity in our athlete’s abilities.
JNs club team score, combined men and women
While it is great to be one of the strongest clubs in the region alongside friends like Ford Sayre and GMVS, we can certainly contribute more. That doesn’t necessarily mean just more strong results from MNC athletes…that’s always a goal, but I think there is something to be said for continuing to raise the bar in our area.
Did you know that for the first time, Vermont did NOT field a full women’s team at the NENSA U16 Championships? Did you also know that, inspired by New England, a few years ago the Intermountain region established a “Western Regional Championships” similar to U16 and EHS races in our area, in order to better facilitate racing options and skier development? They also began putting together youth festivals and more fun, engaging events for younger skiers after taking a nod from our very own BKL Festival.
Change did not happen right away, but is it any surprise that, about 4-5 years after introducing these events and opportunities, suddenly Intermountain jumps ahead of not only Alaska but also New England at Junior Nationals?
I think those additions played a huge role in expanding competition opportunities and growing the sport. It feels like the pressure to make JNs is so high in New England that opportunities like EHS can feel like a “consolation prize” instead of a really important event…but I think this story about Intermountain and their rise to success after implementing very similar races teaches a very important lesson about valuing and making the best out of any and every opportunity we get as racers, coaches, techs, and leaders.
Something to think about, and something a big club like ours can play a role in positively shaping and affecting!
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