Mansfield Nordic Club

We only had about 18 athletes do the double-pole test last week, so today we went back to Richmond and had another opportunity to ski the course before fall sports begin.  I was worried that we might have a small group today — boy was I wrong. I counted 32 or 33 athletes! The boys’ course record (which was set last week) was broke today…twice. We also got in a lot of technique work including 1-pole skiing and no-pole skiing.

At the end of training we had an informal All American certificate presentation. Henry Harmeyer and Ben Hegman were both on the podium at Junior Nationals last March, and they earned All-American status from the United States Ski Association for those performances. I think there will be even more of those in 2013 and beyond.

This past Monday we had about 32 athletes at the Range for a skate rollerski. We’ve really been trying to get a lot of time on rollerskis now that everyone is getting comfortable on them. Thanks again to John Madigon and Algis Shalna for yet another opportunity for these athletes to practice their biathlon skills.

Here are times from the double-pole test today (PR from last year, if applicable):

• Adele Julianelle, 6:13
• Alissa Stone, 6:23
• Tatum Braun, 5:11 **J2 girls’ record
• Julia Snyder, 5:47
• Callie Braun, 4:09
• Sienna Searles, 4:23
• Ethan Thibault, 4:40
• Nathanael Kuzio, 3:18 (4:00)
• Ben Longenbach, 5:18
• Louis St-Pierre, 3:41
• Ben Hegman, 2:49 (3:29)
• Forrest Hamilton, 2:41 (3:05) ** new boys’ course record
• Sam Longenbach, 3:15 (3:35)
• Liam John, 3:05 (3:37)
• Parker Francis, 2:59 (3:48)

Pictures from today are forthcoming. In the meantime, here are some photos from Monday 8/13:

The “Big Gals” group: Cally, Emma, Molly and Sienna “2012 VT State Champ” Searles

Forrest, Bill, Liam and Parker working on specific strength on Monday

Ben, Thomas, and Nik work on drills with Coach Paul Allison

Casey Silk working on weight transfer

Destyni under the watch of Algis

Ethan T., Jordan, and Will Kay – no pole skate drills

The gals warming up with some balance drills

Henry Harmeyer sporting his old-school Oakley Frogskins shades (popular in the early-90’s)

Jordan Lamay

Louis St-Pierre

Coach Eli Enman watches Molly and Sienna doing some speeds

The group does some no-pole skate warmup

Tatum Braun working on balance

Will Kay doing the wide-feet drill

Will Solow working on wide feet and low body position

Training 8/13 – 8/19 (rollerski week!):

• Monday: 8:30 – 10:30am at the Range. Skate rollerski.
• (Tuesday – tentative Bonus Training [TBD])
• Wednesday: 8:30 – 10:30am at Round Church. Classic rollerski (and DP test make-up).
• Thursday: 4:30 – 6:30pm at Charlotte Beach. Skate rollerski.
• Saturday: 9:00am – ~12:15pm. Underhill State Park. Hike Mt Mansfield via Sunset Ridge Trail.

Yesterday we did our first double-pole test of the year up Greystone Road in Richmond. The course is a steep climb for about 600m. We do this test a few times each year (summer and fall) and the goal is to see improvement over time. Because rollerski speeds vary so much, it isn’t useful to compare times against other athletes.

We started doing this test last fall (2 times), so I only have a bit of historcial data. In spite of that, I can say that the group looked really fast altogether! This double-pole test also demonstrates who has the strength and who needs it (the pictures really show this — technique totally falls apart if there is lacking core strength and upper-body strength).

Name / Time (PR from last year):

1. Destyni Travers, 6:38
2. Lucy Leith, 4:59
3. Kayla Servin, 6:12
4. Leslie Roberts, 5:18
5. Nigel Sarrazin, 4:34
6. Lukas Adamockwicz, 4:10
7. Amy Bruce, 4:58
8. Molly Larson, 4:23
9. Emma Hamilton, 4:17 (4:42)
10. Will Solow, 4:35
11. Casey Silke, 4:38
12. Will Kay, 4:57
13. Jordan Lamay, 3:29
14. Lauren Olson (St Lawrence), 3:56 ** new women’s record
15. Charlie Maitland, 4:18
16. Ethan John, 3:29 (4:03)
17. Bill Harmeyer, 3:02 (4:25)
18. Henry Harmeyer, 2:51 (3:14) ** new men’s record

Coach Eli Enman, Bill, Ethan, Henry, Lauren warming up

Casey is smiling through the pain

Charlie making love to the camera! Bill with a mean face

Destyni getting up the hill

Emma had a PR

Ethan had a big PR as well. Solid form.

Coach Paul Allison leads a train for warmup.

Henry Harmeyer set a PR by over 20 seconds since last fall

Jordan Lamay is a guy to watch out for this year. Really nice form, except for the lack of focus??!!

Lauren Olson (St Lawrence) threw down a wicked fast time

Leslie Roberts and Kayla Servin doing their first-ever Double Pole test.

Lucy Leith makes her way up

Lukas shows good form early in the test (shins / torso / poles all angled forward and mostly parallel)

Molly and Amy getting tired near the top. Sure is pretty!

Nigel making his way up

Will Kay sees the camera

Will Solow hammering. New record for middle-school athletes!

This past weekend we did a group hike up Camel’s Hump mountain. It was one of the hottest days of the year, but we had cool temps and a light breeze on the summit. The boys hiked for about an hour to warmup, then ran the last 0.9 miles to the summit in a hard effort. On the summit we met up with Garrott Kuzzy and Catherine Collins (former MWSC skier and Middlebury), who came up from the Huntington side.

Monday we were back at the Range for classic rollerskiing with a lot of technique work. After skiing without poles, we worked on balance and coordination on the grass, and a few bounding drills up a grassy hill. The main part of the workout were 45″ striders — short intervals at an intensity like a 10 or 15km race pace (not too hard, just good skiing).

On Tuesday, 5 MNC athletes went back to the Range to train with the J2 National Camp (45 of the best 15-16 year olds in the country!). Coaches and athletes are here from AK, MN, ID, MT, CO, etc. Molly, Amy, Casey, Ethan and Craig were able to do a workout that was supervised by US Ski Team coach Bryan Fish and lots of other amazing coaches. Ben Hegman was participating in the camp, so it was nice to see him, too.

Yesterday we did our first double-pole test of the year on Greystone Road in Richmond. I’ll have another post about that with pictures.

Alissa Stone working on the “scooter” drill

Atop Camel’s Hump (8/4)

Charlie Maitland no-poles. (8/6)

Destyni (8/6)

Amy, Emma, Molly & Alice – l to r  (8/6)

Lucy and Claire (8/6)

Awesome views towards Mansfield. Garrott heading down. (8/6)

Henry Harmeyer rocking the tele-turns (8/6)

Amy Bruce and BMA Coach Kate Barton at the J2 camp (8/7)

Ben Hegman at the J2 camp (8/7)

Casey Silke got a great workout along with the best J2’s! (8/7)

Craig Calhoun (r) and Gavin McEwan. J2 camp (8/7)

Ethan John liftoff (8/7)

US Ski Team coach Bryan Fish explains the workout (8/7)

Molly, Amy and other J2 gals listen

Molly (r) running up a steep climb (8/7)

Lukas working the balance (8/6)

Will Solow and Jordan leading a train (8/6)

Ethan, Bill, Henry and Coach Eli Enman (8/6)

Coach Erin Mallory, Amy, Emma and Leslie (8/6)

Claire knew where the camera was! (8/6)

BOunding on skis. Biathlon camp in background. (8/6)

More bounding, with other MNC groups in background (8/6)

Upcoming events for the whole family!

• Saturday (8/4) = Camel’s Hump hike. Bring a friend / bring the family. We will begin at 9am from the Duxbury side (Monroe Trail).  Younger kids and parents can start ahead of the group and we’ll get a huge photo at the summit!
• Saturday (8/11) = Barbecue / potluck and swimming in Lake Champlain at Ethan/Liam John’s camp in Milton. The athletes will do a rollerski and parents can run or ride bikes. After the workout, the Johns have graciously offered to host a BBQ at their place (Everest Road, Milton VT).  Please RSVP to Monica John (vtjohns [at] comcast [dot] net). Training is from 9-11am, so the BBQ will start around 11:30am.

Pictures from the past several days:

Swimming after the bonus training in Jeffersonville

Amy, Coach Erin Mallory and Mollie Larson finishing at 1:50 rollerski

Mollie with the mountains in the background

Long trail run at Sleepy Hollow on Wednesday. Nathanael and Henry.

Cookies and blondies from my Mom!!!  Mmmmmm

Sienna and Callie discussing college

Halfway through a long run – still a few smiles

Sam Longenbach got a nice 30km rollerski on Tuesday! View towards Smugg’s.