Mansfield Nordic Club

MNC and EABC athlete Virginia Cobb has qualified to represent the US at the International Biathlon Union’s Youth World Championships! Set to take place in Kazakhstan later this winter, this will be Virginia’s first international championship competition.

A 1st and 2nd place finish in the opening two race of the qualifiers (held in Anchorage, Alaska) sealed the deal, and this trip nomination also means that Virginia has auto-qualified for the 2023 US Ski and Snowboard Junior National Championships in Fairbanks this spring.

You can read a press release from the US Biathlon Association below:

Junior/Youth World Champs Press Release

A group of nine MNC Juniors are out in (or en route to) Houghton, Michigan for the US National Championships. The schedule of races can be seen below, and livestreams are available as well! You can find more information from US Ski and Snowboard below:

All races of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships will be LiveStreamed thanks to CXC and it’s passionate volunteer producers. The LiveStream will be free for all to watch thanks to partners: Visit Cook County – Minnesota, Hayward Lakes – Wisconsin , Visit Keweenaw – Michigan, and Michigan Technological University.

Schedule of Events
Jan 2 – Freestyle Interval Start Distance- 10km
Jan 4 – Classic Sprint
Jan 6 – Classic Mass Start Distance- 20km for U23, Senior, and Masters athletes, 10km for Junior Athletes
Jan 7 – Freestyle Sprint (SuperTour only- not a National Championship, also not included in qualification for World Junior Championships, U18 Nordic Nation’s Cup teams, or Youth Olympic Games)

This series of races serve a number of functions for U.S. Skiing: National Championships; SuperTours; Selection trials for World U23 Ski Championships, World Junior Ski  Championship, U18 Nordic Nations Cup Trip, and Youth Olympic Games. For collegiate skiers, the races are also NCAA Ski Championship Qualifiers (for some colleges, not all) and there is a college cup recognizing the top NCAA teams.

• The Individual Start race is typically the first race of the series, this year on January  2nd. The technique of this race alternates each year and is chosen to align with the upcoming World Junior/U23 Ski Championships. In past years men raced 15km and women raced 10km. This year, and for the future, all competitors will race 10km. In addition to being named the National Champions- the women’s winner of this race receives the Martha Rockwell Award and the men’s winner receives the Gale Cotton Burton Award given by the Burton family of Wayzata, MN in memory of their son. This race counts as a SuperTour, with the top 20 finishers earning twice the typical SuperTour points. This race counts toward qualification for the 2023 World Junior Ski Championships, 2023 World U23 Ski Championships, the 2023 U18 Nordic Nation’s Cup Trip, and the 2024 Youth Olympic Games. Qualification points lists for these events will be updated following each race and can be found HERE.
• The first sprint competition alternates techniques each year, mirroring the technique for upcoming World Junior/U23 Championships. This year January 4th will be the Classic Sprint National Championship. The top 30 athletes in the qualification go on to compete for the National Championship. The top 30 Junior athletes outside of the top 30 overall in qualification compete in the junior heats. The top 20 finishers in the final results earn double SuperTour points. The final result is scored toward qualification for all the same events as the Individual Start race. Note that U23s in the overall top 30 get ranked relative to other U23s, additional U23s get ranked according to qualification for the  U23 standings. Similarly, junior athletes in the top 30 overall also get ranked relative to other juniors for qualification points, but additional junior places for World Junior, U18, and YOG qualification utilize the final results from the Junior heats. We also maintain a World Championships Qualification list that counts sprint qualification only- so the top qualifiers earn points on this list (a tab along the bottom of the same sheet as the SuperTour points list). The 2 best sprint qualifiers from Period 1 and Period 2 SuperTours get counted, with the top qualifiers at Nationals earning bonus points relative to regular SuperTours.
• The 3rd National Championship of the week is the Mass Start competition, this year on January 6th. This race alternates technique each year as well, generally it is the same technique as the sprint, and the opposite technique as the Interval Start. In years past, men have raced 30km, women 20km, junior men 10km, and junior women 7.5km.  This year and for the future men and women will race 20km and junior men and women will race 10km. These distances align with the distances athletes will race at upcoming World Cups as well as World Junior, World U23, and World Championships. Note that this year’s World Championships in Planica, Slovenia will not race equal distances, but future World Championships and Olympics will. For World Ski Championship selection, the top 2 distance results from Period 1 and Period 2 SuperTour races are counted. This list also exists as a tab at the bottom of the SuperTour points list. The distance races at U.S. Nationals are awarded bonus points relative to other SuperTour races, so winning at nationals really helps a distance racer trying to qualify for the World Ski Championships! The World Junior Ski Championship team, U18 Nordic Nations Cup Team, and the Youth Olympic Games team are named based on results from the first 3 races at Nationals. The best 2 results of the 3 races are added together to determine rank.
• The final race of the series is a 2nd sprint in the opposite technique as the first sprint, this year a skate sprint on January 7th. This race does not serve as a National Championship, but it does count as a SuperTour, and for sprinters it still carries bonus points for SuperTour and World Ski Championships- so top qualifiers at U.S. National Championships have a leg up in trying to qualify for World Ski Championships.
• The total points earned in each of the races in Houghton get scored toward the Grand Champion scoring. Following the Spring National Championships (to be hosted in Craftsbury, VT in March 2023), the male competitor with the highest total score for all U.S. National Championship races wins the Mike Gallagher Award. The highest scoring woman in U.S. National Championships wins the Erik Judeen Award.
• After U.S. National Championships, the SuperTour will move to Cable, WI for a 30km Classic Mass Start in conjunction with the Seeley Hills Classic and a Classic Sprint. U.S. National Championships in Houghton and the following weekend in Cable constitute Period 2 of the SuperTour. The World Championship team will be named soon after the end of Period 2.

I don’t know if there’s ever going to be a way for a single email or note to reach all of the Juniors (despite our various social medias, email chains, Google Docs, etc) so this is at least one avenue for me to send a note of appreciation.

On Christmas Eve we held training at Sleepy Hollow, and despite the 8F temperatures and blustery wind, a pretty sizeable group of athletes showed up. It was really nice to see, and a great reminder that there’s motivation and excitement to get out on the trails no matter what mother nature is doing; some had been without power the whole night before on account of the storm, and plenty could’ve been at home in warmth dreaming of the holidays. But instead we were skiing!

We went inside to get warm and I was greeted with a large wrapped box on the lodge table. Opening gifts in front of a lot of people is pretty awkward and it certainly felt strange to do so right in the lodge, but there weren’t too many patrons or anything. Inside the box was an espresso machine…and I don’t mean a department store brand machine, or a portable version, or a pod device…I mean a legitimate espresso machine with all of the bells and whistles you’d expect from the highest quality caffeination stations of the world.

I couldn’t really believe it: I mean, I’d received coaching gifts in the past, but this went all the way back to a conversation a few of us had on hour 6 of a long hike in Utah over the summer. Many months later, this group of athletes had come together to pool their resources to get me a Christmas gift based on that chat.

This meant a whole lot, and I didn’t/still don’t know exactly what to say! I’m just very grateful to get to work with a really fun, energetic, and especially thoughtful group of people. I often end training camps, trips, race weekends, and seasons thinking of how much everyone (coaches included) have grown and learned over the course of a year. Over time all of these little lessons, adventures, races, camps, flights, drives, and meetings really add up to connections that make our team stronger beyond just the racecourse.

So, THANK YOU to all of the awesome athletes that got me such a nice gift, and here’s to a great 2023!

-Adam