It is “Championship Season” and MNC athletes and alums are all over the map racing hard. Here’s a bit of a rundown of recent happening, a look toward upcoming competitions, and links for it all…
Kazakhstan
Virginia returned last night from an awesome couple weeks in Kazakhstan for the IBU Youth World Championships.
Virginia had some of the best ski speed of the whole field, and was the top American in both individual races. Her awesome Sprint Race finish of 16th (with only one miss each in prone and standing) helped earn her a nomination to the US Biathlon Team as part of their Junior National Team!
This was a really strong trip for Virginia, and a great learning opportunity as her first international biathlon competition. However given the travel and scheduling, it meant that she had to decline her spot at Junior Nationals, an event which she was primed to do very well in given her super consistent and strong Eastern Cup season (which culminated in an overall podium in the 10km classic at Dublin).
This wasn’t an easy decision, and while it’s simple to sarcastically think “oh, woe is me, I’d love to be in a position to have to pick one sweet championship over another!” that doesn’t make it less heart-wrenching. Anyone who puts their heart and soul into training and racing, as Virignia does, is bound to feel sadness about missing a championship they qualified for. Keep in mind that there’s levels to everything!
You can catch full video relays, results, and more for all of Virginia’s races at the official IBU website.
Fairbanks, AK
Speaking of Junior Nationals, they kicked off yesterday with a squeaky-cold classic 7.5km race for all competitors. I am super proud of all 5 MNC athletes competing in these races, and Coach Sara is also out in AK as one of the wax techs. This is my first year not attending a JNs trip since 2016, so I was fully geared-up with the livestream on television in front of me and the laptop with live timing pulled up on the table alongside!
It was a good one to watch splits for, as earlier-seeded Gillian Fairfax just looked to have some quick first few splits.
“This could be going really well here…” I thought to myself (and texted to several other coaches and friends). And that was maybe a the understatement of the day. Gillian ended her day in 7th place for All-American honors and an incredible start to the race week!
L-R Gillian (7th), Beth (9th), Mirra (8th)
This result teaches a lot of lessons in just 7.5 kilometers:
First-off, Gillian was the LAST skier to make the New England team. She had a great opener in the first Eastern Cup, but was sick for the big points-haul races in Rumford and not at 100% for the third Eastern Cup, where she experienced the unfortunate Rosie Brennan situation of a binding and ski coming totally off in a fall during the mass start.
That meant she entered the final EC weekend, and really even the very last race, with all the chips on the table to get that last spot on the team, which she got by basically ONE point.
If you read today’s other post about skier development, you’ll note my metaphor of New England being the Scandinavia of America, and Vermont being the Norway within that. Well, just like the fact that Norwegians you haven’t heard of can pull in top-10 World Cup results, the same can be said for New England skiers at Junior Nationals. From being the last women’s U18 skier named to the team on objective rankings, Gillian was the TOP U18 women’s skier for New England yesterday. How can this be? I have one main theory:
Gillian had a lot of pressure to make this team. Whether that’s healthy or not (and what we can do as coaches and teammates and leaders to change that) is a full blog post itself. But suffice to say, once the team was made, the big pressure was off. In some communication the night before the race it was clear Gillian was going into this race with a positive attitude and lots of excitement for the course, conditions, and experience. Her only the expectation was to give it her all, not achieve a certain result.
But what about the other races and racers? There’s lots more to come! Gillian, Niko, Rye, Emma, and Julia all race again today (Tuesday) in a skate sprint, and again Thursday in a freestyle mass start. Here are some links:
Nordic Insights Viewing Guide with lots of info and links
Official Website (note startlists and more on a static menu at the very top)
Lake Placid
March Madness came to Lake Placid last week, and MNC fans had some reasons to cheer! Many would recognize some familiar names like Greg Burt, Quincy Massey-Bierman, and Ava Thurston who were all competing for their college teams (UVM, Midd, and Dartmouth, respectively).
Ava finished a stellar 10th in the 5km freestyle, but the 20km classic was one to watch as she dueled with the mighty Utah team and hung on for an incredible 7th place finish. Don’t forget, this is Ava’s freshman year!
Greg had likely one of the best races of his life in 21st for the classic race, while Quincy notched a top-30 in her first NCAAs in that same mass start.
You can find lots of detailed results on everyone’s favorite race hub: Bullitt Timing!
Rikert/Fort Kent
The Eastern HS Championships just wrapped up in Ripton, and the U16 Championships are headed to Fort Kent, ME on Thursday. MNC has great representation at both events, and you can check out results and timing below.
Vermont took the team win at Easterns, but NH was close behind and skiing quite strong! This was a very tight championship compared to previous years, which shows the growing depth of New England skiing.
Thunder Bay
Although not as far away as Kazakhstan, Anders is currently in Thunder Bay, ON competing at the Canadian National Championships. With dual citizenship, this is a cool way to check out the next level of racing in our neighboring country (although it appears a big contingent of midwest skiers are also in attendance!).
You can find details and race info on the timing site Zone4 here!
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