Tag Archives | BKL Race

MNC Skiathlon!

Wow! We had over 180 racers ski in the MNC Skiathlon this past weekend! Many of the usual Masters New England racers were joined by college racers from Williams, Middlebury and St. Lawrence University, junior skiers from MNC, Stratton Mt. and GMVS, and even Reese Hanneman, 2016 US National Champion and Olympian just back from PyeongChang! In the BKL event we had over 100 racers from MNC, Craftsbury, Frost Mt., Ford Sayer, Stratton Mt., Onion River and a few others. Quite a turn-out!

Mother Nature blessed us with a bit of new snow earlier in the week and temps hovered around freezing on Sunday, making for great conditions out on the course. The groomers at Craftsbury did an awesome job grooming and helping Rick Costanza set up the course and transition zone.

Peter Kling heads out at the start to the classic leg.

In the men’s race, GMVS coach Peter Kling finished first by a secure 11 seconds over Middlebury College skier Lewis Nottonson. Olympian Reese Hanneman was third.

Hallie Grossman leads out the women’s field.

The women’s race was won by Craftsbury Green Team Biathlete Hallie Grossman, followed by Ford Sayer’s Elissa Bradley and St. Lawrence University skier Lucy Hochschartner. MNC had a number of Masters’ age group podium winners. Jim Fredericks, Joanne Hanowski, and Coach Jen Carlson all won their age classes, while Coach Tom Thurston and Kort Logenbach took seconds and Jim Addison and Andy Bishop were awarded thirds. Great job MNC Masters!

MNC Junior Kai Richter double poles up most of the start hill.

We had a number of MNC juniors who did the race, using it as a tune-up for Easterns and or Biathlon Nationals. Rose Clayton and Lily Porth were third and fifth in the U-18 class, while Marika Massey-Bierman was second in the U-20 class. Baxter Bishop and Kai Richter were second and third in the U-18 race with Dakota Amblo, Brook Hodgeman, Sammy Leo and Charles Martell rounding out the field.

The afternoon BKL Races began with the Lollipop race. A few lollipoppers also skied in the Grade 1/2 race which was 1km of classic only. Anna Brilhart was MNC’s only 1/2 racer and she did a great job today.

Anna Brillhart

3/4 girls

Many of our MNC 1/2’s raced up in the 3/4 race! This is double their normal race distance, so hat’s off go to Riley, Hayden, Astrid, Hazel and Sylvie who all gave themselves quite a challenge by racing with the older kids! The 3/4 girl’s race was won by MNC’s Pippa Diller, followed closely by Kate Carlson who was second. Riley Morigeau had an unfortunate fall just before the finish line. She quickly picked herself up and got to the finish line just a hair before Tessa Diller and they finished fourth and fifth, but it really looked like a tie. In addition to Hayden, Cole Shullenberger also skied the boys 3/4 race. He finished third. Great job to all our 3/4 skiers!

Start of the 5/6 girls race.

MNC skiers Adleigh Frankie, Mia Diller, Finley Barker, Julia Thurston and Virginia Cobb all skied the girls’ 5/6 race and did a great job in the transition zone and out on course. Virginia and Ford Sayer’s Sara Gluek have been trading wins back and forth all season and this race was no exception. Sara came into the transition zone first after the classic leg, but Virginia had a quicker transition and headed out in first on the skate leg first. Sara caught her on Dino hill and held on to the lead for the win, while Virginia finished in second. Julia Thurston also had a good race and finished fifth.

Start of the 5/6 boys race. Niko’s skis stuck and he went down. He still managed a fourth place!

Brady Morigeau, Niko Cuneo, Taylor Carlson, Carl Priganc and Callum MacCurtain all skied the boys 5/6 race. The 5/6 Craftsbury boys dominated this race, but the MNC boys put in some respectable results finishing 4th (Niko), 6th (Taylor), 7th (Brady), 9th (Carl) and 13th (Callum).

Girls 7/8 start. Pony tails flying!

We had lots of girls in the 7/8 race: Ava Thurston, Esther Cuneo, Greta Kilburn, Carly Trapeni, Hattie Barker, Maise Frankie and Rachel Porth. They all did a great job racing today amidst a fast field of girls. Today was a great day for Esther Cuneo. She dominated the classic leg, had a good transition and went on in the skate leg to win the race. Ava Thurston finished second. Greta Kilburn also had an amazing race and finished fourth. Jordon Shullenberger and Rye MacCurtain were our only MNC boys in the large field of 7/8 skiers. Great job skiing boys!

Lastly, thanks so much to Christine Massey-Bierman, Rick Costanza, Max Cobb and all our other volunteers & coaches. We can’t have a race without the help of so many, so thank you all for all your hard work!

For full results: Race Results

For more photos: Dave Priganc’s Album

For more photos: MNC Flikr

BKL Practices Week of 3/12

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 12 March, 2018 in BKL Training Schedule

2 & 3 Day Programs

•We have changed out end of season party to Tuesday the 20th! With all this new snow, we should be good to ski through next week at the Range.

Tuesday: CLASSIC! Distance classic ski! It’s supposed to snow today with a high near 31. With all the new snow, we should be able to ski some trails we haven’t skied in a while so we will do our best to ski them all! As always, please check the website before you go, just in case they close the road to the Range.

Thursday: SKATE: Game Day! We’ll play stones!

3-Day Skiers & Open to all BKL Kids & Families:

Saturday: Ski from Highland Lodge to Craftsbury: a 25km scenic ski.

Details:

Shuttle leaves Craftsbury at 9:30 am. We all need to arrive by 9 AM (an early morning, I know!) to get waxed, ready and to buy our shuttle tickets.

Shuttle tickets: $5 at the touring center

Weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 23. Northwest wind around 10 mph. (from www.weather.gov) Sounds perfect!

Technique: Looks like a great day for classic and it’s a great trail for classic, but it’s also groomed for skate.

What to bring: Carry a small backpack or fanny pack with water, snacks, extra wax and enough room to carry a layer if you shed your clothes.

Distance: It’s about 25km. If you have a younger child who may not go all the way, you could leave a car in the village of Craftsbury (it would be about 10 km shorter).

Let me know who is in for this! Email: sheacobb19@gmail.com I would like to let Craftsbury know how many skiers we will have for the shuttle so they can plan for the right number of vans. Thanks!

-Rosemary

Friday Foxes:

New snow at the Range. Skiing should be great! This will be our last ski day.

Rental Return Times: Tuesday (March 20) or Thursday (March 22) at the Range between 5:15 and 6 pm with Rosemary. If those times don’t work, please contact Rosemary at sheacobb19@gmail.com to arrange another time.

MNC Skiathlon BKL Virtual Meeting

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 8 March, 2018 in BKL Training Schedule

Wax:

Skate skis: Hot wax with Toko Yellow & Toko Red, mixed 1:1. LF or CH, no high fluros allowed.

Classic Skis: Clean all wax & klister off your kick zone. Hot wax tips and tails the same as skate skis.

Coaches Tom, Luke and Eric Barker will be helping kids wax.

Arrival:

General rule of thumb is to arrive 90 minutes before your race if your skis need to be waxed for classic. When you arrive, first find the MNC tent, check in with coaches and drop off your classic skis to be waxed. Then go to registration (white tent, upper soccer field) and get your bib number. Registration opens at noon.

Course Previews:

Coaches will be on hand to preview the course with you.

Grades 1/2- will preview the course at about 12:15 with Coach Kristina or a parent.

Grades 3/4- will preview the course at about 12:45 with Coach Emilie

Grades 5 & 6- will preview the course at 1 pm with Coach Eden

Grades 7 & 8 will preview the course at 1 pm with Coach Terence.

Transition Zone:

You will put your skate skis in the transition zone about 15 minutes before you go to the starting line. Coaches will be there to help you stage them. If you are changing poles too, leave your skate poles with your skis. (You must change your skis, but you don’t have to change your poles).

Awards:

After all the races in the white tent. Everyone gets a ribbon and is entered into our raffle for prizes from SkiRack, Toko, Rossignol, Bobo & US Biathlon. It’s traditional for the Host Club (that’s us!) to provide snacks so please bring something to share!

Race Schedule:

12:00 Registration Open

1:00 Lollipop

1:15 Grades 1/2

1:45 Grades 3/4

2:15 Grades 5/6

2:45 Grades 7/8

Questions?

Email Coach Rosemary: sheacobb19@gmail.com

Coach Rosemary is Race Director, so she’ll be around that day!

BKL Practices, Week of 3/05/18

By Rosemary Shea-Cobb on 4 March, 2018 in BKL Training Schedule

2 & 3 Day Programs:

It’s Skiathlon Week for BKL! The MNC Skiathlon is on Sunday, March 11 and we are all going to practice for it this week. A Skiathlon is a race where you ski one loop classic, change skis, then ski one loop skate. Distances are adjusted for the different BKL age groups. Bring both sets of skis on Tuesday & Thursday. A few more things:

Register for the Skiathlon & get info here: SKIREG Proceeds from this race benefit the MNC Scholarship Fund.
Please check the website before you leave on Tuesday, in case we need to cancel due to not enough snow at the Range to ski on. Snow is forecasted for Wednesday- Skiing should be better for us on Thursday.

TUESDAY: CLASSIC & SKATE. We will all practice transitions for the duathlon, so bring both skate and classic gear. We won’t wax for classic today, we will primarily skate and just double pole on our classic skis to practice our transitions.

THURSDAY: CLASSIC & SKATE. More duathlon practice (we all need practice getting our equipment on and off anyways!). We will try to classic on hardwax today and anyone racing on Sunday can stop a little early so that you can clean your skis.

3 Day Skiers & Everyone

SUNDAY: MNC DUATHLON! BKL Registration opens 12-1:00 (white tent), Race starts at 1:00 PM with the Lollipop race. Coaches will be on site to help wax and preview the course (look for the MNC tent). Please bring cookies or snacks to share at the end of the race!

Friday Foxes:

Skiing at the Range on Friday.

Everyone invited to the MNC Skiathlon on Sunday. Skiing is great at Craftsbury! Lollipop race (Kindergarten and under) is free, Grades 1&2 race is classic only.