Author Archive | Adam Terko

Emma Page wrote a great piece for NENSA about her JN’s experience. It is linked here directly to the NENSA site, or you can take a look below!

Emma and her grandmother in MN!

I moved to New England two years ago and I am so grateful that I did. My experiences with New England racing and training have been amazing. This year, I went to all the eastern cups and met many wonderful people there who made me feel like I was a part of a tight knit and welcoming community of hardworking athletes, coaches, organizers, and parents. After traveling to Junior Nationals, I feel even more a part of this great group of people.

Out in Minnesota I definitely had my ups and downs. I had a few races that did not go as I had hoped, and yet, I was still able to enjoy my time. I believe that this is all due to the uplifting group of people around me. We all tried to communicate with each other on how our races went. If a race went well, we all congratulated and celebrated with that person. If a race did not go as planned, we worked together to lift that person up and help them get back to having fun. After a few tough races for me, I was revamped by the teamwork of the super fun relay races. One of my best races and most fun races ever was the relay and I heard from many other people that they share the same attitude towards that day of racing. The fact that the relay was so great for so many people on team New England shows that we are not only strong individuals but a strong and uplifting team.

This great attitude continued through the fun activities we did as a whole team or as an age group outside of skiing. I had tons of fun playing tag in our afternoon mobility, receiving some snow balls to the face, showing off my terrible bowling skills, and emptying the shelves at trader joe’s of all peanut butter and chocolate milk. I also can’t remember another time that I voluntarily sat in the hallway of a hotel for hours. During our free time, I really enjoyed resting in the hall and hanging out with my new friends. We spent so much time just talking and getting to know each other. It was awesome to meet people from all over New England and the world, with Elsa and Maddie from Sweden and Australia, who I had raced with in the past but had never had full conversations with.

Another uplifting routine we got into was the team meetings every night. Everything from sharing thoughts of the day at our U18 girls meetings to the awesome speeches/ pep-talks from our team leaders. Jack Lange truly made me remember how much this team cares about each other and our success as a whole group. I am really going to miss the fun times we had at JN’s and am looking forward to seeing everyone at the end of the season races, camps, and next race season.

I think that the immense success that team New England had is all thanks to the amazing coaches, wax techs, organizers, and team mates that we had out there. As a team, we not only succeeded in winning the coveted Alaska Cup but we showed other teams what real team spirit looks like! Thank you so much to everyone who supported team New England and let’s keep the cup for many years to come!

What a whirlwind week at Junior Nationals. Things went very well for MNC and Team New England! I have been impressed by MNC skiers all year, and this race week proved no different. That’s not just accounting for on-track performances and race efforts…this is a group that supports and cares for one another in big ways.

The highlights on paper are numerous…and certainly something to celebrate:

• Ava swept all of the races, the first athlete to do so since Jessie Diggins in 2011
• Ava and Hattie shared the podium in the 5km skate race, with 1st and 3rd
• Anders finished 5th in the classic sprint, for another MNC All-American
• MNC alum Julia Oliver was All-American in the classic sprint as well
• Julia Thurston scored a 10th in the classic mass start, making it FOUR individual All-American skiers from MNC!
• Ava and Hattie teamed up with SMS skiers Fin and Jack to WIN the mixed relay for New England

And overall, the team scoring says a lot…MNC was the 3rd best women’s team in the nation, and 6th overall. Following the sweep of all four Eastern Cup weekends, MNC was also the top team from New England in the club rankings.

BUT there is far more than just ski racing to be proud of with this group. JNs is a busy week with a lot of ownership placed on athletes. It is interesting to see what kind of traits this brings out each year, and I came home from this trip so humbled by our collection of skiers and teammates.

Not every race was amazing for every MNC skier, and that’s ok.

Some of our skiers grew about 3 years older in the course of a week, it seemed. From struggling through pre- and post-race anxiety, to handling target events that didn’t go as planned, there seemed to be a friend and teammate waiting in the wings to jump in for support. Coaches and wax techs are present, but the business of this week for all the adults involved lends itself to self-discovery for all the athletes involved. I can’t say enough positive things about how MNC athletes and alums took time to look after one another through the good AND tough moments. Nothing could make me more proud as a coach, even amidst a week full of banner performances and medals.

MNC has come a long way, but we are always striving to reach new heights!

All results

Junior Nationals continued yesterday with a classic sprint, and New England extended their lead in the Alaska Cup (the award for top region) by a big margin with some great performances. MNC played a role with some more standout performances, showing the depth of our program and our competitive abilities in any distance and technique!

The first big highlight for MNC was Anders skiing to a 3rd place in the U16 men’s qualifier, and following it up with some dominant heat performances to work his way up to the A-final with Quarry Road skier and NE teammate Ellis Slover. After a tough start which saw Anders and Ellis at the back of the pack near the top of the course, they both skied aggressive and powerfully back into the stadium to climb to 3rd (Ellis) and 5th (Anders) to mark an amazing race!

L-R Tabor (7th), Ellis (3rd), Anders (5th)…strong U16 boys gang!

Ava topped the women’s qualifier, and skied away from all of her heats to take her 2nd national title in as many races. Also qualifying for the heats were Hattie and Virginia, who scored top-30 finishes thanks to some battles in the quarterfinals.

The course featured two challenging climbs, icy tracks (perfect for New England) and some rolling mountain bike-style bumps on the descent back into the stadium.

Special shoutout to MNC alum Julia Oliver who had an All-American (top 10) performance in the U20 classic sprint! But the day featured many more racers and age classes.

In the U16 girls race, Julia Thurston pumped some motivating music, focused on getting herself in the best headspace for racing, and totally crusher her qualifier. She got caught up in a crash on the big climb and missed advancing to the semis, but hearing about all of these heats reminds me of how much of a learning experience this all is. Going head-to-head against the other regions can make Eastern Cups seem pretty relaxing…something about knowing all your competitors versus being in a totally unknown situation. There’s a LOT to be learned at a championship event, from racing itself to the prep and physical/mental aspects away from the race trail.

All the results can be found on Superior Timing.

Racing continues tomorrow (Friday) with mass start classic races and relays on Saturday. Be sure to follow along with all the action!