Juniors,
It’s time for some meetings! The form below is a signup to meet and go over the past season, plans for 19/20, and more!
Junior Spring Athlete MeetingsZak and Club Cup Results
MNC’s racing ladies Katie, Ellie and Karen
A big thanks and congrats to all the many MNC Masters racers competing in the NENSA Zak and Club Cup events this season. With outstanding participation from our club and the help of our Masters Race leader Karen Alence, MNC placed second (last correction by NENSA) in overall Club Cup Standings standings, missing second place by a mere 50 points and within striking distance to the top of the podium.
Katie attacking Chip Hill at the Relays
In the individual Zak Cup competition MNC racers also shined especially in the Women’s categories with Katie Hill #2 M4, Ellie Bouffard #3 M5, and Joanne Hanowski #2 for M7.
In the Men’s competition Mike (aka Mic Drop) Miller captured the #1 place for the M1 age group. Mike put in a ton of hard work this past year, but also had a lot of fun and helped a lot of other skiers progress. Like so many other Masters in our club, Mike is a great example of how building community, friendship, giving back and just plain old love for skiing pays off It’s also worth noting as of a couple years ago he never even skied! Boom!
Hope to see more you out there. 2nd place is just a few race entires away!
World Cup Action
It was awesome to have the World Cup in our backyard this past weekend, as the FIS World Cup Finals came to Quebec City. Many MNC families, skiers, and friends got to be there to check it all out…and even receive some gifts from racers! Here’s a small collection of photos from a few Pugs:
Hanna was just a spectator…this time!
World Cup cityscape (photo from Hanna)
Jenny and Kai reunited in the city!
Jenny and Jessie
Jenny overlooking the river
Carly and Clare with KLAEBO!
UVM Fun Day!
An afternoon of fun in the sun with the UVM Ski Cats!
Ahh sunshine! We all relished in it last Tuesday when the UVM Cats came to ski with us! It was one of those perfect March ski days- not too warm, but sunny and just warm enough to soften things up a little so it wasn’t icy at all. MNC graduates Henry Harmeyer and Greg Burt were among the Cats who came to ski with us. Both these guys grew up skiing BKL with MNC and attended many UVM Fun Days as BKLers. What a great thing it was to see them sharing their enthusiasm and love for skiing! They and their team mates built an awesome Nordic Cross course with a little jump for us, played sharks and minnows with us and taught us a new game- Catch the Wolf! (We will be sure to add that one to our repertoire next year). Thanks so much UVM Nordic Ski Team and Head Coach Pat Weaver!
The Jack Rabbits pose with the Cats
Will Solow: 2019 Dave Quinn Award Winner
Congrats to longtime MNC skier Will Solow, who was honored at Junior Nationals with the 2019 Dave Quinn Award! This is ON TOP of an exceptional week of racing including All-American finishes in every race that capped off a stellar first season at Colby, where Will was consistently scoring top-30 finishes and helping the Mules to an excellent season. Read NENSA’s press release about Will below:
The Dave Quinn Award is awarded each year to one Junior National athlete. Each of the 10 divisions nominates one person, and then all 10 divisional cast one vote. The winner is announced at the final awards ceremony. This year, this honor was bestowed on one of New England’s own, Will Solow, of Heinsberg VT and currently a freshman at Colby College. The Dave Quinn Award recognizes that JN athlete who best exemplifies the ideals of the cross country sport that Dave Quinn expressed thought out his life. In addition to outstanding results, nominees should have special attributes such as love of the sport, leadership, overcoming hardship, worth ethic, etc. which make them unique.
Here is the lovely nomination presentation on Will Solow from his Colby assistant coach, and JN U20 mens coach, Jackson Bloch.
Good evening! I am so grateful to be given the chance to speak about tonight’s Dave Quinn Award recipient, Will Solow. In my one year coaching Will at Colby College, I learned as much about achieving excellence through character and happiness, as I may have ever previously understood. I don’t think Will knows this, though, and that is probably because these traits start with humility. Will never assumes his place in a situation, never takes his position for granted, and from this mindset springs unending gratitude for his opportunities. A grateful person, Will taught me, invests himself completely at every turn because he yearns to make the most of each chance. He doesn’t know when the next one is coming. And when you find yourself completely involved in the present with an uncompromising dedication to seizing the moment, you realize you are both closest to excellence and at your happiest. This is when magic happens. Will’s club coach told me that Will’s dedication to training and his balanced attitude led his team to choose him as captain his senior year, despite their coach never mentioning leadership or holding elections. They initiated it on their own out of respect for him. And after years of trying to make the Junior Nationals team in New England and following a post-graduate year in Sun Valley, Will finally is wearing the blue and green as a second year U20. He has four All-American finishes this week to reward his patience. As a first year student at Colby, Will, and I don’t know if I’m really allowed to say this… and I do know he’ll be upset with me when I do, had a perfect first semester academically.
What I haven’t said yet is that Will has dealt with degenerative hearing loss his whole life. He would never tell you that it affects him, but as his coach, at least, his roller skis seem doubly dangerous and I take extra care when we speak in order to communicate clearly. Like many individuals facing adversity on any scale, the adjustments Will has needed to make have thrown his opportunities into sharper relief, and he consistently uses this awareness to better himself and those around him. His perspective has made him an astonishingly selfless teammate. He has shared his belief that it is important to appreciate the value of skiing towards personal growth first, before considering the results. His dedicated, yet balanced approach, helped steady our team culture this year, which is no small burden for a first year to shoulder, whether he understood this role or not. And for me personally, Will’s integrity and drive is a consistent reminder to be grateful for the chance to squeeze the present for all it offers, regardless, or because of, what stands in the way.
L-R Conor Munns, Gus Schumacher, Will Solow. Men’s U20 Classic Sprint at JNs
