Archive | Junior Blog

For the first time in a long time there were no big races this weekend. Everyone has stepped back to catch their breath after a rapid-fire January and start to February. For some Juniors this meant resting, and for others it meant putting in some volume in order to stay fast at the end-of-season championship races.

We got in some doublepole work on Thursday with the Devo Group, many of whom are looking ahead to next year when they’ll be full-fledged Juniors!

Everyone made some rapid progress on their double-pole, as we worked with both hills and flats. Before we started the video and speeds, we watched this clip of the racers who double poled the 10km classic Eastern Cup last weekend:

A key thing to watch for? Some MNC skiers tried a little too hard to “force” certain body positions these older skiers demonstrated…namely, the feet falling behind the body with each cycle (observe Henry Harmyer at :20 sec in, for example). It’s important to understand that this motion/position is a result of other strong technical elements like forward hips and powerful core engagement, and not an element of technique in itself but part of the bigger picture.

This is not dissimilar from “standing up on the toes” during a flat double pole. Many young racers see Andy Newell or Petter Northug in this position and immediately emulate it while double poling at any speed or intensity. In reality, strong skiers are not just standing on their toes but pulling their heels up from the momentum and force of their whole body surging forward. Always important to understand and play with the cause/effect of every aspect of technique!

The big story this week was the COLD. The wind chill was -41 Saturday night! It was a quick trip back to the chilly days of last season I was reminded the value of three key parts to warm skiing:

1. a buff
2. a vest
3. overboots

Take note! Just those three items make a BIG difference when the wind and cold strike fierce. The toughest of the tough were out to put in the work, though, like Chloe and Peter who saddled up for a pre-qualifiers TT to get ready for Easterns Qualifiers next weekend:

The only photo I got before the camera froze! Negative temps doesn’t mean negative training

Those qualifiers will be the big target for many MNC Pugs after a few local HS races midweek. The championship season is surprisingly right around the corner! We will be heading all over the region and the country, reresenting the club with fast skiing! At the Junior National level, Greg has recently set up a crowdfunding campaign for his trip to Wisconsin…This season Greg has taken a big step forward in his racing and, more importantly, his quality and serious approach to training. If you are interested in helping him fund his trip to Junior Nationals please click THIS LINK.

Stay warm everyone!

The Eastern Cup series went by fast and furious this season. The 4th weekend was moved to Craftsbury after rain and warm temps continued to thwart any sense of winter this season. Another amazing job was done by everyone at the Outdoor Center. I always say that “Craftsbury is the future of the sport” but more and more it seems like Craftsbury is both the future AND the present. So many thanks go to them!

The weekend started off with a high note, as Greg WON the very first race of the day. It was a close-fought battle with Ben Ogden from SMS but in the end Greg prevailed by just under 2 seconds. This is a shot from the classic race the next day where Greg placed third. Great form and momentum ripping up the final hill toward the finish.

Yes…this is a photo from the classic race, not the skate victory. It’s just too great a shot not to post! (by Gary Solow)

The rest of the U16 boys continued their strong racing. In Lake Placid we set a goal of having 3 in the top 10 and narrowly missed it with a 2nd, 9th and 11th. This time the crew succeeded with Greg 1st, Kai in 9th and Tim in 10th. Baxter was not far behind in 15th.

Kai getting after it in the skate race

Baxter ripping around the corner with confidence

Tim loves hills but even on this flat course he showed his strong fitness in 10th

The final U16 rankings show 4 male Pugs in the top 15. SMS is the only other group with that depth in this category. In the women’s U16 field, MNC has a big crew of racers ready to make the leap into those standings next season! The Devo group of Ali, Magda, Sammie and Camille each raced their first Eastern Cups this weekend to get their feet wet (or cold, I guess) in the scene. They had a blast and you’ll see mor e of them next season. Ali, Sammie and Magda will be U16 racers next year, while Camille is still a 7th grader…whoa!

Sammie takes on the Eastern Cup field for the first time!

Having a group to ski with (and support) you definitely makes it more fun! When the girls weren’t racing they were cheering on each other loudly!

The longer races were combined again with a collegiate and Supertour field. Lots of confusing results, deep fields and fast racers all over. When all the dust settled the results were again strong for MNC. Eliza got back into racing after sickness left her out in Lake Placid, while Charlie and Peter continued to show good form and better technique than ever.

Charlie found some fast skiers to rip with

Eliza was blazing on some fast new boards: thanks Leigh Mallory!

Ben hung tough and was rocking the glide on the V2-alternate sections…it’s well-known that Ben doesn’t like to V2 but it has been looking good when he does it!

Peter Unger, wondering just how many times he’s climbed the steep “Chip Hill” at Craftsbury this season

Sunday brought about a classic race in some classic East Coast conditions…granular corn and icy tracks, with new snow falling. We broke out the klister and hardwax covers and got everyone happy with the kick on the first try! Greg was on the podium again, while MNC summer training bud Conor Munns took his first Eastern Cup win! Conor and Greg have been training and racing together for a long time so having them each win a race this weekend was pretty special. Way to go boys!

Greg, Sam Hodges and Conor all racing together. These 3 are all headed to JNs! Greg and Conor are even with the same NENSA point average…138.23 vs 138.69

After watching the other Devo kids racing the day prior, Aidan got in on the action Sunday

The open races were huge…4 laps, 15-second intervals and fields of 200+ had things looking more like a mass start. A day before I predicted that the top 10 men would all be double poling without kick…Garrott Kuzzy seemed to doubt me but it came true! There was a lot of skate skis out on course…you can bet we will keep upping the ante with out DP workouts.

Will had another strong classic day to close out his Eastern Cup campaign, while Charlie skied smoother than ever. Marika again notched a top classic event as well.

Here is Will chasing Walker from GMVS. Another strong classic race for Will!

ALL RESULTS

ALL PHOTOS

We had a big support crew this weekend…Rick helped out at the wax bench, Sara was a great ski tester, Kate took lots of video (and made sure I remembered to eat food), and parents provided a wealth of goodies…alongside fuel from our new sponsor Bobo’s Oat Bars! We even had a big morale boost by the appearance of our team mascot Tyke on Sunday! Here are some other non-racing photos:

Loving the support from our newest sponsor, Bobo’s Oat Bars! Healthy, tasty and perfect for athletes!

Tyke ponders the various wax choices…

Magda gets the last-minute pep-talk from Coach!

Rick helping to make fast skis!

Camille makes a mean snowball!

The third weekend of Eastern Cup racing just finished up in Lake Placid, NY. It was a great showing featuring a brutally tough course, sunny warm weather and fast skiing.

First up is the congratulations to Greg for WINNING the U16 sprint event! Despite falling in his qualifier, Greg still advanced in 8th to the rounds where he rocketed to the front on the long downhill into the finish in both his semifinal and final heat. Greg stuck with the pack on the climb and was able to “slingshot” to a massive win! Here is some video from the last 400 meters, just before re-entering the stadium:

raw speed in the qualifier, coming off the sharp right turn

Greeeeg was not the only Pug having a great day on Saturday. We set a goal of three top-10 finishes and are still waiting on the “official” results to find out if Kai nabbed either 10th or 11th…both Kai and Timmy qualified for the heats as well, with Tim finishing 4th in his semi and Kai in 5th. Their first head-to-head sprint heats!

Kai catching his “15-second man” in the qualifier

Tim staying ahead of CSU in the semifinals

Just a few spots outside the heats was Baxter in 15th. In the open heats, most all were happy with their performances. Both Cobb boys were within the same second, Ben L was ripping the descent and Will was “hungry” and continues to pick up speed each weekend.

Baxter hammering the sprint

Saturday evening we walked up the road to dinner, and after our team meeting took a trip across the street to get after it with some cosmic bowling action. Baxter took the win and is still owed $1 by some team members at practice this week…

Ben and Baxter were definitely the most aggressive bowlers

The temps stayed warm overnight which meant the classic events were klister straight from the get-go on Sunday! Classic interval-start races were on tap, beginning with the U16 boys once again. Greg walked straight from the podium to the car on Saturday in order to make it back to VT for his winter ball, but otherwise all other Pugs were ready to rock.

Coach Sara and Coach Adam klistering furiously

Kai put down a negative split to go from 9th on his first lap up into 7th at the finish, while Baxter nearly matched him moving from 11th on his first lap to 8th place. Baxter’s previous best finish in the U16 Eastern Cups was 25th so to say this season has been an improvement is an understatement! Kai has become a top-10 regular and will find himself on the bubble for Junior Nationals heading into the final weekend in Stowe! Tim was not far behind in 14th.

The older Pugs were in the warmest and slushiest of tracks. Will topped his great classic race from Waterville with an even stronger race this weekend, 16th U18 in a tough field with a big last lap. Part of the success could be due to the reduced weight of going shirtless:

No-Shirt Solow

It was another well-paced distance effort from Charlie, who has made the most of injuries in the fall to come on strong this winter.

Passing and takin’ names

Both Ben L and Ben C skied strongly and showed that they are at the top of their game. After a strong Pursuit race last weekend for all the Pugs, the public high school duel between MMU and CVU particularly fierce…of course, I am rooting for all the athletes and wish them the best, but seeing this storyline play out makes things extra exciting!

CVU is probably still wishing they had Rachel on their side, but since graduating Rachel has only gotten faster! She looked phenomenal on the climbs today and had another top Eastern Cup result…those are becoming the norm! No photos of Rachel yet but Gary Solow (who took most all the photos here) snapped one of Marika in the qualifier Saturday. Marika had a killer classic race!

Marika in the skate race

The main Pug missing in action this weekend was Eliza, who was out sick upon arrival. Unfortunately according to Karen the only Lake Placid sightseeing she did was “the ceiling of the room” from the bed. With a little rest and recovery Eliza should be back in action for the final Eastern Cup of the season in Stowe next weekend. The races have flown by! Check out Adam’s Virtual Team Meeting HERE