What a time!
There were many MNC friends and family in attendance during the World Cup races in Minneapolis last weekend. It’s no surprise that when the highest level of international competition comes to US soil, the impact of club skiing comes out in full force.
MNC at the World Cup? Yup, that happened.
Racing in her first ever World Cup was MNC’s Ava Thurston, who took some time away from her studies and EISA racing at Dartmouth to compete against the world’s best. With a 40th place finish you could say it was a pretty amazing day! But if you ask just what made it amazing, I have a hunch that Ava or any other person in attendance would tell you it was all about the ATMOSPHERE.
This was the most spectacular Nordic ski event I have ever seen. I have watched some World Cup races in person before (in nearby Quebec). I have seen BKL Festival days with hundreds of kids all having their best days on skis. I’ve been at Eastern Cup and Supertour races with speakers and boomboxes blasting and flags waving. I’ve seen NCAA mass start days when the course was lined with drunken alpine skiers really bringing the party…
But absolutely NOTHING compares to what happened at Theodore Wirth Park on Saturday and Sunday. Crowds of 15,000 people lined an entire sprint course. Deafening roars told you, without needing to look, exactly where on course any American athlete was. For Sunday’s distance race, the US Ski Team took note of the chaos on Saturday and purchased a handful of dry-erase whiteboards to write out split information, because they now knew that any amount of yelling would not get through to the athletes, such was the fervor of the crowd.
This crowd made Junior Nationals feel like an off-season timetrial.
This noise made the F-35 jets in South Burlington sound like a Chevy Bolt.
This energy made Jonah Gorman’s pre-race caffeine shots feel like chamomile tea.
And what was I doing there? I was very grateful to be more than a spectator, and it once again ties back to the growth and impact this club has.
Despite being on the US Ski Team, the “funded” positions like wax techs are reserved for A-team and B-team athletes. When Ava made the start list, she (and all other non-top-team athletes) were notified that:
- You don’t get a wax tech, you have to bring your own
- You don’t get wax, or tools, or supplies, or test skis…you bring your own
- We can help out with what we’re using, but we aren’t going to wax your skis
Wax trailer squad
This whole World Cup thing has been on the radar for Ava for a bit now, and getting to experience the highest levels as a coach/tech is something that of course motivates me as well. This was new ground for both of us, but Ava and I were able to tackle it together in this case. If this World Cup had been in Europe, or overlapped with a bunch of racing back in New England, that might not have been the case, but everything just really came together nicely. I was able to join up with SMS T2 coach Perry Thomas, who has been to this type of rodeo before, and learn the ropes from a friend and fellow coach.
The two of us helped take care of skis for Alayna Sonnesyn (former UVM, now SMS T2), Will Koch (former SMS, now CU), Haley Brewster (UVM and MNC University), and Ava. It was kinda like the wax trailer having a special New England contingent!
I learned a lot, had a great time, and got to see how the highest levels operate. While I made a bunch of notes and shared them with our Eastern Cup waxing crew, it should be noted that nothing was crazy or unheard of…the processes and strategies and thought that goes into a World Cup waxing situation is very familiar to what we do here on a regular basis.
Of course, I was lucky to get out of the cabin and not only test skis, but occasionally (usually during the last race of each day, when ski duties were all taken care of) get out and watch the action. I bumped into MNC folks all over the place!
The awesome crowds of people cheering hammered-home just how much this sport means to so many people. That MNC and New England friends and family were big portions of the fanbase shows that the culture is just so damn strong.
And having so many athletes from the US race well (including Gus Schumacher WIN on Sunday) shows that we really are some of the best out there. And on top of that, many athletes with MNC ties, like Ava and Haley, had incredible World Cup debuts. In the skate race, Haley started one bib ahead of Heidi Weng from Norway. Not only did Haley hold her off until the last kilometer, she re-passed and outsprinted Weng to end up 25th on the day…incredible!
Haley Brewster (UVM/MNCU) vs Heidi Weng (NOR)
Skiers from within and adjacent to this club, Mansfield Nordic Club, can compete not only among the best in the US, but the best IN THE WORLD.
As if I needed any more reminders of what it means and feels like to be surrounded by passionate, hard-working, high-level athletes and support staff…we all rushed the podium after the final race and joined Jessie Diggins in celebrating more than podiums or points or placements, but the whole sport of Nordic skiing. That’s something to be proud of!
