LIbby Hill Recap and MLK race info

Hi,

Wednesday's race at Libby Hill continued the string of good fortune as we enjoyed another fine winter day,sun and cold tempertures.The 5 k skate race was the first visit to the G/NG race site for many of us and it is an impressive community facility.The Girls team was lead by a season best 3rd place by Zoe and a strong 7th by Teagan with Emelie skiing to a solid 15 despite suffering with a breathing issue .Because we only had three finishers the team is not listed in team results however as a three person team their total score would have placed them near the top.

In the Boys race Ben lead off and finished a very strong 8th while skiing with one of the states top male skiers for the first third of the race. The MST welcomed freshman Juan Mesones to the team this past week and in his first outing skated to an impressive 13th place followed closely by Jack Pierce in 15th place. Phineas continues to improve and was a solid 27 a little over a minute back of Juan and Jack. Tyler and Brian continued their trend of skiing at about the same pace with Tyler edging in front this time. Lief,returned to the team after a nasty bought of illness and rounded out the boys scoring.The boys team ended in fourth place and with in striking distance of third.

As you know Monday is MLK day and the race scheduled is a Classic mass start at Riverside Golf course in Portland. The start time is at 10:30 with the girls first. Jennifer Chace will be leaving Desert Rd. at 7:45 with a van. She will be in touch over the weekend to confirm drivers. If you are getting there on your own plan to be there no later than 9am as we will need to apply kick wax before the race. Please have skis waxed for glide and we will apply kick wax on site,remember to have kick zones cleaned and marked.

Thanks,

John

Info on Monday's race

Good Morning All,

Please let John know if you NOT racing on Monday. The race is a classic race and is being held in Portland at Deering. PLEASE LET HIM KNOW ASAP via email.

If there is a parent that could drive a van that would be helpful. It would cut down on the number of cars that might end up going. I will send out an email so you all can communicate about this amongst yourselves. I will make sure to leave keys if someone can drive.

Below is a note from the organizer.

The race will be + or – 8 km on undulating terrain (it is a golf course; there’s not much I can do).It will be mass start, girls first, double track all the way and plenty of space so skiers will spread out quickly. There will be a double pole zone and the race will be started at the drop of a hat at 10:30am. Each school will have a marked lane to start. The club house will be open for changing and we will have goodies for sale for the hungry crowd.

Telstar Recap and Twinbrook race results

Hi,

Saturday the MHS Ski Team traveled to Bethel to race in the Telstar Relays.This was possible due to the help of the parents who provided food, warm drinks, blankets and a special Birthday Cake for Zoe and Emelie...thanks especially to Jennifer,Jason and Carol for help in driving and supporting the kids racing.The day started with the boys relay,this year to keep the race sane there were two starts,as we only started one boys and girls team we lined up with the top teams in Maine in the first start, a second start followed five minuets later. Ben started well keeping just off the leaders pace,unfortunately he was "rudely" thrown to a ditch at a tight section and lost valuable time recovering ,next Phinaes took the tag and skied an impressive leg, so fast that Brian and I missed his turn to the tag zone costing more valuable time. Brian took the final handoff and skied the anchor leg in impressive fashion. He was over heard claiming the monster hills Ben reported to be not so hard, not sure the girls believed this claim.The boys ended up 34 out of 70+ teams not bad considering the lost time due to bad luck.

The individual mass start race followed ,Tyler was the loan MHS skier and skied to a very solid 15 place out of 50 starters,again he to seemed unfazed by the hills. Next up the girls relay, this race had the most vocal group of spectators made up of parents, family, friends, and racers who had finished their day. Zoe lined up with a very fast group of girls and kept the team in the race in tenth position. Emelie skied the second leg and like Ben had a mishap,she had bad course directions and skied a short way of the course before being turned around,despite the lost time she skied a respectable leg. Teagan took the anchor leg, she passed a few skiers despite being run into and brought the girls to a very impressive 11 place out of 52 teams.

All in all a successful day of racing, the only real disappointment is not one of the team members was able to bring home the coveted Telstar Tights...next year. This weeks race on Wednesday is still listed on the MHSS web site as at Pineland or Libby Hill,5k Freestyle. I will get a clarification asap. Please reply if YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO RACE.

The final results (with times) are posted at school. Unfortunately, I can not copy them into this blog due to the way they have been created. For some reason the times will not print out.

John

Telstar Relay Race Saturday 1/9

Tomorrow is the Telstar race at Telstar High School in Bethel. John is driving a van and will be leaving Desert Road at 7:30. If you are getting a ride with John please make sure to be at the school at 7:15 to load up.

I know many of you are waiting for the results of Wednesday's race. The preliminary results are in but they do not include any times. I have posted the results at school and when they are final you can find them on the mainehighschoolskiing.com website under results.

For those of you heading to the race tomorrow have a great time!

Race Recap

Hi All,

As most of you know the MHS Ski Team raced their first race this season. A Hugh THANK YOU to Greta for stepping in to help organize the Transportation. In hind site I way underestimated this challenge.... Trust me we will get better with the organizing!

As to the race, yesterday was a perfect winter day at a great race site with tons of spectators. For true sports fans, forget the NFL, come watch these High School athelets compete and show us what competition should be. The race started with the Girls 5K freestyle, MHS started out with Zoe, followed by Emelie and Teagan. For three freshman it was impressive given the mass start and tight racing to see the girls give their all. Zoe finished among the top girls followed by Teagan and Emelie who had the misfortune to get tangled up with another skier at least once.

For boys Ben lead off followed by Phineas,Jack,Brian and Tyler. Despite recent illness Ben skied a great race and was not far from the front pack. Jack had a good outing as well given a fall(s) and losing a pole grip. Phineas after a year in the far south got a chance to stretch h is ski legs for the first time in a longtime and was solid. Brian and Tyler rounded out the team and had a chance to test themselves in HS Skiing for the first time.For Brian it was clear he has the determination to compete and for Tyler he was able to make the switch from Basketball to skiing with no problem. You can expect to see all the kids become more comfortable as the season goes on. Again thanks to the parents who stopped by to watch. We are looking forward to the Telstar Relay Race on Saturday and I will report on this later. Oh...the results at ski races are not always immediately available at the completion of the race. The Maine High School Skiing web site will be posting results.
Thanks

John T

Twinbrook Race today

Hello to all,

We are going to be posting all HS ski team information on this blog. We will send out weekly reminders to check for updated information.

Today's race is at Twinbrook - skate. Girls race starts at 3:30 and boys at 3:50. Sarah Pierce will be driving along with one of the vans. For today, Greta will driving the van. The van will be returning to Desert Road around 4:45 pm.

Below is the list of races for the season. If you are looking for additional information you can always check the www.mainehighschoolskiing.com website. Under schedules we are the WMC Nordic (Western Maine conference).

John has to submit race rosters a few days in advance of each race. If you are NOT going to race make sure to speak with Coach Tarling directly to let him know. All team members are expected to come to the weekday races to either race or cheer on their team mates. If you are not racing please make sure to dress warmly!

1-6-10 3:30 @ Pineland Freestyle 5k Race (Wed)
1-9-10 10:00 @ Telstar HS (Bethel) Relay Race (Sat) 9:00 registration

1-13-10 3:30 @ Pineland 5k Classic Race (Wed)

1-18-09 10:30 @ Riverside 5k Classic Race (Mon)

1-27-09 3:30 @ Twinbrook 5k Classic Race
1-30-10 @ Black Mt (Rumford) Sassi 5k Classic

2-16-10 @ Ft Kent State Championship

2-18-10 @ Ft Kent State Championship

We are going to need 2 drivers for the 1-27 race. One person can drive a school van and one a car. Please let Greta know if you can drive. We are fortunate to have very few races that are not at Pineland which keeps the need for drivers at a minimum. For the weekend races, the vans are available if there are parents that would like to drive. John will post further about the Telstar race this Saturday.

enjoy the snow!