Hi All,
Well,the MHS Ski season had a successful conclusion this past week in Fort Kent. I will attempt to get together with skiers who are interested in skiing in the next few weeks if the conditions permit. I expect those attending the NE J2 Festival will continue to ski and I will do my best to support any skiers interested .Another race coming up is the Qualifying Race for the New England HS Championships set for Gunstock,NH on 3-12 thru 3-14.The Maine Team will be chosen from a Pursuit Race at Sugarloaf on Saturday 2-27-10,the top twenty make the team.This is a great chance to extend the race season,I will see if I can get further information regarding race/wax support and pass it along.
Since my last report the Team attended the strangest race I have been part of at Yarmouth HS on 2-10-10.This race was necessary to meet a MPA rule regarding participation at the State Meet.YHS ski coach Bob Morse put together a fun race at the baseball field complete with tracks set for a classic sprint.It was clear no one was taking the race seriously, however everyone seemed to enjoy the unique venue.On Monday 2-15 it was off to Ft Kent and the wilds of Northern Maine. Jason and I drove the van followed by our wonderful support team of Jennifer and Susan as well as the Wu's who did advance work arriving on Sunday.Our trip north went by quickly and after one short stop we arrived in Ashland,the gateway to the North Maine Woods.We were looking for a local xc trail down a long dirt road when we spied a sign for XC Skiing.As we were only about two miles down the eight mile road we tried the alternate trails in a locals back yard .There was only 2-3k of skiing however the new packed powder made for excellent skiing.We met up with the lady of the house who owned the land and groomed the trail for a local middle school.She was delighted to see new folks skiing and made us feel right at home.Next it was on to our lodging at the Fish River Lodge in Eagle Lake.We had three family cabins and a fourth for boys and the coach,despite the four boys in one bunk room it went very well,games,talk,then sleep.We were fortunate to have access to the main lodge for meals and some quality Olympic TV time from the sat TV,the Nordic skiing got everyone in the right frame of mind for Tuesday's Freestyle 5K races.
We were very lucky to have former Merriconeag Middle School racer and World Junior Competitor Adele Espy join us on the trip to Ft Kent and help out waxing and providing her expertise to the skiers before and during the race.Del was able to help us only because she was suffering from an injury preventing her from executing her plan of racing in high level races in Europe.We all wish Del speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back on the race course soon.
The girls race was first up on Tuesday afternoon. Given this was our first States Race I felt the Team would be more comfortable and perform best by not making a big deal about results or expectations. I was looking for effort first,however I did have the start times of the girls just to see how they were fairing during the race.Zoe had the luck to draw bib #1,so as she skied by me at 4.5 k I clicked the split on my watch and compared the following skiers.When one of the top racers went by I noticed her time was less than 50 sec ahead of Zoe.As others went by,none were as close and Emelie and Teagen looked to be in good shape as well.As it turned out Zoe was 2nd,Emelie 4th and Teagan 7th.For the boys, Juan had a great race and ended up in the top ten at #8,followed by Ben in 16th,Jack,Phineas and Brian followed closely .Wednesday was an off day and we spent the morning classic skiing and testing wax,in the afternoon the kids did a clinic on biathlon and then a visit to down town Ft Kent.Del and I along with Jason and Keelyn did a marathon wax job,cleaning then waxing eight pair of skis,with out their help this would have been next to impossible.
Thursday was an early start for the 5K classic race and we were challenged with difficult wax conditions, 32 degrees and light snow. After trying a few different concoctions we found a combo that almost worked and the girls rushed to the start. I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would get by on the wax we went with.This time Zoe started in the favorable spot of 30 seconds behind the Tuesday race winner,as she passed by I had her ahead and she was in fact able to finish ahead to be the State Class C Classic Champion. Following close behind were Teagan and Emelie who finished in 4th and 6th place to complete an very strong team effort.
By the boy's start the course was further glazed and the temperature had warmed making the wax even more of an issue.Ben started off with a strong group of racers in close proximity,Ben skied with guts however his recent sickness conspired to prevent him from skiing at his season long top level.Juan in his first Classic 5 k skied a strong race followed by Jack,Phin and Brian.It was heartening to see the great effort all the boy's put in to their races.At the awards we were all shocked that despite only three girls that they were scored and finished in the State Runner up position.The boy's were a very respectable six place and can look forward to climbing the results sheet in the future.Both the boy's and girl's represented their school with distinction and should feel good about their efforts. A special thanks to the parents who supported the team all year without them the season would not have been possible.
John
Well,the MHS Ski season had a successful conclusion this past week in Fort Kent. I will attempt to get together with skiers who are interested in skiing in the next few weeks if the conditions permit. I expect those attending the NE J2 Festival will continue to ski and I will do my best to support any skiers interested .Another race coming up is the Qualifying Race for the New England HS Championships set for Gunstock,NH on 3-12 thru 3-14.The Maine Team will be chosen from a Pursuit Race at Sugarloaf on Saturday 2-27-10,the top twenty make the team.This is a great chance to extend the race season,I will see if I can get further information regarding race/wax support and pass it along.
Since my last report the Team attended the strangest race I have been part of at Yarmouth HS on 2-10-10.This race was necessary to meet a MPA rule regarding participation at the State Meet.YHS ski coach Bob Morse put together a fun race at the baseball field complete with tracks set for a classic sprint.It was clear no one was taking the race seriously, however everyone seemed to enjoy the unique venue.On Monday 2-15 it was off to Ft Kent and the wilds of Northern Maine. Jason and I drove the van followed by our wonderful support team of Jennifer and Susan as well as the Wu's who did advance work arriving on Sunday.Our trip north went by quickly and after one short stop we arrived in Ashland,the gateway to the North Maine Woods.We were looking for a local xc trail down a long dirt road when we spied a sign for XC Skiing.As we were only about two miles down the eight mile road we tried the alternate trails in a locals back yard .There was only 2-3k of skiing however the new packed powder made for excellent skiing.We met up with the lady of the house who owned the land and groomed the trail for a local middle school.She was delighted to see new folks skiing and made us feel right at home.Next it was on to our lodging at the Fish River Lodge in Eagle Lake.We had three family cabins and a fourth for boys and the coach,despite the four boys in one bunk room it went very well,games,talk,then sleep.We were fortunate to have access to the main lodge for meals and some quality Olympic TV time from the sat TV,the Nordic skiing got everyone in the right frame of mind for Tuesday's Freestyle 5K races.
We were very lucky to have former Merriconeag Middle School racer and World Junior Competitor Adele Espy join us on the trip to Ft Kent and help out waxing and providing her expertise to the skiers before and during the race.Del was able to help us only because she was suffering from an injury preventing her from executing her plan of racing in high level races in Europe.We all wish Del speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her back on the race course soon.
The girls race was first up on Tuesday afternoon. Given this was our first States Race I felt the Team would be more comfortable and perform best by not making a big deal about results or expectations. I was looking for effort first,however I did have the start times of the girls just to see how they were fairing during the race.Zoe had the luck to draw bib #1,so as she skied by me at 4.5 k I clicked the split on my watch and compared the following skiers.When one of the top racers went by I noticed her time was less than 50 sec ahead of Zoe.As others went by,none were as close and Emelie and Teagen looked to be in good shape as well.As it turned out Zoe was 2nd,Emelie 4th and Teagan 7th.For the boys, Juan had a great race and ended up in the top ten at #8,followed by Ben in 16th,Jack,Phineas and Brian followed closely .Wednesday was an off day and we spent the morning classic skiing and testing wax,in the afternoon the kids did a clinic on biathlon and then a visit to down town Ft Kent.Del and I along with Jason and Keelyn did a marathon wax job,cleaning then waxing eight pair of skis,with out their help this would have been next to impossible.
Thursday was an early start for the 5K classic race and we were challenged with difficult wax conditions, 32 degrees and light snow. After trying a few different concoctions we found a combo that almost worked and the girls rushed to the start. I was keeping my fingers crossed that they would get by on the wax we went with.This time Zoe started in the favorable spot of 30 seconds behind the Tuesday race winner,as she passed by I had her ahead and she was in fact able to finish ahead to be the State Class C Classic Champion. Following close behind were Teagan and Emelie who finished in 4th and 6th place to complete an very strong team effort.
By the boy's start the course was further glazed and the temperature had warmed making the wax even more of an issue.Ben started off with a strong group of racers in close proximity,Ben skied with guts however his recent sickness conspired to prevent him from skiing at his season long top level.Juan in his first Classic 5 k skied a strong race followed by Jack,Phin and Brian.It was heartening to see the great effort all the boy's put in to their races.At the awards we were all shocked that despite only three girls that they were scored and finished in the State Runner up position.The boy's were a very respectable six place and can look forward to climbing the results sheet in the future.Both the boy's and girl's represented their school with distinction and should feel good about their efforts. A special thanks to the parents who supported the team all year without them the season would not have been possible.
John
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