Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Who is Still Skiing Locally?
Aims is still skiing, anyone else? Here is his secret little spot in Stow:
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
EHS Photos
Corey in the 5km skate race
Zoe - 5k skate
Chris - 5k skate
Julia - 5k skate
Blake - Sprint race
Hamish - 1st leg of relay
Nadja - 2nd leg of relay
Eli stalking his prey in the relay
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Eastern High School Championships
The Massachusetts team and CSU skiers soared to new heights this weekend at the Eastern High School Championships, held up in Rumford, Maine. Rumford actually had snow, which is more than could be said for US Nationals, held in the same location back in January and with lots of March sunshine and some good klister waxing, if I do say so myself, Massachusetts came home in second place!! Graham Taylor, team leader and the man who started EHS back in the mid 1980s, said it was the best Mass finish since 1991.
The weekend started on Friday with a skate race on a one loop course. It was 65F when I arrived in Rumford earlier in the day and while probably not that warm by the time the races were held at 3 and 4pm, nevertheless the courses were very soft and mushy and not easy to skate on. The Mass team didn't fair too well in the opening race, finishing 4th on the day, but several CSUers still had some excellent performances with Chris Burnham in 9th, Eli Hoenig in 10th, Tommy Rummel 20 and Neil Garrison 21 on the boy's side and Corey Stock in 3rd place, Olivia Meyerson in 9th, Nadja Kern 13 and Zoe Snow 24. That night the waxing crew went to work to rewax and reflouro multitudes of skate skis and to get the relay classic skis ready. Sleep? Who needs it!
Saturday morning dawned with light snow falling on a rock hard track. Rob and I were happy we weren't klister waxing for the sprint, which was a skate race this year. Things softened up a bit by the time the race started. The sprint course was not too hard, with a long flat section, one big hill and then downhill and flat to the finish. The J2 course last weekend at Gunstock is a much harder sprint course. Hamish McEwen roared back from a subpar performance on Friday to snag first place in the sprint by over 1 second, followed by Eli in 3rd, Tommy in 10th, Neil in 15th, Chris Burnham in 24th and Rion O'Grady in 29th. In fact, the Mass boys did so well that they were 1st in the sprint race!! On the girl's side the race went almost as well with Corey Stock taking a commanding win by almost 6 seconds!! Zoe Snow finished 8th, Olivia Meyerson 11th, Nadja Kern 22nd and Hannah Smith 34th.
After a few hours to rest midday while the wax team dialed in the kick wax for the relay in the ever sunnier conditions the relay teams were ready to rock. On the first classic leg was Hamish McEwen who's job was to get out and establish a position near the front. We were all a bit worried as Maine's Tom Rabone took off and gapped the field quite handily by 50 seconds. Was the goal of winning for the 4th year gone on leg one? It sure looked that way. Hamish handed off to Olivia Meyerson in a group with 2 Vermont girls and behind Maine's big lead. Olivia hung tough as the Vermont girls pulled. Slowly the gap to the Maine girl in first was cut down and by the end of the leg Olivia and the Vermont girls were about 8 seconds back Eli now took over and stalked the Vermont skier after they dumped Maine, who just couldn't hang with the tough pace. The gap closed and as they came down the hill to the stadium it was clear that Eli was going to have a shot at handing off in first. We couldn't see the exchange from the wax area but moments later Corey Stock came charging under the bridge with what was already an insurmountable lead! Corey then proceeded to lengthen the lead for the rest of the leg and for the 4th year in a row the Mass team come home in first, with a decisive 53 second lead over Vermont. While the battle at the front was exciting, Mass teams 2, 3 and 4 were also battling well and with the best relay results I can remember finished in 4th, 6th and 16th. In fact, Mass's first 3 teams were home before any other state's 2nd team finished. Quite a show indeed!
In the evening everyone headed off to the banquet, which seemed more of a snack. Rob and I stopped at Sam's on the way back to wax skis to get a sandwich. We hoped that the kids gots seconds because if they didn't they were going to be hungry.
Sunday dawned with a bright sky and cold temps that promised to rise rapidly. As Rob and I started fiddling with klister combos with additional wax testing by Jim Stock, Liz Kantack, and Bob Burnham, we were informed that the start would be delayed by 1 hour since the groomer had broken down. This would allow the temps to creep up by the time the girl's race would start to dangerously slushy territory. An additional 15 minute delay for the boys caused more consternation as we had started applying our klister stew of Viola., Multiviola and Silver to the boys skis. It better work! Well, not to worry. As the race started and the boys rocketed down the first fast downhill, it was obvious that Eli's skis were FAST and he climbed the first hill just fine. This would be fun to watch. The boys disappeared from sight and when they reappeared Eli was stalking Tom Rabone once again. As they came down the final hill Eli's skis seemed fast again and it would come down to a double pole battle. Now, if you've ever seen Eli double pole you'd know who to put your money on and sure enough, Eli gained a 0.7 sec victory by the line. Following Eli were a number of other excellent CSU performances including Hamish McEwen in 9th, Rion in 14th, Neil in 21st, Chris Burnham in 24th, Ian Meyer in 27th and Chris Koziel in 39th.
By the time the girls race started I was a bit nervous that the same wax job might be too slick for the rapidly warming track. However, watching Corey Stock motor up the first hill alleviated my worries. Corey skied with Heidi Halvorsen and Mary Kate Cirelli, both of Vermont. Corey's plan was to push over the top of High School Hill on lap two and see if she could drop the Vermonters. The plan worked well and Corey completely dropped both competitors and had a clear lead all the way to the line. CSU now had both top podium spots for the day!! Several other CSUers skied well with Ms. Consistency, Olivia Meyerson coming home 9th, Nadja Kern in 11th, Zoe Snow in 13th, Hannah Smith in 21st, Olivia Cannon in 36th and Rebecca Smith 41st.
The classic race put Team Massachusetts decisively into 2nd place and gave both Eli and Corey the all-around top spot on the podium with Olivia 5th, Zoe 10th and Nadja 11th for girls and Neil 14th, Chris 15th and Hamish 18th.
An excellent weekend of ski racing to close out the season, for sure!
Knock, knock, knocking on Vermont's door.........
The weekend started on Friday with a skate race on a one loop course. It was 65F when I arrived in Rumford earlier in the day and while probably not that warm by the time the races were held at 3 and 4pm, nevertheless the courses were very soft and mushy and not easy to skate on. The Mass team didn't fair too well in the opening race, finishing 4th on the day, but several CSUers still had some excellent performances with Chris Burnham in 9th, Eli Hoenig in 10th, Tommy Rummel 20 and Neil Garrison 21 on the boy's side and Corey Stock in 3rd place, Olivia Meyerson in 9th, Nadja Kern 13 and Zoe Snow 24. That night the waxing crew went to work to rewax and reflouro multitudes of skate skis and to get the relay classic skis ready. Sleep? Who needs it!
Saturday morning dawned with light snow falling on a rock hard track. Rob and I were happy we weren't klister waxing for the sprint, which was a skate race this year. Things softened up a bit by the time the race started. The sprint course was not too hard, with a long flat section, one big hill and then downhill and flat to the finish. The J2 course last weekend at Gunstock is a much harder sprint course. Hamish McEwen roared back from a subpar performance on Friday to snag first place in the sprint by over 1 second, followed by Eli in 3rd, Tommy in 10th, Neil in 15th, Chris Burnham in 24th and Rion O'Grady in 29th. In fact, the Mass boys did so well that they were 1st in the sprint race!! On the girl's side the race went almost as well with Corey Stock taking a commanding win by almost 6 seconds!! Zoe Snow finished 8th, Olivia Meyerson 11th, Nadja Kern 22nd and Hannah Smith 34th.
After a few hours to rest midday while the wax team dialed in the kick wax for the relay in the ever sunnier conditions the relay teams were ready to rock. On the first classic leg was Hamish McEwen who's job was to get out and establish a position near the front. We were all a bit worried as Maine's Tom Rabone took off and gapped the field quite handily by 50 seconds. Was the goal of winning for the 4th year gone on leg one? It sure looked that way. Hamish handed off to Olivia Meyerson in a group with 2 Vermont girls and behind Maine's big lead. Olivia hung tough as the Vermont girls pulled. Slowly the gap to the Maine girl in first was cut down and by the end of the leg Olivia and the Vermont girls were about 8 seconds back Eli now took over and stalked the Vermont skier after they dumped Maine, who just couldn't hang with the tough pace. The gap closed and as they came down the hill to the stadium it was clear that Eli was going to have a shot at handing off in first. We couldn't see the exchange from the wax area but moments later Corey Stock came charging under the bridge with what was already an insurmountable lead! Corey then proceeded to lengthen the lead for the rest of the leg and for the 4th year in a row the Mass team come home in first, with a decisive 53 second lead over Vermont. While the battle at the front was exciting, Mass teams 2, 3 and 4 were also battling well and with the best relay results I can remember finished in 4th, 6th and 16th. In fact, Mass's first 3 teams were home before any other state's 2nd team finished. Quite a show indeed!
In the evening everyone headed off to the banquet, which seemed more of a snack. Rob and I stopped at Sam's on the way back to wax skis to get a sandwich. We hoped that the kids gots seconds because if they didn't they were going to be hungry.
Sunday dawned with a bright sky and cold temps that promised to rise rapidly. As Rob and I started fiddling with klister combos with additional wax testing by Jim Stock, Liz Kantack, and Bob Burnham, we were informed that the start would be delayed by 1 hour since the groomer had broken down. This would allow the temps to creep up by the time the girl's race would start to dangerously slushy territory. An additional 15 minute delay for the boys caused more consternation as we had started applying our klister stew of Viola., Multiviola and Silver to the boys skis. It better work! Well, not to worry. As the race started and the boys rocketed down the first fast downhill, it was obvious that Eli's skis were FAST and he climbed the first hill just fine. This would be fun to watch. The boys disappeared from sight and when they reappeared Eli was stalking Tom Rabone once again. As they came down the final hill Eli's skis seemed fast again and it would come down to a double pole battle. Now, if you've ever seen Eli double pole you'd know who to put your money on and sure enough, Eli gained a 0.7 sec victory by the line. Following Eli were a number of other excellent CSU performances including Hamish McEwen in 9th, Rion in 14th, Neil in 21st, Chris Burnham in 24th, Ian Meyer in 27th and Chris Koziel in 39th.
By the time the girls race started I was a bit nervous that the same wax job might be too slick for the rapidly warming track. However, watching Corey Stock motor up the first hill alleviated my worries. Corey skied with Heidi Halvorsen and Mary Kate Cirelli, both of Vermont. Corey's plan was to push over the top of High School Hill on lap two and see if she could drop the Vermonters. The plan worked well and Corey completely dropped both competitors and had a clear lead all the way to the line. CSU now had both top podium spots for the day!! Several other CSUers skied well with Ms. Consistency, Olivia Meyerson coming home 9th, Nadja Kern in 11th, Zoe Snow in 13th, Hannah Smith in 21st, Olivia Cannon in 36th and Rebecca Smith 41st.
The classic race put Team Massachusetts decisively into 2nd place and gave both Eli and Corey the all-around top spot on the podium with Olivia 5th, Zoe 10th and Nadja 11th for girls and Neil 14th, Chris 15th and Hamish 18th.
An excellent weekend of ski racing to close out the season, for sure!
Knock, knock, knocking on Vermont's door.........
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
J2 Photos
Here are a few photos from the J2 Championships last weekend:
John in the relay
Sean leading leg 3 of the relay
Max
Rafi
Rebecca at start of sprint
Olivia
Rosie
Emily
Clara
Sunday, March 13, 2011
J2 Recap
Today at J2s was the relay. I didn't think we had a chance at a podium today given the depth of the other New England teams, but I'm happy to say the Mass team had other plans in store and team #1 got on the podium in 2nd! Boys skied the scramble classic leg and Alex White, from Mt. Greylock HS got off to an excellent start, coming up the big hill in second followed closely by teammate Sean Houston. Maine was in first and a NH team was in the mix. Alex tagged off to Rebecca Smith and Sean tagged Josie Marshall from Lenox. Rebecca and Josie charged the big hill hard, putting the Maine girl in trouble and at the top of the hill, where it flattened out Rebecca really put the hurt on Maine and forged a sizable lead with Josie maintaining contact not far behind. Rebecca tagged Sean Skahen in 1st and Josie tagged Max LaChance for the 1st skate leg. Sean, as he had all weekend, looked like a warrier on a mission as he kept NH and Maine boys at bay, finally tagging Charlotte Cole. Max also skied an excellent leg, tagging off to Julia Schiantarelli. Charlotte, however, was now being hunted by Shannon Nadeau of NH, winner of the skate sprint and 2nd in the classic race and Tara Humphries of Maine, winner of the 5km skate race. Charlotte, who skied very consistently all weekend held off the hard charging NH team on lap one, but finally ran into a problem on lap two when both she and Shannon were passing a slower team (the skate legs were 2 laps of the sprint course) and Shannon was able to gap Charlotte just enough to keep the lead when Charlotte got caught behind the girl's big snowplow on a corner. Charlotte charged hard all the way to the finish to take the silver while Maine was left in arrears taking the bronze. Julia skied strongly on the 2nd team to bring them home in 5th before the onslaught of Vermont teams. The first two Mass teams finished before any other state's first two teams, so an excellent result and better than we've done in years to my knowledge. I was very happy with how well the everyone skied on the relay and to have two Mass teams leading the race for much of the race was an unexpected and exciting pleasure!
The J2 festival started on Friday afternoon with the 5km skate races, which fortunately didn't start until after the rains finished. The weather was not great, foggy and wet. A number of skiers seemed to have trouble with the heavy, wet snow and there were a number of crashes, so not the best day for Team Massachusetts. Notable performances were Sean Skahen's excellent 7th place, Max LaChance's 10th, Charlotte Cole's 9th, Olivia Cannon's 14th and Julia Schiantarelli's 22nd.
Saturday morning was the 5km classic race. The course had iced up overnight and so it took a while to soften up enough to feel confident we had the right wax selected. We went with Toko Orange with some silver on top under the foot. In the boys race Alex White set the tone, banging out a nice 4th place. Alex was followed by Sean in 13th, Max LaChance in 16th and Rafi Razzaque in 37th. Nick Reitman fell on the final corner coming in to the stadium, but bounced up to take it home with one pole in 49th. Rounding out the CSU contingent were John McDaniel 57, Jacob Meyerson 72 and Max Godbey 88. On the girls side this was the race Rebecca Smith had been waiting for since last year's J2 festival and she went out to take control. In a very close race, Rebecca finished in 3rd, 1 second behind 2nd and only 4 seconds off the winner. Rebecca's big smile lit up the Mass wax area after that effort! Charlotte, again skiing very strongly, finished a solid 10th followed by Julia in 20th and Olivia in 22nd, Clara Cousins in 48th, Rosie Cob in 66th, Meg Yoder 76, Kaela Cote-Stemmerman 87 and Emily Ryan 90.
After a magnificent lunch table at the tent organized by Sara Cobb and provided by all the parents to fuel the troops came the skate sprint race. By now the course had gotten very soft and the corn snow very deep. This would be a slog of a sprint on a tough, twisty turny course with one big, tricky downhill corner that would claim several victims. In the boys race once again Sean Skahen blasted around the course to claim an excellent 8th place, followed by Max 14, Rafi 36, Nick 40, Jacob 60, John 81 and Max G in 83rd.
As for the girls, Charlotte led the charge, this time in 9th with Rebecca close behind in 11, Julia 23, Clara 43, Olivia 46, Rosie 71, Emily 78, Kaela 82 and Meg 88.
CSU was definitely a force to reckon with at J2s, both on the course and socially! All the skiers seemed to have a great time, pick themselves up from less than perfect races or falls, cheering each other on heartily and I suspect recruiting some new members. All in all another great J2 festival!
The J2 festival started on Friday afternoon with the 5km skate races, which fortunately didn't start until after the rains finished. The weather was not great, foggy and wet. A number of skiers seemed to have trouble with the heavy, wet snow and there were a number of crashes, so not the best day for Team Massachusetts. Notable performances were Sean Skahen's excellent 7th place, Max LaChance's 10th, Charlotte Cole's 9th, Olivia Cannon's 14th and Julia Schiantarelli's 22nd.
Saturday morning was the 5km classic race. The course had iced up overnight and so it took a while to soften up enough to feel confident we had the right wax selected. We went with Toko Orange with some silver on top under the foot. In the boys race Alex White set the tone, banging out a nice 4th place. Alex was followed by Sean in 13th, Max LaChance in 16th and Rafi Razzaque in 37th. Nick Reitman fell on the final corner coming in to the stadium, but bounced up to take it home with one pole in 49th. Rounding out the CSU contingent were John McDaniel 57, Jacob Meyerson 72 and Max Godbey 88. On the girls side this was the race Rebecca Smith had been waiting for since last year's J2 festival and she went out to take control. In a very close race, Rebecca finished in 3rd, 1 second behind 2nd and only 4 seconds off the winner. Rebecca's big smile lit up the Mass wax area after that effort! Charlotte, again skiing very strongly, finished a solid 10th followed by Julia in 20th and Olivia in 22nd, Clara Cousins in 48th, Rosie Cob in 66th, Meg Yoder 76, Kaela Cote-Stemmerman 87 and Emily Ryan 90.
After a magnificent lunch table at the tent organized by Sara Cobb and provided by all the parents to fuel the troops came the skate sprint race. By now the course had gotten very soft and the corn snow very deep. This would be a slog of a sprint on a tough, twisty turny course with one big, tricky downhill corner that would claim several victims. In the boys race once again Sean Skahen blasted around the course to claim an excellent 8th place, followed by Max 14, Rafi 36, Nick 40, Jacob 60, John 81 and Max G in 83rd.
As for the girls, Charlotte led the charge, this time in 9th with Rebecca close behind in 11, Julia 23, Clara 43, Olivia 46, Rosie 71, Emily 78, Kaela 82 and Meg 88.
CSU was definitely a force to reckon with at J2s, both on the course and socially! All the skiers seemed to have a great time, pick themselves up from less than perfect races or falls, cheering each other on heartily and I suspect recruiting some new members. All in all another great J2 festival!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
J2s - Day 2
CSU had some excellent results at today's J2 festival. Here are a couple photos:
Rebecca getting after it in the classic race with her game face on at J2s where she nailed down a 3rd place podium finish in fine style!!
Sean, having a super weekend, beasting his way to an excellent 8th place finish in the sprint
Rebecca getting after it in the classic race with her game face on at J2s where she nailed down a 3rd place podium finish in fine style!!
Sean, having a super weekend, beasting his way to an excellent 8th place finish in the sprint
Friday, March 11, 2011
Foggy and Wet at J2s
Here is what it looked like at J2s today in the fog and misty. Fortunately the rain had stopped before the races. Charlotte on her way to a good finish in 9th place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)