Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CSU Jrs. Sweep Both Podiums at Mass. State Meet!
CSU swept both the boys and girls podiums for the first time at the state high school meet today, a skate race held at Notchview Reservation. Mt. Greylock took back the boys team state championship, wrested away from them last year by Lincoln-Sudbury and also took the girls team championships yet again, as they were just too deep a team for the eastern high schools. CSU had a great day, taking 7 of the top 10 spots and 11 of the top 20 for the boys and 5 of the top 10 and 9 of the top 20 for girls.
Corey Stock, who has owned the top spot during her tenure, took home the top prize once again followed by Olivia Meyerson and Hannah Smith with Julia Schiantarelli in 8th and Catherine Benson in 10th. For the boys, Eli Hoenig kept the top prize in the family, following brother Isaac's three victories, taking first, followed by Rion O'Grady and Chris Burnham with Neil Garrison in 5th, Calvin Wight in 6th, Tom Rummel in 8th and Greg Holdman in 9th.
Congratulations to all 30 CSU skiers!!
Results can be found HERE
Corey Stock, who has owned the top spot during her tenure, took home the top prize once again followed by Olivia Meyerson and Hannah Smith with Julia Schiantarelli in 8th and Catherine Benson in 10th. For the boys, Eli Hoenig kept the top prize in the family, following brother Isaac's three victories, taking first, followed by Rion O'Grady and Chris Burnham with Neil Garrison in 5th, Calvin Wight in 6th, Tom Rummel in 8th and Greg Holdman in 9th.
Congratulations to all 30 CSU skiers!!
Results can be found HERE
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Evelyn Dong's Boulder Mt Tour Report
Grabbed this from a TOKO eblast. Evelyn is a former CSU junior who has been skiing ever since. She won this year's Boulder Mt. Tour. Some good discussion of race prep and listening to your wax sponsor!!
Evelyn Dong (formerly of CSU and Middlebury) leaving a pack of elite wave men behind on a gradual downhill
Field Report from the Winner - Boulder MT Tour
The 2011 Boulder Mountain Tour was my fifth year doing this race, which I can hardly believe. 2007 was my first BMT and I'd like to say that I've come a long way in experience. Although, sometimes I feel like I'm right back at where I started. Winning in 2007 came as a surprise - I had done only one 30 km before that in my life and that race was more of a tour, not a race. This year, I came to the start line with a few more marathon races under my belt. I also came to the start line on time... which was a first for me. I can't say I have everything figured out about race prep but I've learned a few things along the way and it helped me out before this year's Boulder.
I started testing skis one hour before the start. Before a longer race like the Boulder, I don't need too much of a warmup but I also still need time to test skis AND get a decent warmup in. Testing was simple because I kept it simple. I waxed two pairs of skis the same way, starting with a Toko HF Blue underlayer and the same top coat. Waxing two pairs of skis differently may work for some people but I need to have as little to think about as possible on race morning. So, I preferred not to complicate things. My stiffer ski was clearly faster so I took those off and continued my warmup on my softer pair.
I've learned from this race that there is little opportunity to cool down skiing so I packed my race bag with running shoes so that I could throw those on at the finish and jog. After placing my bag, which also had my recovery food in it and a dry shirt, at the right sign, I made it to the start with time to spare.
And then, we were off! When the gun goes off, I try to forget everything else except the race. I don't think about if my skis are slower or faster than the girls' next to me, how much I was able to sleep the night before, if I had a good enough warmup, or anything else that I won't be able to change at that moment. Even if everything didn't perfectly leading up to the race, I pretend that it did. I think about my plan for the race and adapt that to how the race is playing out. And, I've realized that there is only so much you can control during the race - I have to trust all the work that I put in this summer and fall.
I can't deny that skis made a huge difference for the race. I received an email from Ian Harvey the night before the race in which he repeatedly emphasized importance of stiffer skis in these conditions. A synopsis of the email would go like this:
1. use stiffer skis
2. stiffer skis will be faster
3. you could use soft skis but they will be slow
4. therefore, use stiff skis
Needless to say, I was heavily influenced by this.
Just in case you thought I've matured as a ski racer and have everything lined up, I did manage to forget to bring a ski jacket to the start so I had to warmup in expedition-weight down jacket. If you saw someone looking uncomfortably hot and ready to strip down to their race suit, that was probably me.
Evelyn Dong (formerly of CSU and Middlebury) leaving a pack of elite wave men behind on a gradual downhill
Field Report from the Winner - Boulder MT Tour
The 2011 Boulder Mountain Tour was my fifth year doing this race, which I can hardly believe. 2007 was my first BMT and I'd like to say that I've come a long way in experience. Although, sometimes I feel like I'm right back at where I started. Winning in 2007 came as a surprise - I had done only one 30 km before that in my life and that race was more of a tour, not a race. This year, I came to the start line with a few more marathon races under my belt. I also came to the start line on time... which was a first for me. I can't say I have everything figured out about race prep but I've learned a few things along the way and it helped me out before this year's Boulder.
I started testing skis one hour before the start. Before a longer race like the Boulder, I don't need too much of a warmup but I also still need time to test skis AND get a decent warmup in. Testing was simple because I kept it simple. I waxed two pairs of skis the same way, starting with a Toko HF Blue underlayer and the same top coat. Waxing two pairs of skis differently may work for some people but I need to have as little to think about as possible on race morning. So, I preferred not to complicate things. My stiffer ski was clearly faster so I took those off and continued my warmup on my softer pair.
I've learned from this race that there is little opportunity to cool down skiing so I packed my race bag with running shoes so that I could throw those on at the finish and jog. After placing my bag, which also had my recovery food in it and a dry shirt, at the right sign, I made it to the start with time to spare.
And then, we were off! When the gun goes off, I try to forget everything else except the race. I don't think about if my skis are slower or faster than the girls' next to me, how much I was able to sleep the night before, if I had a good enough warmup, or anything else that I won't be able to change at that moment. Even if everything didn't perfectly leading up to the race, I pretend that it did. I think about my plan for the race and adapt that to how the race is playing out. And, I've realized that there is only so much you can control during the race - I have to trust all the work that I put in this summer and fall.
I can't deny that skis made a huge difference for the race. I received an email from Ian Harvey the night before the race in which he repeatedly emphasized importance of stiffer skis in these conditions. A synopsis of the email would go like this:
1. use stiffer skis
2. stiffer skis will be faster
3. you could use soft skis but they will be slow
4. therefore, use stiff skis
Needless to say, I was heavily influenced by this.
Just in case you thought I've matured as a ski racer and have everything lined up, I did manage to forget to bring a ski jacket to the start so I had to warmup in expedition-weight down jacket. If you saw someone looking uncomfortably hot and ready to strip down to their race suit, that was probably me.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Mass Classic Qualifier
Almost the entire CSU Jr team headed out to Williamstown on Saturday, bright and early, for the second qualifying race to determine the J2 and Eastern High School Championships teams. The format this year for the classic race was decidedly less than ideal because the Berkshire League had to squeeze in their final league race at the same time. This was necessitated because the normal date for this race conflicted with the Weston JOQ race. MIAA rules required that the Berkshire race had to be entirely separate, so the eastern Mass kids raced after the Berkshire league boys and girls raced and not with them. I think the biggest problem came for the eastern Mass girls race because now the course had had three prior races and the corners were all scraped off to an icy crust and there were a number of falls. However, the final team selection was probably not affected much. Hopefully, next year we can be back to a completely separate Mass Qualifier race. Combined times from the skate qualfier and classic qualifier determine the finish order for determining who makes the J2 and EHS teams.
CSU did very well, with 12 girls qualifying for the 24 spots on the EHS team, while 11 boys qualified. On the J2 side 8 boys qualified for the 20 spots and 10 girls qualified. This is easily the largest contingent CSU has sent to the championships. The team skied well and several of our newer skiers qualified too, a testiment to hard work during the summer, fall and winter!
Sorry, no photos. Too many skis to wax.....
CSU did very well, with 12 girls qualifying for the 24 spots on the EHS team, while 11 boys qualified. On the J2 side 8 boys qualified for the 20 spots and 10 girls qualified. This is easily the largest contingent CSU has sent to the championships. The team skied well and several of our newer skiers qualified too, a testiment to hard work during the summer, fall and winter!
Sorry, no photos. Too many skis to wax.....
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Typical Weston Evening at the Races
Terry McNatt says it so well:
Thanks Wes, Walter, Andy, Mark and the rest of the Tuesday night road crew for pulling it off in those conditions.
The race reminded me of some in years past on the refrozen snow/crust/goose poop/other.
First there was Ari spinning on the ice practicing his bboy break dance moves along with Andy raising high his broken pole and bellowing in angst.
Next we hit the bone chilling Fargo Flats scrambling for any available draft across the frozen tundra.
Midrace the gale broke loose a course barrel and sent it rolling Donkey Kong-like straight at Colin right in front of me. He didn't manage a Mario jump and took it broadside in the leg. Amazingly, he was able to shrug it off like a movie prop stunt barrel and continued on as if nothing happened.
Nearing the finish I proceeded to wipe out on a rut on the backside of the ice spine at the bottom of the inner loop by picking a bad line with rubbery legs and a too low tuck. I managed to drag myself across the line feeling the post-wipe out adrenaline plus post-race anaerobic buzz plus wind induced freezer burn face.
Who needs 6 Flags for thrills when we've got Weston every Tuesday?
Thanks Wes, Walter, Andy, Mark and the rest of the Tuesday night road crew for pulling it off in those conditions.
The race reminded me of some in years past on the refrozen snow/crust/goose poop/other.
First there was Ari spinning on the ice practicing his bboy break dance moves along with Andy raising high his broken pole and bellowing in angst.
Next we hit the bone chilling Fargo Flats scrambling for any available draft across the frozen tundra.
Midrace the gale broke loose a course barrel and sent it rolling Donkey Kong-like straight at Colin right in front of me. He didn't manage a Mario jump and took it broadside in the leg. Amazingly, he was able to shrug it off like a movie prop stunt barrel and continued on as if nothing happened.
Nearing the finish I proceeded to wipe out on a rut on the backside of the ice spine at the bottom of the inner loop by picking a bad line with rubbery legs and a too low tuck. I managed to drag myself across the line feeling the post-wipe out adrenaline plus post-race anaerobic buzz plus wind induced freezer burn face.
Who needs 6 Flags for thrills when we've got Weston every Tuesday?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)