Rocky Mountain Nordic (RMN) was second in the final tally of
points in the competition among the ten Nordic Divisions that are represented
at the Junior National Cross Country events.  RMN had never finished higher than fourth in
previous Junior Nationals for the Alaska Cup. 
RMN usually held a tight grip on fifth place. 

New England won by a large margin.  RMN was happy with second place.  RMN demonstrated strength in all four
competitions, the sprints, the mass start, the interval start, and the
relays.  RMN had did not win a gold medal
until the relays and then they won the J1 male class in a very exciting
race.  The team was made up of Cal
Deline, Christian Shanley, and Max Scrimgeour. 
A Gold Medal was also won in another exciting relay with the OJ male
class.  The team was Charlie Von Thaden,
Mike Vigers, and Tucker McCrerey.  The J1
female class of Mary O’Connell, Rachel Hampton, and Emily Larson also captured
a gold medal in another very exciting relay.

The sprint competition was the first event and RMN placed
second behind New England as a division and two points ahead of Mid West.  In past Junior Nationals the sprints have not
been a strong event of RMN.  The goal leading
into the sprints was to qualify 25 skiers to move on to the heats.  RMN qualified 31 skiers.

Rocky Mountain knows the course well at Soldier Hollow and
they enjoy skiing at a lower altitude. 
All the other divisions race at lower altitude and they were concerned
at skiing at a high altitude.  Rocky
Mountain actually went down to a lower altitude to race at Soldier Hollow.

Cully Brown from Durango had an emergency appendectomy two
weeks before the first race at the Junior National Championships.  He still managed to place 3^rd in
the sprints and 2^nd in the interval start classic race.   Cully likes the classic technique and he
demonstrated that he can go fast skiing classic.

Charlie Von Thaden, who has taken a Post Graduate year of
training and racing in Steamboat Springs, was the Rocky Mountain nominee for
the Dave Quinn Award.  Jesse Knori from
Sun Valley, Idaho was the eventual winner of this outstanding award.  It is quite an honor just to be nominated for
this very prestigious award.

The 15 coaches who represent seven different clubs worked
together to provide the support for the respective skiers.  In the races, a pair of race skis were
handled seven to eight different times getting skis prepared by cleaning and
waxing each pair for the competitions. 
In the interval race, there were three different split timing stations
giving information to skiers as to where they were in relationship to the
competitors.  Coaches now use their
IPhones to provide splits.  It is a lot
easier to use and quicker that the old style split timer that costs $700 to
$800.  I am a little bias, but I believe
the level of support Rocky skiers receive may have been a cut above other
divisions.  The Wax Techs, Dan Weiland,
Eric Pepper, Brian Tate, and Nick Brown were awesome as were the coaches, Josh
Smullin and Lenka Palnova  who spent a
lot of time testing the wax.

Rocky Mountain Nordic took 48 skiers, 15 coaches to the JNs
in Soldier Hollow, Utah March 3 – 11, 2012. 
It was a fun week and we used a lot of sun screen.

]]> http://www.rmnordic.org/?feed=rss2&p=650 0 http://www.rmnordic.org/?p=637 http://www.rmnordic.org/?p=637#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:52:38 +0000 melliott http://www.rmnordic.org/?p=637 Read more »]]> Dan Weiland, Nordic Program Director at Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, sent an email to RMN Clubs stating, “Unfortunately
due to low snow and lack of interest from many of the teams we have decided to
cancel the RMN Junior Championships. Hopefully next year we can get some
momentum and make this happen!” ]]> http://www.rmnordic.org/?feed=rss2&p=637 0 http://www.rmnordic.org/?p=632 http://www.rmnordic.org/?p=632#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:03:13 +0000 melliott http://www.rmnordic.org/?p=632 Read more »]]>  

The 2012 Western Regional REG (Regional Elite Group) training camp is scheduled for Park City, Utah Sunday June 24, 2012 – Sunday July 1, 2012. June 24 is a travel day, but there will be a late afternoon run for 1.5 hours. Sunday July 1 is the departure day and there will be a one hour run in the early morning while we inspect the townhomes that we want to leave clean.

Below is the selection criteria for the REG.

1. Eligible skiers are as follows: Born in 1993 (First Year OJ), 1994, 1995 (J1 skiers), and 1996 (Second Year J2 skiers).

2. Top 12 females and top 12 males selected from the five western divisions, FW, HP, IM, PN, and RM. The results will be based on 50% Junior National results (best two out of three races), 50% USSA points. World cup scoring will be used for ranking skiers within the OJ – J1 classes in both the JN results and the USSA points. Then add the JN world cup points to the USSA world cup points to establish a final points list. In the case of ties we will use the USSA points to break the tie. If a skier in the top 12 male or female classes declines the invitation, then the next eligible skier on the list for that gender will be eligible.

Skiers who are a product of one of the five divisions and who did not compete in the Junior Nationals but who qualified for the NCAAs or who finished in the top 15 among all juniors in the USSA final points list will be eligible for the Western REG.

3. The goal is to have each of the western divisions be represented at REG. If one or more of the western divisions does not have a skier in the top 12 female or male results, then the first skier on the final points list from that respective division in each of the gender classes will be eligible for the Western REG. If either one of those top skiers declines the invitation to the REG then the invitation would go to the next best eligible skier regardless of gender from that respective division. The next best eligible skier will be determined by the best placing on their respective gender lists.

If a division is not able to have two skiers attend the REG following the process in number 3, then the quota will be filled by the next eligible skiers on the final rankings list.

4. Top three second year J2 females and males based on their J2 results at JNs (best two out of three races) and using world cup points. Eligible J2 skiers would be born in 1996. If one of these J2 skiers declines the invitation to the REG than no additional J2 skiers will be invited.

5. The goal is to have the Western REG be an elite cross country ski training camp for junior skiers and the size to not exceed 36 skiers. The goal is to have 30 skiers who were born in 1993, 1994, and 1995 attend the camp. If any of those skiers decline an invitation, the next skiers on the final result list will be invited in order to bring the camp to a size of 30 skiers in the J1 and first year OJ classes. Invitations to the REG will be sent out after the final USSA points list for the 2011 – 2012 winter season is disbursed. A target date should be April 20, 2012. Confirmation of acceptance of an invitation to the REG will be the registration form that must be received by no later than May 4, 2012.

6. Estimated cost per junior skier for the eight day camp will be $510 to $525 per skier.

GENERAL INFORMATION
________________________________________________________________________

Because this weekend includes several Supertour events, a HS/MS race, and Junior mass start races entries will be accepted as outlined below.

Registration- Saturday – 1.4km Supertour Sprint qualifier online only owlcreekchase.com
- 5km/10km Elite/citizens races online only owlcreekchase.com
- HS/MS 5km/3km entries to Karl Remsen leadville.nordic@gmail.com
-Non middle school (J3,J4,J5, J6) tmorse@teasmavsc.org

Sunday -Owl Creek Chase online only owlcreekchase.com
-Mass start Junior racers tmorse@teasmavsc.org

Registration Deadline- Monday February 6th 5:00pm

Entry Fees – Saturday HS age(OJ,J1,J2) $15 MS age & younger (J3 down) $12
- Sunday OJ,J1,J2 $25 J3, J4, J5, J6 $15

Checks Payable to: AVSC Nordic

NOTE: Any high school skier not competing in the Sanctioned CHSSA HS race, may elect to compete in the morning’s Supertour distance races. Additionally, any MS aged racer not with a CHSAA sanctioned program is still eligible to compete in Saturday’s middle school 3km event.

Race Times/Distances- See Timeline

Facilities/Waxing – The AVSC Clubhouse will be open and available. Power is available outside AVSC in several locations around the facility

Parking – Parking will be tight. Please respect the requests of those volunteers who are handling the parking for both Saturday’s and Sunday’s events. Large buses will be allowed to unload at the venue, but must park in the Middle School parking area. Smaller team vans will be allowed to park in the high school lots directly across from AVSC. Sunday’s access to AVSC will be off Maroon Creek Road through the Aspen Middle School parking lots. Follow the signage

Questions: Contact Toby Morse at tmorse@teamavsc.org or (970) 205-5140

Friday, February 10

9am Classic Courses open for inspection
4pm Coaches meeting at AVSC Clubhouse

Saturday, February 11

7am Courses open for inspection
8-10:30am Bib pick-up at AVSC Friedle Pfifer Clubhouse
9am 1.4km Supertour Spint Qualifier Classic
11am Women’s Supertour/Citizen 5KM Classic (30 second interval start)
Men’s Supertour/Citizen 10KM Classic (30 second interval start)
12:00 Bib pick-up for afternoon racers
12:30pm SuperTour Sprint and distance flower ceremony
1pm CHSSA Races begin (15 second interval start)
1pm Kindergarten 1st-4th Boys/Girls 1km Classic
1:20pm Middle School Girls 3k m Classic
1:40pm Middle School Boys 3km classic
2:00pm High School Girls 5km classic
2:45pm High School Boys 5km classic

Sunday, February 12

7:30-8:30am Bib pick-up AVSC Friedle Pfifer Clubhouse
9am J5/6 Boys/Girls 1k (mass start freestyle)
9:15am J3/4 Girls 3k (mass start freestyle)
9:30am J3/4 Boys 3k (mass start freestyle)
9:45am J2/J1/OJ Girls 5k (mass start freestyle)
10:00am J2/J1/OJ Boys 5k (mass start freestyle)
9:00am Owl Creek Chase Bib Pick-up at Snowmass Cross Country Center
11am Owl Creek Chase 21 k start – Snowmass Cross Country Center
11:00am Junior Awards
~12:10pm 1st finishers of the Owl Creek Chase should begin arriving. Juniors are encouraged to stay for the finish.

There was a sprint race the first day with the J3 and younger skiers doing wave starts.  The Rocky Mountain Nordic Division was well represented and enjoyed some excellent results.  No divisional team points were kept, but had there been points, RMN would have prevailed as the top division as everyone is looking forward to the Junior National Championships.

Tucker McCrerey from Summit continued to produce impressive results for this winter.  He had the fastest qualifying time for the classic sprint, was 2^nd in the A final, and he had the fastest junior time in the 15km mass start skate race.  In the mass start race, Rocky Mountain had four out of the top five junior skiers and they were 3rd Cal Deline SSCV, 4^th Mike Vigers SSCV, and 5^th Max Scrimgeour SSWSC.

In the J1/OJ female class in the classic sprint, Steamboat Springs placed 2^nd through 6^th in the qualifying race with Emily Hannah, Haley Piske, Mary O’Connell, Lucy Newman, and Madison Keeffe.  In the mass start skate race Emily Hannah was the fastest junior and Rocky Mountain had ten skiers in the first 18 places out of a field of 90 skiers.  They were Hannah, Mary O’Connell SSWSC, Rachel Hampton DNSC, Emily Larson BNJRT, Haley Piske SSWSC, Kelsey Phinney BNJRT, Lucy Newman SSWSC, Madison Keeffe SSWSC, Eva Spaeh SSCV, Amy Katz DNSC.

The J2 male class was very exciting with five skiers, Cully Brown from Durango, Lars Hannah from Steamboat Springs, Sam Miller from Bozeman, Karsten Hokanson from Salt Lake City, and Forrest Smith from Crested Butte dominating this class.  Results from the classic sprint were 1st Brown, 2nd Hokanson, 3rd Miller.  Hannah was 5^th and Smith was 7^th and Smith won the B Final.  In the mass start skate race it was Miller, Hokanson, Brown, Hannah, and Smith.  The Junior Nationals are going to be extremely interesting and fun to watch the results from this class.

Hailey Swirbul from Aspen is a second year J3 skier and tested the waters as a J2 skier at Soldier Hollow.  She recorded the best results in the classic sprints for the Rocky Mountain division with a 3^rd place.  Gretchen Burkholder SSWSC was 4^th and RMN had the top four places in the B final, Hannah Hardenbergh SSCV, Katie Brodie SSWSC, Abbey Habermehl SSWSC, and Evelina Sutro CRMS respectively.

J2 females swept the top three podium spots in the mass start skate race (Hannah Hardenbergh, Gretchen Burkholder, and Abbey Habermehl) and placed seven in the top ten.  5^th was Hailey Swirbul 6^th Louren Jortberg, 9^th Evelina Sutro CRMS, and 10^th Hannah Peterson DNSC.   

Kai Sherman from Crested Butte is a J3 male skier and he was a double winner in his class.  He is listed in second place on the classic technique wave start.  However he was award the Gold Medal and stood on top of the podium, but on the official results he is still listed in second place.  The reason is that it looks like the skier listed ahead of him by two minutes in the wave start may have skied only one lap.  The same skier placed 49^th in the second day’s skate race 4.5 minutes behind Sherman.  This certainly left the Chief of Competition, the Chief of Timing, and the TD suspecting that the young man may have only skied one lap in the wave start.  It would be difficult for the race officials to keep track of the number of laps per skier in a wave start.

Steamboat Spring’s J3 skiers Jordi Floyd and Anna Burkholder were 2^nd and 3^rd in the wave start race and 2^nd and 4^th in the mass start race.  Both results were behind Hannah Halvorsen from the Auburn Ski Club who was a double winner.  The J3 female class is a very competitive and deep class.  So congratulations to Floyd and Burkholder for their continued very impressive results this winter.

J4 male skiers Sven Tate from Steamboat Springs who had won all four of the RMN races leading up to Soldier Hollow tasted defeat for the first time this year.  He was second in the wave start and was 4^th in the mass start race.  However a highlight for Tate was that he did beat the young man who was first in the wave start classic race where Tate was second. 

In the J4 female class Avery Harrington from Steamboat Springs recorded a first in the classic technique wave start and a second place behind Sadie Cotton from Boulder in the mass start skate race.  However the RMN J4 females had seven skiers in the top ten in the wave start.  They were 4^th Jaden Carlson BNJRT, 5^th Eva Rosenbbloom-Bol BNJRT, 8^th Gracie Shanley SSCV, 9^th Railly Mewborn SSWSC, 10^th Emma Blakslee SSCV.  They had six in the top eight in the mass start race.  These very impressive results were generated by skiers from Steamboat Springs, Boulder, and Vail.

J5 class Wiley Corra from Durango and Katy Floyd from Steamboat Springs were double winners at Soldier Hollow in the J5 class.  RMN had over half the fields in each of those races.

The J6 female class from RMN produced the same result both days with Kendall Harrington from Steamboat Springs 1^st and Ruby May from Durango 3^rd.  Ruby raced and skied on her first waxable skis.

Colorado University participated at the Steamboat Springs Junior National Qualifier by holding their CU Invitational at the same time.  Eight colleges participated, University of Alaska Anchorage, Colorado University, Denver University, Montana State University, New Mexico University, Utah University, Wyoming University, and Alaska Pacific University.  The Colorado Junior skiers were able to enter the interval start race and race along with the college skiers.  They were seeded by their FIS points.   

The stadium set up was outstanding.  The SSWSC worked with the City of Steamboat Springs and Ski Town USA was able to use the rodeo arena and grounds as the ski stadium for the cross country ski races.  They had plenty of room for both the start and finish areas.  The race track was able to have eight lanes for the classic mass start race.  SSWSC was able to utilize the public address system, normally used for rodeos, for the ski races.  We all enjoyed rock and roll music while the races were going on.  They had portable microphones on the course and they were able to announce progress reports and results during the races that really added enjoyment for the spectators.

Skiers who were double winners by winning both the skate interval start race and the mass start classic race:

OJ Male Tucker McCrerey** Summit Nordic Ski Club

J2 Male Culley Brown** Durango Nordic Ski club

J3 Male Kai Serman** Crested Butte Nordic Team

J4 Male Sven Tate** Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

OJ Female Haley Piske** Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

J1 Female Emily Hannah Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

J3 Female Hailey Swirbul Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club

J4 Female Jaden Carlson Boulder Nordic Junior Race Team

J5 Female Katy Floyd Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club

**Skiers who were also double winners at the first JNQ races at Crested Butte December 17 & 18, 2011

More Highlights:

• OJ Males Tucker McCrerey, SNSC, and Charlie Von Thaden SSWSC were first and second respectively both days.
• J1 Females Emily Hannah SSWSC, Mary O’Connell SSWSC, Rachel Hampton DNSC, Cara Piske SSWSC finished in that same 1, 2, 3, 4 order both days.
• J1 Males Haakon Sigurslid DNSC, won the Skate race and Max Scrimgeour SSWSC won the Classic race.
• J2 Males Cully Brown DNSC, Lars Hannah SSWSC, Forest Smith CBNT, Parwit Durgan CBNT finished in that same 1, 2, 3, 4 order both days
• J2 Females continue to be the tightest competition among all the classes with a lot swapping of  places among the top 15 skiers.  Hannah Hardenbergh SSCV, Bretchen Burkholder SSWSC, Abbey Habermehl SSWSC, are leading in JN points and have separated themselves a little, but there are talented skiers behind them in the remaining field who are competing quite strongly for one of the top nine J2 Females slots for the RMN Junior National Team.
• J3 Female Hailey Swirbul AVSC, won both days.  However, this class is like the J2 Female class, in that they are a very competitive class.  In order to be on the podium you have to have your A game.  Hailey has won three out of the four races but she also has talented skiers chasing her.
• J4 Males Sven Tate SSWSC, Garrett Butts, Gunnison Nordic Team, and Ian Hardenbergh finished in that same order both days as special cross country skiers.  However in the skate race, Elijah Vargas from the SSWSC Nordic Combined Team placed second in the skate race.  I am forecasting that we will see a lot of the three special cross country skiers at the top of the results sheets as they move through the RMN pipeline.
• J4 Female Jaden Carlson BNJRT, won both days.  This class is very similar to the older female classes in that it is very competitive. Like Haily Swirbul in the J3 female class, Jaden has won three out of four J4 female class races.

It is going to be interesting to see how all the RMN skiers match up to skiers from the other five western divisions, Intermoutain, High Plains, Pacific Northwest, and Far West when they race at the Super Qualifier at Soldier Hollow January 27 & 28, 2012.  My prediction is that all the RMN classes will do very well and it is a dress rehearsal for the Junior National Championships that will be at Soldier Hollow March 5 – 10, 2012.  RMN will have 47 J2 and older skiers on the team and 16 coaches supporting them.

 Entries are due No Later Than Monday January 23, 2012 10pm

1. Entries have to be emailed.  No paper mail-in entries
2. Please be careful and fill out the information the way the instructions describe.  If you have skiers who have USSA membership, use the same names as in appears on the USSA membership.  It is very difficult for race organizers when different names are used on race entries and how that name appears on USSA membership.  It could directly affect the seeding for both races for skiers.  Especially J1 and Older.
3. There are three waivers.  TUNA, Soldier Hollow, and USSA if you have skiers who are not a USSA member.  SoHo is very strict on all these waivers for skiers.
4. Payment has to be received by the Race Organizers prior to the Team Captains Meeting on Thursday January 26, 2012.

These races will be the fifth and sixth RMN JNQ races.  I believe there will be close to 600 competitors.  That is far more skiers than will be at the Junior Nationals in March.  This is a big event and well worth attending.

Contact Mike Elliott at teamelliott@frontier.net if you have questions or need help with the entries.

Skate Sprint:  Sylvan Ellefson  4^th

15km Skate:  Tad Elliott 1^st, Sylvan Ellefson 3^rd, Noah Hoffman 4^th

30km Classic:  Noah Hoffman 1^st.

Sylvan Ellefson is now leading the USSA Super Tour Points.  By being the Super Tour Points Leader he has earned start-rights and a trip to Russia, Czech Republic, and Poland funded by the FIS to complete in World Cup races.  He will be skiing with the United States Ski Team.  Both Tad Elliott and Noah Hoffman are on the US B Ski Team and will be in many of the same races.  Hoffman will also be skiing in the World U23 Championships schedule for Erzurum, Turkey February 10 – 27, 2012.  

Team HomeGrown Coach Eric Pepper will be one of the Coaches for the United States Ski Team at the World Junior and U23 Championships.