NYSEF NORDIC SKI TEAM: Championships Recap 2014

NYSEF Nordic Team has been skiing fast in AK, NY and VT over the past 3 weeks. Read on for the 2014 championships recap:

Stop #1: Karl Eid Jumps and Kincaid Park, Anchorage, AK for the 2014 USSA Ski Jumping & Nordic Combined Junior National Championships. Gabby Armstrong topped the podium to become the U17 Girls National Champion! Karl Schulz skied up from 15th place after the jumping portion to 6th in the Nordic Combined race, posting the fastest XC time for the 2nd year in a row. Karl teamed up with Miles Lussi in the team sprint and the boys hammered to earn 2nd place in the U17 class. Check out the NYSEF SJ & NC blog for a full trip report: http://www.nysef.org/ski-jumping/

Stop #2: Harriet Hollister State Park, Canandaigua, NY for the 2014 NYS Public High School State Meet. NYSEF athletes were competing for the Lake Placid High School and had solid results. Nina earned 2nd place in the 7.5 km freestyle race. Speedy 8th grader Scott Schulz cranked into 6th place in the boys 10 km skate race, with teammates Beckett Ledger in 29th place and Henry McGrew in 32nd.

Stop #3: Rikert Nordic Center, Ripton, VT for the NENSA J2 (U16) Championships. Karl joined Team NY and grabbed 2 gold medals in the 5 km freestyle race and the sprint. Karl finished 2nd overall after 3 races. Results here: http://www.barttiming.com/XCski/j2f2014.htm

Stop #4: Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, VT for the 2014 USSA XC Junior National Championships. Result highlight of the week was Everett Sapp placing 5th in the U16 classic sprint, earning All-American status! Everett also finished 16th in the 5 km classic race. Royal McDonnell started off the week in 40th place in the U16 5 km classic race. He kept improving as the week went on to finish 22nd in the classic sprint and 17th in the mass start skate race. Nina Armstrong lead the Mid-Atlantic U18 girls in the 5 km classic race with a 20th place finish. She just missed the heats in the classic sprint, finishing 1.8 seconds out in 36th place. Lucy Hochschartner skied strong in her first Junior National appearance, placing 65th in the classic race, 54th in the classic sprint and working her way up from the back of the pack in the mass start freestyle race to place 55th. Anna Izzo skied consistent all week by placing 76th in the classic race, 73rd in the classic sprint and 68th in the freestyle mass start race. NYSEF alumni Maile Sapp (freshman at Harvard University) qualified 9th in the classic sprint and finished 17th after the heats were done. She missed moving on to the semifinals by a boot lunge with the girl in her quarterfinal who moved on by the lucky loser spot. Maile finished 21st in the U20 5 km classic race. Coach Marge skied roughly 20 km hard on classic race Monday testing kick wax for the kids throughout the day. Lowlight of the week was when Everett and Nina came down with the JN virus on Thursday...6 hours of throwing up and too many hours of being totally exhausted meant no mass start freestyle race on Friday. Particularly a huge bummer for Nina as the distance skate race is her premier event, but that's how ski racing goes and totally out of the athletes' control. All Mid-Atlantic athletes who got the sickness bug (9 in total) were able to rally and at least ski themselves around the relay course on Saturday. It may not have been a fast performance but at least they were back out on the trails. A beautiful week of skiing in Stowe and everyone is looking forward to Truckee, California in 2015! Results here: http://jn2014stowe.com/results

JN parade and opening ceremonies in Stowe

Lucy starting off the week in the classic race

Everett in the sprint qualifier

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Everett's semifinal heat

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Everett's semifinal heat

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Maybe it was from the cheering squad...

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Or maybe just that Everett can stride up a hill like a speedy champ...watch out when he makes his move!

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Boom...top 10 for Everett and All-American!

Nina in the sprint qualifier

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Anna in the sprint qualifier

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Maile in the sprint qualifier

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Royal in the sprint qualifier

(Fasterskier.com photo)

Lucy and Coach Marge after the mass start skate race

Glenice and Maeve came over to Stowe to cheer on the team

Girls selfie (with Gavin who secretly wants to ditch the UNH ski team and come ski with NYSEF)

See athletes...coaches meetings are a real thing!

Mid-A wax trailer got a little decorating...rumor says it was from the High Plains Division...coincidence that NYSEF alumni/coach Pete Freire transferred to High Plains?

Mid-Atlantic Head Coaches Marge and Jason

Mid-AAllDayEveryDay 2014

(All Fasterskier.com photos used with permission - do not copy)

Stop #5: Mountain Top Inn & Resort, Chittenden, VT for the 2014 Eastern High School Championships. This event is a great way to finish out the race season. Top 20 boys and girls in grades 9-12 from Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and New York compete in 4 races in 3 days! There are no U-age groups and everyone racing falls on the same set of results. NYSEF athletes really impressed all weekend. Nina kicked things off for the girls finishing in 9th place in the 5 km freestyle race on Friday afternoon. Gabby followed in 13th, Lucy in 30th and Anna in 45th. The boys were up next and Karl lead the way in 3rd place, followed by Royal in 36th, Everett in 51st, Henry McGrew in 88th and Beckett Ledger in 102nd. Saranac Lake Nordic athletes Bryce Hartman and Ethan Wood joined Team NYSEF for the weekend and finished 28th and 90th, respectively.

Nina

Royal

Saturday brought the 7.5 km mass start classic race. NYSEF girls were seeded towards the front of the arrow and cranked the start position. It was awesome to see Nina cruise up the hill 20 feet in front of the field of 100+ girls with beautiful classic striding. Nina skied strong for a 6th place finish, with Anna improving to 22nd, Gabby in 23rd and Lucy in 39th. Everett got the random draw of the top seeded boys to lead out the mass start. Problem was, when the gun went off, Everett took a slip on the skis and went to the ground. With a quick rebound, he quickly got up and didn't cause a pile-up for the boys field (must have been the speedy skis from Coach Marge). But about a kilometer into the race, Karl got in a pile up, leaving him with a broken pole. Coach Marge got him a new pole (although still too short) and Karl worked his way back up through the field to place 63rd. Everett skied a strong race into 15th place with Royal following close in 27th. Henry finished in 80th, Ethan in 81st, Bryce in 86th, and Beckett in 101th.

Girls mass start

Simply amazing!

Go Nina...out in the lead

Boys mass start

Everett (left row, 3rd skier back) and Royal (middle, making a move out of the track)

Karl

Everett

Royal

Henry

Beckett

Karl getting a new pole mid-race

Broken boys post-race

Karl with his snapped pole and Everett with a bleeding chin from a fall

The afternoon race was a 1.2 km skate sprint on a hilly and twisty course. Nina hammered the course to finish 4th with sister Gabby in hot pursuit in 6th. Lucy (the surprise skate sprinter) landed in 19th place. Anna rounded out the girls in 48th place. Boys were up next and they decided they needed to put on a good show like the girls. Karl posted the top NY result of the weekend in 2nd, with Everett in 19th and Royal in 20th. Ethan moved up to 68th, Henry to 73rd, Bryce in 80th, and Beckett in 101th.

Highlight of the weekend was definitely the mixed gender, mixed technique relay on Sunday. NY Team #1 was fast with NYSEF skiers Nina (classic), Everett (classic), Gabby (skate) and Karl (skate) skiing on to the podium in 3rd! NY Team #2 was strong with Anna (classic), Royal (classic), Lucy (skate) and Liam (skate) from Queensbury High School finishing in 17th place out of 49 teams. Overall, an awesome weekend of racing for the team! Results here: http://www.barttiming.com/XCski/ehsc14.htm