Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Race of the Methow

This past weekend marked the completion of another Race of the Methow for the team. The valley hosts this race once a year and skiers from all over the region come for this qualifier. Over 150 racers from the Pacific Northwest turned out to race. First off, a big thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors for this event as they put in many hours during and before this weekend in order to make it all possible! Next, a big shoutout to all MVNT athletes who turned out to race and all put in a stellar effort.
Happy girls before their race. 
The first day of racing featured a skate sprint. The team had kids racing in just about all age groups from the lollypop race on up! Despite snowy weather everyone persevered and had a great time.
A little train action happening in the stadium.
One of the many good performances of the day came from Peter Aspholm who finished second in his age group. Coach Leslie Hall said, " It was great to see Peter Aspholm put together a smart day of sprinting and remind us all how quick he is." 
Peter going hard in the sprint. 
Emmett Bondi (U10)
Also, many younger skiers came out to try racing with great success. Mariah Lucy won the U12 girls' race followed by Jori Grialou, Dashe McCabe, Amelia Bondi and Wyatt Albright to make it a Methow 1-5 sweep in that class! To see full results from the day follow this link: http://methowvalleynordic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/RoM_2016_Saturday_Sprint.pdf
Dashe McCabe
Sunday's event was a classic distance race and again featured a wide variety from 1.5km to 10km. Conditions were good, albeit a little wet due to heavy snowfall. The Methow had another great day and took the win in several categories including, Jori Grialou for the U12's, Lindsay Worrell for the U14's, Novie McCabe for the U16's and Ella Hall for the U18/20's. Complete results can be found here: http://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=60339.
Jori Grialou charging up the hill. 
The action didn't stop there with a biathlon race occurring on Monday open to anyone willing to give it a try. This made for a long weekend for some athletes who raced all three days!
Claire Waichler got in a solid 3 days of racing. 
Again, thank you to everyone who made this race possible. It was a big success. Stay tuned as more stories are on the way!
The coaches keeping an eye on us!
*photo credit to Rachelle Weymuller for all the beautiful photos!*

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

New Year's Weekend

This past week held much excitement for the nordic team. First off, two MVNT skiers and biathletes  travelled with coach Betsy Devin-Smith to Anchorage, AK for Biathlon Junior Trials. Conditions proved to be a bit tricky but they prevailed and came away with great success. U20 skier Claire Waichler left the races with two second place finishes and a spot on the World Junior team headed to Romania! Eli Nielsen, U18 skier, earned himself a spot on the Lillehammer Youth Olympic team with his performance. Big congratulations!
Next, senior and U20 skier Ella Hall accompanied by her dad, Alex, departed New Years Eve to travel to Houghton Michigan for Senior Nationals. This event lasts over a week with four races happening of which she has participated in two and will stay for one more. The first event was a classic 10km on a tricky course with somewhat tricky waxing. It proved to be a great learning opportunity and chance to race against the fastest skiers in the country.
photo: Skinnyski.com
The following day was a skate sprint and with fresh snow from the previous night the courses were in great condition. Ella just missed making the Junior Heats by a few seconds but then got to return to watch the older skiers race and cheer on MVNT alum Brian Gregg who had his best ever sprint result. 
Brian in the neon green hat. 
Additionally, a large contingent of racers made the long drive down to Bend, OR for the first qualifier of the year. The team posted some impressive results there and had a great time in the chilly weather.
Novie leading the charge. Photo: Claire Waichler
 Coach Leslie Hall gave this report on the weekend, "Novie [McCabe] was impressive on Sunday with her break away and strong finish. It was super hard for the boys to move up in the pack in the 5km mass start on Sunday but Geza Sukovaty took advantage of skiing with others and had one of his stronger races. Eli had an excellent classic race on Saturday after a big week of racing at biathlon trials. All the MVNT skiers skied with good technique and showed good sportsmanship which we coaches really appreciate!
Peter at the front of a train. Photo: Claire Waichler 


Happy kiddos hanging out in the lodge! Photo: Wendy Sims

Happy New Year to all! Stay in touch for the next big event, Race of the Methow held at home in a couple of weeks!