FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Section and State Meet Information

We are now at the part of the season that we have been working for over the past few months. With the Section Championships next week and the state meet the following week the following is some of the important information that you will need.

If your team is in the running for winning your section ski meet, make sure you have submitted your team photo to the MSHSL. That needs to be done TODAY January 31st. If you miss this deadline your team photo will not be included in the State Meet program. For more information and instructions see the Nordic Ski racing page in the MSHSL website under “Team Photo Request”.

Bob O’Hara requested, on behalf of the MSHSL, the all coaches remind and ensure our kids are in legal race uniforms. The biggest issue right now is race hats. Many of the hats purchased at stores are illegal for competition in MSHSL events. Please review the MSHSL rules for further definition.

Section and State Academic award information must be submitted to Jason Mork from Winona by February 10th. The form can be found on the Nordic Coaches association website under “Important Paperwork” category.  The awards procedure is listed on the form.

The Charlie Banks Relay will again be organized by Pete Tremaine and Mike Hecker from Anoka. The event will be limited to 40 boys teams and 40 girls teams. The event will take place on Wednesday February 12, 2014. Bib pick-up and coaches meeting will take place at 12:00pm and the first race will begin at 1:00pm. Each team must provide a volunteer to help with the race. The race will not start until all volunteer spots are filled. Submit entries to Steve’s timing website by Monday February 10th 2014. Make sure that your skiers are in their team uniform or they will not be allowed to race.

The biggest change for the state meet this year is the Coach's Association is moving the location of our state meet banquet. We are moving from the chalet at Giant’s Ridge to the Mesabi East High School in Aurora. This will be a two-part event starting at 6:00pm in order to respect the different timeframes the coaches and athletes are dealing with in preparation to the State Meet. We request that all of the state meet participants attend the recognition program in the Mesabi East High School Auditorium. We are going back to a more formal event with more recognition for the athletes. I would request that the coaches ensure the outfits their athletes are wearing reflect the high quality event we are trying to put on for them. We are going to have a short presentation introducing each section winning team and individual state qualifiers. We will also announce our academic awards and association awards at this time. This event will be open to everyone who would like to attend.

Immediately following the presentation in the auditorium, we will have our spaghetti dinner in the cafeteria. The cost will be $10.00 per person with tickets going on sale first to state qualifiers and their coaches at 4:00pm. The remaining dinner tickets will be available to everyone else starting at 5:30pm. Tickets will be sold at the Mesabi East High School.

There will be shuttle buses available to take athletes and coaches to and from Giant’s Ridge before and after our event.

Please watch for more information on the state meet and recognition program next week.

Good luck at Sections,

Dan Josephson
Detroit Lakes
President MSHSNSCA