Team Birkie: Junior Development Education
May 10, 2024Team Birkie offers Champions Corner to educate junior athletes through monthly Zoom sessions with ambassadors David Norris and Jessica Yeaton. The elite skiers share insights on training, nutrition, technique and race tactics. Designed to empower athletes of all levels, the interactive series also offers valuable life skills. Recordings are available.
Minnesota Spring Coaches Meeting Recap
April 29, 2024The spring Minnesota High School Nordic Ski Coaches Association was held last weekend, Apr 20th, at the Vasaloppet Nordic Center. Read up on the meeting activity with the published minutes covering new officers, review of existing and new proposals, updates on a number of awards and venue discussions.
MSHSNSCA Award Winners Announced
March 31, 2024The Minnesota State High School Nordic Ski Coaches Association has announced the award winners for the 2023-24 season. The coaches, assistant coaches and volunteers of the year recipients will be recognized with a trophy at the spring coaches meeting on Saturday, April 20th in Mora.
US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series Team Sprint Results
March 24, 2024The US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series switched to freestyle technique Sunday and paired up for team sprints. APU men lead the way with the tandem of Zanden McMullen and JC Schoonmaker taking the win as fellow teammates Michael Earnhart and Luke Jager edged out Canadians Julian Smith and Antoine Cyr for second. SMS T2's Lauren Jortberg and Alayna Sonnesyn blew out the women's field, winning by more than 15 seconds over APU's Renae Anderson and Novie McCabe, with Alex Larson and Margie Freed of Craftsbury taking third. All eyes turn to Tuesday for the marathon freestyle races as major snowfall is expected in the hours between.
US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series Classic Sprints Results
March 23, 2024Classic sprint titles were on the table Saturday for the US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series at Spirit Mountain in Duluth. The men's final featured a showdown of World Cup talent as Canada's Antonie Cyr and JC Schoonmaker faced off. Schoonmaker pulled off the victory with APU teammate Zanden McMullen moving in for second and Cyr taking third. Team Birkie's Zak Ketterson scored third for the US podium. The women's final came down to Erin Bianco vs Novie McCabe, both striding hard up the final climb and descending together, with McCabe moving ahead in the finishing stretch for the victory, Bianco second and Alayna Sonnesyn securing third. Racing continues Sunday with a freestyle team sprint format.
US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series Classic Coverage
March 21, 2024The Duluth organizers and Spirit Mountain staff delivered an excellent course for the opening day of the US Nationals/SuperTour Spring Series on Thursday for 10K classic technique racing. World Cup skiers were on exhibition as temperatures stayed below freezing for the events. The women hit the trails first with Novie McCabe taking the victory followed by Sydney Palmer-Leger and Ely native Erin Bianco. Canada's Antonie Cyr topped the men's field with Johnny Steel Hagenbuch the top American in second, Zanden McMullen third and Minnesota's own Zak Ketterson fourth. Results linked in, photosets posted along with video recaps.
Junior Nationals Mixed Relays Results
March 16, 2024Junior Nationals wrapped up Saturday with the mixed relay freestyle events in Lake Placid. Warm and wet weather made for difficult conditions again, and while the Midwest didn't score any podiums they did have a number of top ten finishes: U20 6th (Hailee Zimpel, Davis Isom, Audrey Parham, Adrik Kraftson); U18 6th (Sydney Drevlow, Eddie Snider, Hanna Koch, Daniel McCollor); U16 8th (Linnea Ousdigian, Anders Decker, Elsa Lindfors, Logan Drevlow).
Junior Nationals Classic Distance Results
March 15, 2024A rocky start to the final day of individual racing on Friday at Lake Placid for the Junior Nationals mass start classic events with organizers changing the course and schedule after crashes during the U16 opening races. However, Midwest continued to capture podiums as Logan Drevlow completed his dominance of the week with another victory in the U16 field and Linnea Ousdigian taking the surprise win in the U16 girls field. Other top results: MU16 - George Nelson 12th; FU18 - Sydney Drevlow 6th; MU18 - Daniel McCollor 8th, Eddie Snider 14th; FU20 - Hailee Zimpel 5th, Greta Hansen 10th, Audrey Parham 12th, Lillian Franzen 13th, Ashley Grossklaus (IMD) 16th; MU20 - Ben Dohlby 5th, Adrik Kraftson 10th, Jonathan Clarke 12th, Davis Isom 18th.
Junior Nationals Classic Sprints Results
March 13, 2024Junior Nationals in Lake Placid, NY, got steamy on Wednesday as the temperatures soared into the 50s by afternoon for a full day of classic sprints. Leading the way for the Midwest again was Logan Drevlow, racing a savvy final to take the boys U16 title! Sister Sydney Drevlow finished just one step back, taking second place in the girls U18 final. Miles Miner (NE) also scored a second place finish in the boys U18 division. Other top results: Hannah Koch 7th FU18; Jordan Parent 8th FU20; Linnea Ousdigian 10th FU16; Ben Lewis (NE) 12th MU20. Results linked in. Racing resumes on Friday with classic mass start races.
Moose Valuable Skier Nominations
March 12, 2024Moose Nordic is giving out the MVS Award again this year with the help of Finn Sisu, Madshus, and Salomon. Two Minnesota high school skiers will be chosen for living out the values of sportsmanship, humility, empowerment, and integrity. Each winner's high school team will receive a pair of Madshus Redline race skis, boots from Finn Sisu, and Salomon skate skis. Nominations deadline is March 24th.
Junior Nationals Freestyle Coverage
March 11, 2024Junior Nationals competition in Lake Placid, NY, had a stormy start Tuesday as snow fell most of the morning, giving way to sunshine and strong winds in the afternoon. Minnesota State champion Logan Drevlow shined brightest for the Midwest on opening day as he earned the U16 boys crown by five seconds. Linnea Ousdigian nearly made it a Midwest sweep of the U16 titles, finishing second by less than three seconds! Also making the podium Tuesday, Ben Dohlby second and Davis Isom third in the boys U20 race. Other top 20 performances: MU16 - Connor Reckinger 8th, Soren Winikoff 9th, Jack Rudolph 12th, Dylan Little 20th; FU18 - Sydney Drevlow 5th, Hanna Koch 14th, Greta Dickman, 18th; FU20 - Hailey Zimpel, 9th, Ashley Grosslaus (IMD) 10th, Ella Niznik 18th, Audrey Parham 20th; MU20 - Adriak Kraftson 13th, Ben Lewis (NE) 16th, Jonathan Clarke 19th. Results linked in, along with links for photos and livestream replay.
Racing Outlook: US Nationals Spring Series
March 9, 2024Believe it or not, but there is still one major race event in the Midwest this season: The US Nationals Spring Series/Supertour, happening at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, March 21-26th. Organizers are planning to shift to the event to the top of Spirit Mountain to utilize the snow at the top of the alpina runs.
Junior National Teams Announced
March 7, 2024With less than a week to go before the big event, CXC has formally announced the full Midwest and Great Lakes team lineups for the upcoming Junior Nationals competition in Lake Placid, NY. Selected athletes will be competing Match 11-16 against some of the best in the US. Another group of U18/U16 athletes will also be heading north to compete at the Canadian Ski Championships being held March 10-16.
Wisconsin State Distance Championships Freestyle Coverage
March 3, 2024The Wisconsin Nordic Ski League (WNSL) wrapped up their season Sunday with the Distance Championships freestyle races, along with Great Lakes JNQ qualifier. Due to the JNQ addtion, the freestyle races this year were run as an interval start (with seeding). Paige Beining, ANST, skied the second fastest Wisconsin time on Sunday to sew up her combined title. Josephine Kwasny, Iola, was second, Lauren Carlton, ANST, third in the combined WNSL scoring. Charlie Vater, Iola, put down a sub 19 min time on the 6K course to easily collect the boys combined title with Kristian Hudacek, CVN, second and Nathan Burke, Peak Nordic, taking third. Eric Anderson, guest skier from Lake City, had the fastest skate time on the day. Results linked in, photos posted along with video clips of the top skiers.
Wisconsin State Distance Championships Classic Results
March 2, 2024Day one of the Wisconsin State Meet distance championships in the books as athletes endured soaring temperatures while hammering out two laps of classic skiing on the snowmaking loops at the Birkie Trailhead. Iola's Charlie Vater posted the top time but three others are all within 10 seconds: Nathan Burke, Peak Nordic, Kristian Hudacek, CVN, and Eric Anderson, Red Wing. Paige Beining, ANST, had the best time for the Wisconsin girls, over 10 seconds ahead of Josephine Kwasny, Iola, and ANST teammate Lauren Carlton in third. LNR's Helen Townley, skiing as guest Great Lakes JNQ, had the fastest time in the girls field. Sunday will feature freestyle races, with the overall champion determined from the combined weekend times plus scoring from the earlier sprint championships.