Monday, January 28, 2013

It's been a busy week...

At the end of my previous entry, the girls were headed to Okemo for 3 FIS Devo races - 1 GS and 2 SL's.  For some of the girls, it was their first chance to break into the higher level FIS races.  For the U18 athletes, it was their first set of qualifiers for U18 Nationals with the SL's counting as qualifiers.  The first race was the GS followed by the 2 SL's.

FIS Devo GS, January 16th

Courtney Hayden - 30th
Elly Bengtsson - 44th
Sophie Leiter - 46th
Alita Rogers - 52nd
Emma Sahn - 56th
Linley Shaw - 58th
Sarah Reilly - 78th
Caroline Armbruster - 80th
Neza Stefanic - 87th
Sarah Rowse - 90th
Molly Danzig - 97th
Lucy Merriam - 99th

FIS Devo U18 Nationals Qualifier SL, January 17th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 5th
Alita Rogers - 13th
Denali Balser - 34th
Courtney Hayden - 36th
Linley Shaw - 39th
Elly Bengtsson - 43rd
Sophie Leiter - 46th
Molly Danzig - 89th
Sarah Rowse - 90th
Caroline Armbruster - 95th
Sarah Reilly - 99th

FIS Devo U18 Nationals Qualifier SL, January 18th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 1st
Alita Rogers - 7th
Denali Balser - 21st
Emma Sahn - 26th
Lucy Merriam - 39th
Elly Bengtsson - 42nd
Caroline Armbruster - 54th
Sarah Reilly 56th
Sarah Rowse - 65th
Sophie Leiter - 72nd
Molly Danzig - 74th

Kelsey's FIS Devo Victory

Our U16 team members travels to Burke for a U16 GS on January 21st and a VARA Open GS on the 22nd.
NVC U16 GS at Burke, January 21st

Sandra Schoepke - 4th overall
Katelyn O'Toole - 18th 2nd run

VARA Open GS at Burke, January 22nd

Sandra Schoepke - 9th, 3rd for U16's
Katelyn O'Toole - 13th, 7th for U16's

Alita, Kelsey, and Elly competed at Okemo for 3 days of Eastern Cups with 1 GS and 2 SG's.

FIS Eastern Cup GS at Okemo, January 23rd

Kelsey Chenoweth - 19th, 3rd for U18's
Alita Rogers - 41st
Elly Bengtsson - 48th

FIS Eastern Cup SG at Okemo, January 24th

Elly Bengtsson - 33rd
Alita Rogers - 36th

FIS Eastern Cup SG at Okemo, January 25th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 11th
Elly Bengtsson - 25th
Alita Rogers - 45th

After the Eastern Cup's, we took a large group down to Killington for a VT Cup GS.  This may have been the longest race I have ever been to...we didn't load the van to drive home until 4:40pm!  They started late, had some timing issues, a power outage, and then took their time getting awards out.  The awards however, were sweet, literally.  They handed out Slopeside Syrup to the top 3 in each age group, sending up home with plenty of syrup...

USSA VT Cup GS at Killington, January 27th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 1st
Sandra Schoepke - 3rd, 2nd for U16's
Emma Sahn - 4th, 2nd for U18's
Sophie Leiter - 5th, 3rd for U18's
Katelyn O'Toole - 9th, 3rd for U16's
Linley Shaw - 10th
Sarah Reilly - 27th
Sarah Rowse - 41st
Molly Danzig - 50th
Caroline Armbruster - 52nd
Lucy Merriam - 59th

U18 Podium Sweep!  Kelsey 1st, Emma 2nd, Sophie 3rd

Sandra 2nd and Katelyn 3rd on the U16 Podium
This week we are continuing with a GS block until we jump back into SL before heading to Bromley and Pico for back-to-back VT Cup SL's over the weekend!  Sandra and Katelyn will be racing in the 3rd NVC race of the season on Sunday with a GS at Stowe.  Kelsey and Elly will be heading off to Sugarloaf for Speed Week with 2 SG's and 2 DH's scheduled over the week.  Until next time...

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

UVM Carnival and other happenings

It's always fun to watch the big dogs battle it out at the UVM Carnival every winter.  The athletes bring an incredible amount of intensity to their runs and show the joys of success as well as the agony of defeat.  The Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association (EISA) brings together the strongest college teams in the East to compete in a series of Carnival weekends as athletes try to qualify for the NCAA Championships.  They bring so much pace to the hill it is great for our young athletes to see such a high level of skiing as well as cheer for some former MMSC/MMWA athletes, not to mention two of our own, Kelsey and Alita mix it up with the best collegiate skiers in the East.

UVM Carnival GS, January 11th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 14th
Alita Rogers - 51st

UVM Carnival SL, January 12th

Alita Rogers - 20th
Kelsey Chenoweth - DNF1

Below are some shots from the early morning lift ride Friday for the UVM Carnival.









The rest of the girls spent the weekend prepping for the upcoming FIS Devo Series at Okemo.  They had a very productive block of SL training Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then a short tune up today.  Their races begin tomorrow with a GS followed by the 2 SL's which are U18 Nationals qualifiers.

Our two U16's who are skiing with us full-time, Sandra and Katelyn, had their first Northern Vermont Council (NVC) race of the season at Cochran's.  They both skied very well for all three runs, yes it is a three run race!  They did a great job focusing on their skiing, rather than the result.  However, at the end of the day they did give awards for the top 10 combined, below are the results for all 3 runs and the combined.

Cochran's NVC SL Run 1, 2, 3, and Combined, January 13th

Sandra Schoepke - 3rd, 4th, 6th - 2nd Combined
Katelyn O'Toole - 17th, 22nd, 20th - 15th Combined

Hopefully we are finished with the January thaw and we can proceed with Winter!  Til next time...


Thursday, January 10, 2013

The season is in full swing...

We have been quite busy since the Cochran's night SL.  We were finally able to get some GS training on Main Street, although we battled some days with high winds and brutally cold temps which made things a bit challenging to say the least.  Second session at the academy started shortly after New Years and we have settled into our daily schedule.  The last two days have brought mild temps and sunshine which has been great for GS training.  It is amazing to see the girls rip down Main Street when we have quality light.  Today was a perfect example.  Our day started as a bluebird day with grippy snow, letting the girls feel comfortable and push their own limits on Main Street.  However, about halfway through our session the clouds rolled in, leaving us with very flat light and brought out some different tactics.  We are so lucky to have Main Street be our home because when you can still be productive even when the light is flat on such a challenging hill, we are certainly headed in the right direction.  We are moving back into a SL block as some of the girls prepare for the FIS Development Series at Okemo next week, while others are prepping for back to back Vermont Cups at Bromley and Stratton.

We sent three athletes to the Stratton Eastern Cups where they encountered extremely poor snow conditions.  We won't talk about the GS results...but we did have a couple of bright spots in the 2 SL's.  During that time, the rest of the girls were competing in VT Cup SL's at Smugglers Notch which included a podium sweep for U18's:

Stratton Eastern Cup SL, January 5th

Alita Rogers - 15th, 1st for U18's
Courtney Hayden - 40th
Denali Balser - DNF2

Smuggs Vermont Cup SL, January 5th

Kelsey Chenoweth - 3rd, 1st for U18's
Sophie Leiter - 6th, 2nd for U18's
Linley Shaw - 8th, 3rd for U18's
Sandra Schoepke - 10th, 1st for U16's
Molly Danzig - 15th
Caroline Armbruster - 16th
Katelyn O'Toole - 24th, 3rd for U16's
Sarah Rowse - 25th

Sophie, Kelsey, and Linley - U18 Podium Sweep!

Sandra and Katelyn on the U16 Podium

Stratton Eastern Cup SL, January 6th

Alita Rogers - 19th, 1st for U18's
Courtney Hayden - 30th
Denali Balser - 43rd

Smuggs VT Cup SL, January 6th

Kelsey Chenoweth, 1st, 1st for U18's
Sandra Schoepke - 3rd, 1st for U18's
Lucy Merriam - 6th, 3rd for U21/SR's
Elly Bengtsson - 7th, 2nd for U18's
Sarah Rowse - 29th

Elly and Kelsey on the U18 Podium

Sandra on the U16 Podium

Lucy on the U21/SR Podium
Wednesday night at dryland we had the second gym contest of the year with a jump rope contest.  We had one qualifying score where the athletes jumped rope for 1 minute.  The top three moved onto the finals:

Molly Danzig - 180
Courtney Hayden - 177
Kelsey Chenoweth - 164
Alita Rogers - 156
Denali Balser - 140
Caroline Armbruster - 137
Sandra Schoepke - 116
Neza Stefanic - 114
Linley Shaw - 107
Sophie Leiter - 100
Lucy Merriam - 95
Sarah Rowse - 93
Elly Bengtsson - 91

The Finals

Molly Danzig - 196, Champion
Courtney Hayden - 168, Runner-up
Kelsey Chenoweth - 160, 3rd Place

Jump Rope Podium - Molly 1st, Court 2nd, Kelsey 3rd

Next up for races: Alita and Kelsey qualified to compete in the UVM Carnival Jan 11/12, and then all U18 and U21 athletes will be headed to Okemo for a Development FIS Series at Okemo Jan 16/17/18.