Thursday, March 19, 2015

March Madness Update

Yes, it's been sometime since my last post. Again. However, seeing that today is the 20th Anniversary of Michael Jordan's first return to basketball, I will try to make a triumphant return with tonights post. The Bulls lost that game in OT, so hopefully this post ends up better than that.

The girls have been quite busy. Balancing school and skiing is always a battle during the season, and March is the true test. The girls have been going in many different directions and have likely spent more time on the road than in class.

After the long qualification season, all three girls qualified for a FIS Championship series. Sandra and Ashley qualified for U18 National Championships which were contested at Copper Mt., CO from February 24th through March 6th. Sandra started the series off strong finishing 10th place in the SL amongst the best U18's in the country! Both girls competed in the speed events and while their results weren't as strong as they had hoped for, they both gained some valuable experience competing at the National level. Ingrid qualified for the Eastern FIS Championships and competed in the SL and GS on March 8th and 9th. She had some impressive moments in each events and scored FIS results in both races! Despite a sizable mistake, her second run in the SL was some of the best skiing in a race environment to date!

Since her return home, Sandra has been running a crazy schedule. To give you a quick snapshot of what she will be up to (anything but school), here is it:

NorAm Finals (US Nationals DH), March 15 - 23 ~ 2DH Training, 2DH, SG, 2GS, 2SL
FIS Open Finals, March 24 - 27 ~ 2GS, 2SL
Eastern Cup Finals, March 29 - April 2 ~ 2GS, 2SG, 2SL
Sugar SL, April 4 - 5 ~ 2SL

For those of you counting, that is 21 starts in 22 days! After  some challenging weather at NorAm Speed Finals, they were only able to get one DH Training run and the US National Championship DH that Sandra finished an impressive 23rd!

While Sandra is racing on a daily basis for the remainder of the season, Ashley and Ingrid have been prepping for the Central Division FIS Championships held at Lutsen Mt. in Minnesota. They have been working the moderate pitch of Competition Hill, the top flats of SL Hill, and competed in the TGFS SL at Cochran's on the 18th. Well, Ashley was sick, but Ingrid had one of her best races of the season moving from bib 34 to finish 13th on the day. The girls depart for Minnesota on the 25th and will compete in 2GS and 2SL before flying home on the 30th to battle it out with the Eastern Region at Eastern Cup Finals on Main Street.

Although the season comes to a close in a couple of weeks, there is still a lot of racing to go. Combined, the girls still have 41 starts ahead of them. March Madness is in full swing!

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks...

Community Day at MMWA

With her frequent trips to the podium, Sandra is quite comfortable up there!

Former MMSC athlete Chris Mullin stopped by training to lend a hand.

Powder Day smiles!




SG Training

Okemo with a rare moment of greatness.

Ingrid getting nasty at Cochran's! (photo cred: RB)
Until next time...

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