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.