Flashback to March: Junior Nationals
I'm adding this because I consider this a big stepping stone in my skiing life. Getting to travel out to Vermont, ski with other Midwestern skiers and competing against the top kids in the country was an amazing experience and really helped me focus on setting my goals high for the year to come. While I was gone, I posted 10 times, so I'm editing pieces and pictures and shortening up the segment.
But you can find the whole blog here
March 1, 2014
This morning we drove the 10 minute drove to preview the race course! We classic skied and the snow was super fast. My favorite part of the course was a 1/2k downhill section with 90 degree turns! The hills aren't steep, but they are long. And the whole case is very curvy! I am so excited to race! We came back, ate lunch, and I attempted to do my homework before we went to downtown Stowe. I walked around with my roommates and we went into an official JN store, a chocolate shop, a grocery store, and a coffee shop!
March 3, 2014
Today was RACE DAY! I woke up at 6:30 and went running. It was so pretty and cool looking at the sun coming over the mountains. The U16 girls ate at 9:30 and left for the race at 11. It was a nice day out, sunny and around 4°. There were some gusts of winds but over all there was little wind. It was so cool racing in the midwest uniform and skiing in the sun! I had a really good race because a lot of the course was flat. I lost a little time on the hills because my kick slipped a little, but it was so exciting when my coach yelled, "awesome job! Your in 6th place and 5 seconds behind Hannah and Anna!" It was really exciting because my goal was top 10, all American. I ended up finishing in 6th place and moving into 12th by the time all the skiers finishing which was a little disappointing, but classic isn't my strong suit, and the Midwest girls did REALLY good. We had 5 girls into the top 15!
March 6
I didn't have very big expectations for the classic sprint, but I am very happy how I competed yesterday. The outline goes like this: first is a time trial of the 1.3k course. A kid goes out every 15 seconds and then they sort the times. The place you got was your seed, and only the top 30 seeds move onto the quater-finals. Then in the quater-finals there are five heats, taking the top 2 in each heat to the semi-finals. 2 'lucky losers' also get into the semi-final by posting the 2 fastest times after subtracting out the qualifiers. In each of the 2 semi-finals, there are 6 kids. The top 3 move onto the A final where they will be competing for spots 1-6 and the lower 3 will move into the B final where they'll be competing for 7-12. The sprints are the most exciting races of the week! I ended up qualifying for the quater-finals, in 26th place, but I was bummed I didn't do better. I was so excited that 3 of my teammates and I were all in the same quarterfinal,meaning there was only 2 other girls in our heat
March 7
Today was the skate mass start! Because I got 12 in the classic race, I started in the 12th spot.
This morning a skier got a concussion crashing around the first corner, so they made it like a car race start. Jeremy Heckler, one of the midwest coaches paced us out of the stadium and around the corner slower, and then the race started at the bottom of the hill. Up until the 1.5k I was around 15th, but it started to spread out and I moved into the top 6. It was super cool because my two teammates were leading for part of the race, but because the course wasn't that wide, there were a lot of crashes. I was feeling really strong on the hills, so I made a move. I underestimates the length of the 2nd to last hill, and though I was still with the pack of 6 girls, my legs were dying. I ended up falling back to the 7&8 skiers and was able to stay on their tails pretty much the rest of the race. It was a tough day, partially because of the heat (40°) and the skinny course with tough turns but I gave it my all and finished pretty well. I really lucked out, a bunch of competitors crashed and broke some poles. Thanks so much for aunt Katie coming to watch me!! She gave me a bag full of really good cookies, and they are almost gone, curtesy of my teammates!! Super excited for the relays tomorrow!
But you can find the whole blog here
March 1, 2014
This morning we drove the 10 minute drove to preview the race course! We classic skied and the snow was super fast. My favorite part of the course was a 1/2k downhill section with 90 degree turns! The hills aren't steep, but they are long. And the whole case is very curvy! I am so excited to race! We came back, ate lunch, and I attempted to do my homework before we went to downtown Stowe. I walked around with my roommates and we went into an official JN store, a chocolate shop, a grocery store, and a coffee shop!
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| My new uniform |
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| Pink Behind the mountains from my villa |
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| My roommates and I at the chocolate shop! |
Today was RACE DAY! I woke up at 6:30 and went running. It was so pretty and cool looking at the sun coming over the mountains. The U16 girls ate at 9:30 and left for the race at 11. It was a nice day out, sunny and around 4°. There were some gusts of winds but over all there was little wind. It was so cool racing in the midwest uniform and skiing in the sun! I had a really good race because a lot of the course was flat. I lost a little time on the hills because my kick slipped a little, but it was so exciting when my coach yelled, "awesome job! Your in 6th place and 5 seconds behind Hannah and Anna!" It was really exciting because my goal was top 10, all American. I ended up finishing in 6th place and moving into 12th by the time all the skiers finishing which was a little disappointing, but classic isn't my strong suit, and the Midwest girls did REALLY good. We had 5 girls into the top 15!
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| New Uniform |
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| Opening Ceremony Parade |
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| Race Course in a valley |
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| Warming up!! |
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| First Race |
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| New Hair |
I didn't have very big expectations for the classic sprint, but I am very happy how I competed yesterday. The outline goes like this: first is a time trial of the 1.3k course. A kid goes out every 15 seconds and then they sort the times. The place you got was your seed, and only the top 30 seeds move onto the quater-finals. Then in the quater-finals there are five heats, taking the top 2 in each heat to the semi-finals. 2 'lucky losers' also get into the semi-final by posting the 2 fastest times after subtracting out the qualifiers. In each of the 2 semi-finals, there are 6 kids. The top 3 move onto the A final where they will be competing for spots 1-6 and the lower 3 will move into the B final where they'll be competing for 7-12. The sprints are the most exciting races of the week! I ended up qualifying for the quater-finals, in 26th place, but I was bummed I didn't do better. I was so excited that 3 of my teammates and I were all in the same quarterfinal,meaning there was only 2 other girls in our heat
Racing up that final hill in the sprint race!
I was the lowest ranked, so I knew if I beat anyone in the
heat, I would move up in places. Our coaches told us we needed to make
it a fast heat because if midwest went 1-2-3-4 our 3rd and 4th skiers
would have a chance do being lucky losers. The race started and I had an
okay start. I knew that I was better at flats so I started out strong,
but got cut off at the first corner because I had been on the outside
lane. I was in last as I skied up the first hill, but gained a spot at
the crest and downhill section. I started to gain my my teammate, Anna
and the other girl who was in 3rd. On the very last hill, I came up
behind the girl in the tracks and had to switch into Anna's lane. On the
final stretch, my legs where shaking and I was putting it all out
there. It was an amazing feeling and I was so happy!!! I didn't end up
getting the lucky loser spot, but Anna did and so did our other
teammate, Hannah, who was in the heat after us! Amanda, who won the race
ended up becoming the national champion! It was so much fun cheering
for my teammates and watching them succeed! I'm so proud of them and
can't wait to cheer super loud for them at the middle-week award
ceremony!
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| Midwest domination! |
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| Midwest!!! |
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| Pre-Race |
March 7
Today was the skate mass start! Because I got 12 in the classic race, I started in the 12th spot.
This morning a skier got a concussion crashing around the first corner, so they made it like a car race start. Jeremy Heckler, one of the midwest coaches paced us out of the stadium and around the corner slower, and then the race started at the bottom of the hill. Up until the 1.5k I was around 15th, but it started to spread out and I moved into the top 6. It was super cool because my two teammates were leading for part of the race, but because the course wasn't that wide, there were a lot of crashes. I was feeling really strong on the hills, so I made a move. I underestimates the length of the 2nd to last hill, and though I was still with the pack of 6 girls, my legs were dying. I ended up falling back to the 7&8 skiers and was able to stay on their tails pretty much the rest of the race. It was a tough day, partially because of the heat (40°) and the skinny course with tough turns but I gave it my all and finished pretty well. I really lucked out, a bunch of competitors crashed and broke some poles. Thanks so much for aunt Katie coming to watch me!! She gave me a bag full of really good cookies, and they are almost gone, curtesy of my teammates!! Super excited for the relays tomorrow!
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| Celebrating with a teammate! |
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| Start |
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| After the final hill |
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| U16 Card Party |
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