FXC Coach’s Corner

Spring skiing is all about warmth, fun, sun and speed, and this past weekend’s ConocoPhillips Alaska Junior Championships did not disappoint.

Seventy skiers, most from Alaska’s interior, competed in the re-born event hosted by the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks’ FXC program at Birch Hill Recreation Area. Formerly an annual highlight for many of Alaska’s juniors, it had been three years since the last time Cross Country Alaska’s championship races for the J2-J6 age categories had been held.

The stated objective for this weekend’s event was to not only bring the event back, but to reinvigorate it with an action-packed schedule of event formats J2-J6 athletes rarely get to try. Judging from the smiles on faces and the exuberant exchanges between competitors, the event was quite successful.

Racing began on Friday evening with a freestyle sprint relay on a 750-meter course that featured one particularly sharp bend that claimed more than a couple racers. Race winners included Marit Rjabov and Teresia Schnurr (UAF – Open Class), Gentry Johnson and Robin Baker (Salcha – J6 Girls), Brad Baker and Martin Ramirez-Calkins (Salcha – J6 Boys), Amber Hajdukovich and Emma Jerome (NSCF – J5 Girls), Ti Donaldson and Kent Yoshikawa (NSCF – J5 Boys), Amber Lenze and Maya Yoshikawa (FJN Comp – J4 Boys), Dawson Knopp and Tracen Knopp (ANR – J4 Boys), Kiana Hamlin and Allison Hebard (FJN Comp – J3 Girls), Joe Bue and Max Donaldson (FXC – J3 Boys), Claire Ferree and Mikayla Hamlin (FXC – J2 Girls), and Alex Loan and David McPhetres (ANR – J2 Boys).

Salcha's Abe Bjorklund in the J5 race. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

FXC's J2 Girls Show off their half and half relay team suits. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

Friday evening’s high clouds remained in place through the night and brought with them temps in the mid-teens that allowed the tracks to set-up hard and fast for solid kick and good glide. Racers stared at 15 second intervals in Saturday’s first event, the 1, 2.5 and 5km classic individual start. The course featured rolling terrain, a couple of tight corners and a few single track sections through some of Birch Hill’s not-so-frequently skied ‘moose’ paths. The varied terrain required athletes to not only perform physically, but technically as well.

Salcha’s strong contingent in the younger age group continued to ski well on the 1k track as brother and sister combo Brad and Robin Baker claimed the top spot in the J6s. First place in the J5 Girls was Amber Hajdukovich (FJN Comp), while Kevin Baird (Salcha) claimed the J5 Boys win over Ti Donaldson (NSCF) by only 2.5 seconds.

Robin Baker on her way to first in the J6 girls. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

In the 2.5km event, the Knopp brothers Tracen and Dawson again went 1-2 in the J4 boys, while Jade Hajdukovich (FXC – J3 Girls), Amber Lenze (FJN Comp – J4 Girls), and Max Donaldson (FXC – J3 Boys) claimed top honors in the other divisions. In the 5km J2 event, Claire Ferree (FXC) and Riley Troyer (West Valley HS) led the way in the girls and boys categories, respectively.

Dawson Knopp (ANR). (Photo: Bert Boyer)

As the temperature rose, so too did the speed of Saturday’s racers. A mid-day start for the 100m classic sprint meant that conditions were changing as the tracks got a bit warmer and teams moved into the violet hard wax range. The gradual uphill finish lane also meant that skiers in the older age classes had to make the tactical decision whether to use skate skis and double-pole, potentially giving up some distance off the line for better top speed at the end. In all age groups, the high speed and tight finishes of a pure drag race made for some of the best race action of the day.

Tristan Sayre (FJN Comp) and Jonathon Koenig (FXC) lunge for second in the J3 boys Semifinal 1. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

In J6 boys, Martin Ramirez-Calkins was able to turn the tables from the morning race and claimed top spot over teammate Brad Baker, while Baker’s sister Robin led the way for the J6 girls. Ti Donaldson (NSCF) and Amber Hajdukovich (FJN Comp) were first for J5s, while Tracen Knopp and Amber Lenze continued their streak in the J4s. Ti’s brother Max (FXC) was able to take the top spot in a deep J3 boys final, and Jade Hajdukovich (FXC) used a high-tempo double-pole to outdistance Kiana Hamlin (FJN Comp) for the J3 girls win. In the J2 boys final, Alex Loan (ANR), with classic skis under foot, used a superior lunge to edge a rapidly-closing, skate ski-wearing Brandon Kowalski (FXC). In J2 girls, Claire Ferree (FXC) used a powerful double-pole to cross the line first.

Alex Loan (ANR) out-lunges Brandon Kowalski (FXC) for the J2 Boys title. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

As the temperature soared into the 40s in the early afternoon, skiers headed up the hill to get a couple of practice runs or just practice their tricks on the 600m freestyle ski-cross course. The course started on the wide section of the Relay Start loop before hanging a right after 50 meters and joining with Birch Hill’s sprint course heading over ‘the Wall’ and dropping down around ‘the Elbow’. As they emerged from the woods, racers came face-to-face with ‘Bob’s Bump’ a two-foot jump that gave the skiers the opportunity to get some hang-time before landing, regaining their balance and completing a hard turn to the left. The skiers then proceeded straight before an off-camber, high-speed, right turn around the Lone Spruce and a quick left down West Ramp, around Competition Island and into the finish.

Joe Bue (FXC) grabs double over 'Bob's Bump.' (Photo: Bert Boyer)

J5 and J6 skiers had the option of bypassing Bob’s Bump, but all of them conquered their nerves and went for it, some cutting off speed to help them absorb the drop on the far side. In J6 boys, Alden Jerome (Pearl Creek) strode out of the gate and never looked back on his way to the win. In J6 and J5 Girls, Salcha’s Robin Baker and FJN Comp’s Amber Hajdukovich continued their streaks and picked up the win, while Kevin Baird (Salcha) matched his performance from the morning topping the J5 boys. In J4 boys, the Knopp brothers (ANR) continued their dominance with Tracen again claiming top honors. Maya Yoshikawa (FJN Comp), after missing the morning races due to a swim competition, returned to water’s frozen variety to claim the J4 girls win. In the J2 and J3 girls, FXC teammates Claire Ferree and Jade Hajdukovich continued their streaks, while David McPhetres (ANR – J2) and Sam Hiltenbrand (FJN Comp – J3) notched the victory for the boys while pulling off a grab on ‘Bob’s Bump.’

Amber Lenze (FJN Comp) hits the snow after Bob's Bump. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

Tracen Knopp (ANR) leads Dawson Knopp (ANR) and Benjamin Koenig (FXC) out of the start in the J4 boys final. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

Dawson Knopp (ANR) spreads his wings after 'Bob's Bump.' (Photo: Bert Boyer)

Sam Hiltenbrand (FJN Comp) goes for the grab on his way to winning the J3 boys final. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

In a fitting end to the racing, J3 skier Jonathon Koenig (FXC) opted to cruise the race and hot-dog it off the jump, launching and landing a 360, before skiing the rest of the course backwards on his twin-tipped Jib Skates. While there may not have been much speed in his race, he was able to soak in the warmth and sun, and he was definitely having fun!

Salcha J6s Monica Bjorklund, Gentry Johnson and Robin Baker share a smile. (Photo: Bert Boyer)

Pete did a good job documenting our ski on the pipeline but since i took 160 pictures in burst mode i thought i should put up one sequence.   Parental advisory (parents should be advised that these images might be disturbing for parents)

Today’s Devo Training Session:

Skate down the pipeline 5k in 30 min.  Stop at Kicker.  Hit Kicker for 45 minutes.  Ski Back.  Refuel with Pie.

Ski In

Stop when you reach the jump

Commence Launch Sequence

Lift-off

Swimming?

'Can we grind that rail?'

Even the coaches got in on the action

1 of 3 monster climbs on the way back

Pie!

Besh Cup races 3 and 4 were very successful for the FXC athletes down in Homer.  Along with excellent results we were also rewarded with lots of sun and temperatures we haven’t felt in Fairbanks since October!  While there were many PRs set at these races our “top 10″ results came from Jade (2 4th place finishes for J3s), Claire (4th J2 in the sprint), Mikayla (9th J2 in the sprint), Skeeto ( 3rd sprint), Hannah (3rd distance), Heather (10th sprint, 8th distance) and Ian (5th sprint).

Upwards of 2000 pictures were snapped over the weekend by FXC parents, staff and athletes and you can find some of them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nick.ferree/Homer12210#

http://bertboyer.zenfolio.com/

I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from my perspective though

A view from the hotel

The wax crew in action

For some reason I’m not as exhausted as I was last year at this point.  Rest days are wholly appreciated here.

It was another good day at the races for us.  Hannah was the 6th J1 and Skeeto had her best finish of the week.  Heather scratched to get over the cold she’s been fighting all week.  Kelsey stepped up his game and qualified for the Junior rounds and rallied to win the B final after looking whupped in the semis.  Jordan fought with skis a bit in the qualifier but sprang back in the junior rounds to finish second (6th junior overall).  Lots of positives and a nice note to end on.

Kelsey in his Semi

Jordan in a blur of semifinal action

Kelsey started toward the back in his B final

Moved his way up through the field

And then charged through the field for the win...

Jordan in the A final

That's a race face

Most of what was going to be decided for us over the week of nationals was decided yesterday in the 5 and 10 km classic races.  This is my third national championship week at Kincaid since moving to Alaska three and a half years ago, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Kincaid Park in that time it is to not trust the forecast.  This was again the case on Wednesday when the snowflakes began falling as Nick and I drove up at 7 AM.  Thinking it might just be a squall before the predicted precip in the late afternoon we didn’t pay much attention to it for a little while until it didn’t let up all day long.

Now the trails may have needed the snow, but classic kick waxing can be a little dicey in fresh snow around freezing.  It was a little drier and a little colder than what could have been wildly variable and rapidly changing conditions, but it still wasn’t as straightforward as your normal classic race is.  Nevertheless, it seemed like most every team was able to find an adequate combination for the conditions, and the kids were happy with their skis.

While results may not have been at the same level as earlier in the week, in three out of four cases we set out to accomplish what we wrote down as goals last spring.  These were some tough goals and a lot needed to be accomplished in terms of training and race day execution, so we are stoked with what we accomplished!  Jordan and Heather were both among the top 20 juniors on the World Junior Championships qualifying list, automatically qualifying them for JOs in March.  Hannah came here to gain experience and did that and as she nearly ended up making the J1 trip, finishing just two places shy of the final position for that trip - she’ll have some great experience under her belt when she heads to Rumford, ME next January.  Skeeto raced her best race of the week and still has more to come.  Kelsey, who is working himself back into fitness after a rough bout with multiple sicknesses this fall had a far more positive distance race than Monday, and a much improved classic distance race over Besh Cup 2.

It has been a positive week and we have one more race to go: tomorrow’s classic sprint.  For now, it’s off to bed for me, but I’ll leave you with a photo each of Skeeto and Kelsey from Wednesday (again courtesy of Bert Boyer).

Another race eve update and the excitement continues…

Another exciting day on Monday, more solid racing from the crew.  Jordan was 13th Junior and now sits in the top 10 on the World Junior qualification list (they plan on taking 6, but the top 20 automatically qualify for JOs in March), Hannah finished as the 6th Junior and now sits 8th on the list for the J1 trip (6 make that one too), and Heather finished as the 12th junior overall and is in that spot on the ladies’ world junior list.

Tomorrow is the last race that will count as a qualifier and we switch techniques to classic skiing for another interval start race of 5 and 10 km for girls and boys, respectively.  Since we are racing later in the day we spent a leisurely morning (the kids mostly slept in, this coach caught up on work elsewhere) before heading to the venue in the early afternoon to test skis for the conditions and get a better understanding of both what each athlete had available to them and what was running well.  It was a reminder for me how valuable it can be to spend some time really working with your skis and understand their ins and outs, and while we don’t experience this type of conditions much, we left the venue in a comfortable place and ready to roll tomorrow.

We finished off the day with some naps (ski waxing and coaches meeting for the support staff), a dinner of ravioli with meat sauce, salad, pineapple, and forgotten and overcooked broccoli, followed by a showing of the Tom Cruise classic Days of Thunder.  Not exactly Oscar material, but a racing-themed film to get the stoke up with a good line or two.  Plus, it was 100 minutes of entertainment for $0.99…

Some pictures of Monday (courtesy of Bert Boyer - I was the guy holding the split sheet in a couple of these):

Kelsey skiing strong on Lap 1

Jordo

Heather getting first lap splits

Hannah: second lap splits

Skeeto pressing into the hill

Well, we’re on the eve of Day 2 and the weather has warmed significantly.  It’s currently 19 at the airport with a 5 mph wind from the north (a good omen for Fairbanks skiers?).   Everyone is resting in their beds while I type this, dreaming of skipping up the hills and rocketing down them.

Day 1 was a great day for our crew.  Jordan, now racing in a Burke suit, finished in the low 20s overall and was the 5th junior.  Heather skied aggressively in the junior rounds and moved from 15th to 10th Junior overall, and Hannah had a strong qualifier to end up 10th on the list for the J1 Scando trip.  Very, very solid races from the group.  It was also fun to help out a former athlete of mine in Lake Placid, Liza Goodwin, who finished 1st in the girls junior finals and 6th junior overall.

On the girls side in particular, we’re generally a stronger distance team, so you can imagine that I’m quite excited to see how well the group can do tomorrow.

Some pictures from Saturday:

Jordan starting his quarterfinal next to a guy who just finished racing the first period of the world cup, and two over from the current supertour leader

Heather on the line for the junior semi

And off!

Edging out a couple of other skiers for third

Start of the Junior Final: Heather next to Liza

Cranking up the hill behind the scoreboard

Liza G crosses the line first in the Jr. Final

Heather finishes fifth for the tenth junior

Probably my favorite picture of the day: Burke coach Matt Johnson and the wax bench he set up in the stadium...

Wax Techs need their strength too: Nick and his lunchtime Eggs a la Rocky

First, a few more pictures of our classic speed work on Thursday AM:

Brandon

Girls team sprint (note the fact that Heather can't avoid laughing/smiling)

Pat

Nick F getting in on the action

Skeeto's new drink belt fashion statement

As mentioned in the previous post, most of the group double poled from Kincaid to Downtown along the coastal trail on Thursday afternoon, while those racing at Nationals prepared pizza (from scratch of course!) for a New Year’s Eve feast.  In all we made 11 pizzas and most of them turned out quite well.

For pictures from the coastal trail check out Nick F’s gallery.

Pizza making pictures:

Making that much dough requires a big mixing bowl and using that mixing bowl requires that one obtain a certain height

press, fold, knead...

and do it some more

Double pole technique? Beginning to 2001: A Space Odyssey? Or just fun to pound a mound of dough?

After dinner we headed downtown to watch the Anchorage town square New Year’s festivities that had a Hawaiian theme and fire twirlers and some sort of dancing singing group (why one would want to be shirtless twirling fire in single digits I’m not sure).  The festivities concluded at about 8 with some fireworks that were partially obscured by smoke.  Still, it was good to get out and do something besides sit inside and train.

Pat up in a tree, setting a bad example for the younger children around

Friday the two groups went their separate ways: the nationals racers went to the venue and prepped for Saturday’s race while the camp group met for a brunch before heading up to Hillside for a 3 hr overdistance ski.

I’m up early this morning… guess I’m excited for the first day of Nationals to get underway.

Here are some pictures from Thursday morning - a classic speed workout we did as a team up at Hillside.  After Wednesday’s intervals and specific strength it was meant as a light, quick workout where we could get what we needed out of it.  Everyone seemed pretty energized after it.

Thursday PM the group split into two focuses - those racing at nationals took the afternoon off and made some pizza, while the training camp group went on what sounded and looked like a pretty awesome double pole workout from Kincaid Park to Downtown Anchorage (where the pizza was baking) before we went to see some smoky fireworks to celebrate new year’s eve.

Pictures from the classic speed:

Nick F and Bob

The boys crew

The Nuge

KB and Vanya

David

Special K

Coaching speed

Stef and Pat

Brandon

Kelsey, Van-Van

Kipp

Skeeto and Heather

(Claire), Megan, Helen

Hannah and Eliza

Mikayla and Rachael (Bundled up on an easy ski as the unfortunate ones who have gotten sick)

Nicky C with the Video Camera

The Fellas

Willie

That’s all for now - time to go have some breakfast and prep some race skis!