Greetings NENSA Community!

Hats off to Frost Mountain Nordic, the Rikert Ski Center, the organizers and volunteers who made the 2019 New England Bill Koch Festival such a HUGE success this past weekend. 518 youth, their parents and coaches attended two days of fun filled racing, relays, games and mini marathon tours though the woods to cabins serving hot coco, cider and cider donuts ~ what could be better! See full recap below, along with the link to all the festival photos.

Save the Date ~ The SkiRack in Burlington VT and Fischer, are bringing Kikkan Randall to Sleepy Hollow Vermont on Wednesday March 20th from 4-6pm. There will be an opportunity to ski with Kikkan, followed by and Q&A, and the chance to purchase Kikkan/Fischer buffs to support her charity AKTIV against Cancer. Sleepy Hollow will also be waiving their trail fees and instead giving you to opportunity to make a donation to Kikkan's charity.

It is officially Championship March ~ this weekend, 3/8-3/10 brings the NENSA U16 Championships in Bethel Maine. See box below for a preview!

Our Junior National Team officially arrives in Anchorage this Friday & Saturday. Check out this website for the full JN schedule of events and info: www.juniornationalsxc2019.com

The University of Vermont is currently hosting the 2019 NCAA Skiing Championships for the fifth time. Nordic races are being held at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe VT. UVM has a one point lead after day one. They race again tomorrow, Friday 3/8.

This coming weekend also brings the Craftsbury Spring Fling on Saturday 3/9 and the NE Club Relay Championships on Sunday 3/10. See calendar listing at the bottom of this newsletter for more details on those fun races.

Next weekend, 3/15-3/17 brings the NENSA Eastern High School Championships in Fort Kent Maine, and, there is currently a contingency of New England Masters skiers in Norway competing in the World Cup Masters. WOW ~ so much great racing to be had still this month!

Check out all the NENSA NEWS from the Field below, and check out all the great races and events coming up on our full NENSA Calendar of Events at the bottom of this eNewsletter.

Best,
Amie

Amie W. Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net

NENSA does a lot of social media posting and updates on our social media platforms ~ be sure to follow us on
Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram @nensa_nordic
NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
BILL KOCH LEAGUE FESTIVAL 2019: GLIDING ON THE WILD SIDE AT RIKERT
NENSA is happy to announce that we just wrapped up another successful New England Bill Koch League Festival at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton VT! The BKL Festival is the premiere event of the New England youth skiing season, and includes a great mix of racing and just-for-fun events.

The crew at Rikert and our host club Frost Mountain Nordic knocked it out of the park this year, with stellar grooming, great courses, and a fun atmosphere that permeated the entire weekend. The festival theme was Glide on the Wild Side, and woodland creatures of all shapes and sizes were out in full force! Read more HERE....

Want to see all the great photos Dave takes? Follow him on Instagram @DavePriganc
~ thank you Dave Priganc and Frost Mountain Nordic for sharing these great photos!
THANK YOU LL Bean Bootmobile and Fischer
for being a part of our NENSA New England BKL Festival Weekend ~ it was so wonderful to have you there!
CITIZEN RACING UPDATE
ZAK AND CLUB SERIES
It’s hard to believe but the final Zak and Club races of the season are happening this weekend — turns out time flies when there are great conditions! If you are looking to score some final Zak points for yourself or help gain a few more spots for your club don’t delay – sign up today!

Saturday – Craftsbury Spring Fling (Zak & Club)
Sunday – New England Club Relay Championships 4 x 5km (Club)

There are also a few more options this weekend if your looking for a low key citizen race closer to your home valley:
Sunday – Valley Cup at Ole’s – Warren, VT or Breadloaf Citizens Race – Ripton, VT

If you haven’t been following the ranking of our masters skiers this winter you should check out some of the hotly contested age group competition here: Men Age Group and Women Age Group. With 21 race opportunities to score points this season we have 150 male and 50 females in the hunt. As a reminder only NENSA members are scored for Zak points – and these impressive numbers are just a fraction of the skiers that have been out enjoying spectacular events at touring centers throughout New England! Our hats are off to the venues that are making XC thrive.

Club scoring has been fun to watch too and there are currently 36 clubs making their push to the finish. NWVE has continued to show that it is the most active club in New England with a lead of almost 500 points over CSU in second. Over the final weekend there will be a dual for the third position between Mansfield Nordic Club and Craftsbury – especially as races this weekend are hosted by the two clubs… at Craftsbury!

And finally the Lake Placid Nordic Festival (including the Lake Placid Loppet / final marathon race of the Marathon Series) is going to be one to remember with fantastic conditions at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg trails at the Olympic Sports Complex.

Stay tuned for more updates and the potential of an end of year awards celebration.

U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS AT BETHEL VILLAGE TRAILS THIS WEEKEND
This coming weekend, Bethel Village Trails will host the annual NENSA U16 Eastern Championships!

The event began modestly in 1992 and has since grown into one of the highlights of the season for junior athletes. Each New England state and New York can qualify their 24 their fastest U16 year old boys and girls. Four races take place over 2 1/2 days.

This year we are excited to have guest teams joining us from the Midwest, and from Great Lakes Division. These guest teams add to the fun and excitement of the weekend, and give New England athletes a chance to connect with their counterparts from other regions!

Bethel has seen no shortage of snow this year, and the crew at Bethel Village Trails has been hard at work setting up a series of amazing race courses for our junior skiers.

For schedules, course maps, parent information, start lists, and results please see the link below.

Salomon Nordic dominates the biggest race in North America, the American Birkebeiner!
Congrats to our NENSA sponsor Salomon Nordic who took home 50% of the podium places at the 2019 American Birkebeiner with Akeo Maifeld-Carucci winning the men’s race for the first time. This was also the first time Salomon has had a winner using our whole package of skis, boots, bindings, and poles. Anja Gruber finished 2nd in the women’s race also using our skis, boots, bindings, and poles. Matt Liebsch raced to 3rd on our skis, boots, and bindings, and all three raced on our S/Lab Carbon Skate Yellow ski.

Salomon also did really well at the recent World Championships in Seefeld as evidenced by the podium photo below! Go Salomon!
Looking for more current Cross Country Ski News?? Check out these links on our NENSA.net website for the latest Social Media, Ski Community News, News at NENSA and back issues of KickZone
Thank You SWIX
THANK YOU SWIX for this great New England Junior National Team Hat for 2019! We will be looking spiffy in Anchorage next week thanks to these, and our awesome NE Team SWIX uniforms!
SafeSport Program

NENSA has always urged ALL New England coaches, parent volunteers, venue volunteers and anyone working with youth to take the SafeSport on-line course and get certified. NENSA has been requiring this of all our staff and volunteer coaches and wax techs at JN's and REG Camps for several years now. So please take time this season to be sure all your club volunteers and coaches are SafeSport certified. Do it today.
Renew  your NENSA Membership today, and THANK YOU!

Take pride in joining the New England Nordic community with your NENSA membership and in knowing your dues are coming right back to you in the form of NENSA programming and our ongoing support of venues, clubs, athletes and coaches across the region. 

There are more reasons than ever to re-new your NENSA Membership! We now have  NENSA Members Only Benefits & Offers  on our website ~ Check back often as we will be adding more from our wonderful sponsors as the season progresses! Go to our "NENSA Members Only Benefits and Offers" tab, under Membership, on NENSA.net to see the latest offers!

Questions about renewing your membership?? Email  preston@nensa.net  or call (207-688-6503) Preston in our NENSA office - he is there to help you! 

Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
Upcoming Events:
March 23 FIS Junior Invitationa l Rac e in Quebec City at the WC races

Save these Dates ~ more to come soon!
May 4th & 5th: NENSA's Spring Board Meeting weekend in Hanover NH
June 24th - 28th: Eastern REG Camp in Lake Placid NY
August 3rd: The App Gap Challenge Rollerski Race in Waitsfield VT

Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing HERE
New England Nordic Ski Association
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301-A, New Gloucester, ME 04260
Call: 207.688.6503 | www.nensa.net