Greetings NENSA Community ~
Championship March continues on strong!
- Team New England WON the Alaska Cup at U.S. Junior Nationals in Alaska this past week (the divisional national title!) See my thoughts below on this 6th win in a row, as well as recaps for race day three the classic mass start and day four the freestyle team relays. For full JN results: www.juniornationalsxc2019.com
- Will Solow (Colby College) and U20 mens JN team member, was the recipient of the Dave Quinn Award, in incredible honor, at U.S. Junior Nationals on Saturday night (see box below for full story)
- Eastern High School Championships was a huge success in Fort Kent Maine this past weekend ~ see recap and photos below.
- Trina Hosmer (Stowe Nordic) won her age group in the Noregian Berkie by 28 minuets (!) this past week in Lillehammer Norway ~ see box below
- World Cup Finals are in Quebec City this weekend ~ looking forward to seeing many of you there cheering on our New England and USST members! See WC weekend primer below.
Save the date: Sunday April 7th for both the Cochran's Nordic Cross fun race, AND our NENSA Masters End of Season Awards for our Zak Cup, Club Cup and Marathon Challenger winners.
And as always, be sure to check out all the
NENSA NEWS from the Field below, and 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
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NENSA News from the Field
Highlights and Notes from NENSA and the Nordic World
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Team NENSA brings the Alaska Cup back to New England for a 6th straight year in a row!
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NENSA could not be more proud of Team New England. The depth and team work displayed last week at U.S. Junior Nationals, both with the athletes and the coaching and wax tech staff were nothing short of amazing. Winning the the overall national divisional title at JN's is such a privilege and an honor. We assume nothing (but certainly hope), and arrive each year to these Junior National Championships to do our very best. I believe this 6th consecutive win for team New England (and 10th win out of the last 11 years) shows we are doing something right here at NENSA and in our New England region. This win is the sum of many smaller steps ~ that starts at our BKL youth level, and grows into Eastern Cup racing, U16 Championships, and EHS Championships ~ they are the stepping stones of development and long range success. Thank you to all the coaches back home, at every age level, as well as the clubs, teams and supportive families. I am always impressed with the way all the athletes, coaches, clubs, and teams from four different states that make up our NENSA region come together as colleagues and friends to make NENSA's Team New England thrive!
NENSA would also like to thank the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage, for putting on an amazing week of JN racing and fun in Alaska, and to all the race officials and volunteers who worked so hard all week to make it such a success.
We look forward to sharing the Alaska Cup with our NENSA members at different events this coming year, and to defending it again in Truckee CA next March 2020!
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Will Solow is honored as the recipient of the Dave Quinn Award at US Junior Nationals
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The Dave Quinn Award is awarded each year to one Junior National athlete. Each of the 10 divisions nominates one person, and then all 10 divisional cast one vote. The winner is announced at the final awards ceremony. This year, this honor was bestowed on one of New England's own, Will Solow, of Heinsberg VT and currently a freshman at Colby College. The Dave Quinn Award recognizes that JN athlete who best exemplifies the ideals of the cross country sport that Dave Quinn expressed thought out his life. In addition to outstanding results, nominees should have special attributes such as love of the sport, leadership, overcoming hardship, work ethic, etc. which make them unique.
Click
HERE
to read the lovely nomination presentation on Will Solow from his Colby assistant coach, and JN U20 mens coach, Jackson Bloch.
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NENSA's Eastern High School CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
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The New England skiing community descended on Fort Kent, Maine this weekend for the final high school championship event of the 2019 season, Eastern High School Championships. Fort Kent Outdoor Center was our host for the weekend, and they pulled out all the stops with great grooming, fantastic course design, a well set up stadium, and the first Nordic Cross sprint ever held at EHSC! Teams from New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts made the trip north to race, and we were super excited to have guest skiers Elizabeth Anderson from Connecticut, and Sam Bosse from New Brunswick, Canada with us for the weekend as well.
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Junior Nationals Update:
Race day three, the classic mass start
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Friday March 15th was the third day of Junior National racing in Anchorage Alaska. Team New England again came out strong in the mass start classic distance races, and by the end of the day, we two more National Champions, and 5 podiums in 5 of our 6 age groups, including two gold, one silver and two bronze medals. We also had 15 All American's which is awarded to athletes who finish in the top 10 at US Junior Nationals. Congrats to all!
- Trey Jones (GVMS) won the gold medal 🥇 in the U16 boys 5k
- Sophia Laukli (SMS) won the gold medal 🥇 in the U20 Woman’s 10k, and Callie Young (Dartmouth) got 9th
- Ava Thurston (Mansfield Nordic) got 2nd place 🥈 in the U16 girls 5k, and Sofia Scirica, (CSU juniors) got 8th
- Griffin Wright (Craftsbury) got 3rd 🥉in the U18 men's 10k, Will Koch (SMS) got 4th, Finn Sweet (Craftsbury) got 6th, and Josh Valentine (GMVS) got 8th.
- Charlotte Ogden (SMS) took 3rd 🥉 in the U18 women’s 10k, Nina Seeman (SMS) got 4th and Anna Lehmann (SMS) got 8th
- In the U20 men's 15k Conor Munns (SMS) took 7th, and Will Solow (Colby) got 8th, and Andrew Meyer (UNH) got 10th
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Junior Nationals Update:
Final race day #4 ~
the freestyle team relay!
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Saturday March 16th was the team freestyle 3x3k relay races at Junior Nationals, which included 4 podiums ~ one gold, 2 silver and one bronze medals. Congrats to all!
- It was a 🥇 gold medal for the U20 women’s New England JN relay team of Kirsten Miller (Colby), Callie Young (Dartmouth) and Sophia Laukli (SMS)
- U16 girls relay team of Quincy Massy-Bierman (Craftsbury), Sofia Scirica (CSU juniors) and Ava Thurston (Mansfield Nordic) won 2nd place🥈
- It’s was also a silver medal 🥈 for the U18 women’s relay team of all SMS athletes, Charlotte Ogden, Nina Seeman and Anna Lehmann
- It was a bronze medal 🥉for the U20 men's relay team of Will Solow (Colby), Conor Munns (SMS) and Andrew Meyer (UNH)
- Rounding out the top 5 relay team finishes were:
- The U18 men's relay team was 4th ~ Josh Valentine (GMVS), Griffin Wright (Craftsbury) and Will Koch (SMS)
- The U16 boys relay team was 4th ~ Aidan Burt (Mansfield), Mathias Boudreau-Golfman (SMS) and Trey Jones (GMVS)
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Heading to Quebec City this weekend??
Here is the U.S. Ski Team
World Cup Finals in Québec Primer
(Courtesy of FasterSkier)
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Heading into the final weekend of World Cup racing, the U.S. Ski Team will be allotted a greater number of starts. Starting with Friday’s sprint, racing will be organized in Québec, Canada. Not technically the U.S., but it is North America. The International Ski Federation’s rules state that when Canada hosts a World Cup, the U.S. is considered part of the “nation’s group”. In Québec the weekend, you’ll see some new U.S. faces on the World Cup roster.
Read full story HERE
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NENSA Masters racer Trina Hosmer wins her age group at the Norwegian Berkie,
by a land slide!
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A number of NENSA Masters traveled to Norway last week to participate in the Masters World Cup happening March 8th - 17th.
After the Masters WC, Trina Hosmer went to Lillehammer to ski the Norwegian Berkie, and she won her age group, 70-74 years young, by 28 minutes! Congrats to Trina on that wonderful accomplishment and for always being such an inspiration to us all!
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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
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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.
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Save the Date: Sunday April 7th
Our skiing fun and celebrating is not yet done!
NENSA's Masters Season End Awards!
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Join the fun with Cochran's and NENSA on Sunday April 7th for the fun Nordic Cross Race for all ages, pancakes, plus,
our NENSA Season End Masters Awards.
Celebrate Citizen racing and the New England skiing community.
Zak Cup, Club Cup and Marathon Challengers winners!
Full details in KickZone next week!
Sponsored by SWIX and TOKO - refreshments TBA
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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!
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Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
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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
March 7th-15th, 2020, US Junior Nationals in Truckee CA
March 17th, 2020 World Cup Race in Minneapolis MN - USA!!!
Full NENSA.net Calendar Listing
HERE
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New England Nordic Ski Association
49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301-A, New Gloucester, ME 04260
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