Greetings NENSA Community!
Hard to believe March 1st is tomorrow!
The last two weeks have been incrediable for our sport! These Winter Olympics have brought cross country skiing into lives, homes and newspapers of folks who might not have known much about skiing up and down hills on skinny skis before, but they sure do now! It is so wonderful to see what incredible ambassadors our entire US cross country ski team have been, and will continue to be! How great was that to have a cross country skier be the flag bearer at the closing ceremony for the US Team! I am sad the Olympics are over, but excited to have all this great energy and enthusiasm for our sport moving forward!
Speaking of which, I will be up in Freeport ME at the LL Bean Flagship store on Saturday March 31st with Kikkan Randall as she spreads her joy of cross country skiing to girls ages 8-18 with a day of
Fast and Female!
That event is sold out - but there is a youth participant WAIT LIST - click
HERE
find out more information.
This past weekend, the iconic Bogburn Classic Ski Race was held on Saturday, at the Woodstock Nordic Center this year ~ see full write up below (and check out those spiffy new Masters Leader bibs!). And, the second annual Race For Snow was held at the Leo J. Martin Ski Track in Weston MA on Sunday. The Race For Snow was organized by a group of CSU juniors, to raise money and awareness for climate change and 350.org. They raised $1175.00, and this generous gift will help 350.org expand its work to build a global climate movement. Congrats to those high school students for putting on a great race (ironically, in the pouring rain!) and for supporting 350.org!
Championship March is just starting here in New England and across the nation...
Our New England Junior National Team heads out to Soilder Hollow Utah this Saturday for a week of competition, where they will be defending the Alaska Cup, for the fifth year in a row! Then NENSA's U16 Championships will be held the following weekend at Gore Mountain in NY March 9th -11th, and Eastern High School Championships will be at Black Mountain in Rumford ME the weekend of March 16th-18th.
Please note the few schedule changes on our calendar of events ~ most notably for this coming weekend, the Silver Fox Trot will be held at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton VT on Saturday. And good luck to our Masters in pursuit of the
NENSA Marathon Challenger Award
~ I hear a number of you are headed to Rangely to "knock off" that 4th marathon of the season! Best of luck to you all!
Be sure to check out our jam packed Calendar of Events below ~ lots more winter fun still to come!
Best,
Amie
Amie W. Smith
Executive Director
New England Nordic Ski Association
Amie@nensa.net
Be sure to follow us on fb, 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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Jessie Diggins had the Honor of Carrying the Flag for Team USA at the Closing Ceremony!
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Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) was selected to lead the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team into Sunday's Closing Ceremony as flag bearer. Diggins was chosen by a vote of fellow members of Team USA.
A great article on Jessie Diggins, Kikkan Randall and the U.S. women’s cross-country team’s pursuit of happiness from
The Washington Post
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BOGBURN REPORT AND MASTERS UPDATE
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The 2018 Bogburn was perhaps the most diverse citizen’s race we have hosted in New England this year – from fish scales to Olympians. The Woodstock Inn Nordic Center and the Haydock family paired their efforts to make the event happen despite unseasonably warm February temperatures. Racers from Lollipop to Master’s 9 were greeted to a variety of natural, transformed snow that Woodstock has meticulously groomed and conserved this winter. With temperatures hovering in the mid 30’s, and both soft and firm tracks, finding the correct klister added a little excitement to the day — although evolving traditional technique led many in the field, from BKL to master, to forgo grip wax and double pole the entire course due to a significant amount of flat and gradual terrain. Oh the times they are a changing…
You can read more about the race from our Master’s guest writer, Damien Bolduc,
HERE
, as well as RESULTS.
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Diggins Seventh in 30K Classic To Close 2018 Games
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Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) wrapped up the 2018 Olympic Winter Games finishing seventh in the 30k mass start classic race Sunday at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre.
“It was a tough race for sure,” said Diggins, who finished with a time of 1:25:54.8 after suffering a first-lap crash. “Any time you do 30k it is really hard and it takes a lot of guts. For me, it was my worst race of the games, but I was seventh in the world today and I am really proud of that.”
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Craftsbury Outdoor Center Now Accepting Applications for COSA '18-19
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The Craftsbury Outdoor Sports Academy (COSA) is now accepting applications for the 2018-2019 academic year. After piloting the program in 2017, Craftsbury Academy and the Craftsbury Outdoor Center are continuing their collaborative academic and athletic venture and invite all interested students to apply, both within the Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club community and beyond.
Full information on this program can be found on the Craftsbury Website
HERE
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Patterson 11th in 50k Classic
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Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) led Team USA, finishing 11th, in the 50k classic cross country race at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games Saturday at the Alpensia Cross Country Ski Centre.
“I had a great race,” said Patterson, who posted the best-ever finish by a U.S. athlete in the 50k. “It was exciting and for that last 5k people were starting to dangle in front of me. It was really fun picking off some of the big names, I really wanted another couple of K’s to get into the top 10, but still, 11th is awesome for a result.”
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Upcoming Events
A Look Ahead at the NENSA Calendar
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Link to full month by month NENSA.net Calendar Listing
HERE
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Renew your NENSA Membership today, and THANK YOU!
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Take pride in joining the New England Nordic community with your NENSA membership 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.
NEW this fall ~ "upgrade" your membership to either a Contributing Member ($100) or a Lifetime Member ($500 single/$750 couple) and or partner sponsor
Out There Nordic
will send you either a $20 or a $75 gift certificate for your increased membership support to NENSA! It's a win-win, for you and for NENSA!
There are more reasons than ever to re-new your NENSA Membership! In the past few weeks we have added 4 new NENSA Members Only Benefits & Offers to our website ~ and the list is growing every week! Check back often as we will be adding a few more from our wonderful sponsors next week! Go to our "NENSA Members Only Benefits and Offers" tab, under Membership, on NENSA.net to see the latest offers!
Questions?? Email
george@nensa.net
or call (
207-688-6503) George
in our NENSA office - he is there to help you!
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New England Nordic Ski Association | 49 Pineland Drive, Suite 301-A, New Gloucester, ME 04260
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