Greetings NENSA community,

On nearly the eve of NENSA's 2nd Eastern Cup, this one a combined EISA College Carnival, there is a sense of deja vu as we face the combined lack of natural snow and incoming storm! We continue to appreciate the commitment of all of our race organizers, officials, and coaches in visiting and revisiting plans and collaborating to put on events that are of the caliber we all aspire. All updates and reports are below and we are looking forward to a very exciting weekend of racing in Rumford.

In this week’s edition of KickZone

• 2023 Bogburn Classic Recap
• U.S. Senior Nationals Update and Team Namings
• Chisholm Ski Club Eastern Cup and Bates Carnival
• 48th Annual Geschmossel
• NENSA Women's Day Update
• FISU World University Games in Lake Placid
• NENSA membership
• Scenes from the Community
• Skirack/Patagonia: Banff Film Festival, January 26-28

In the news

• U.S. Ski & Snowboard: Ogden Makes History, Brennan Fourth, Laukli Third in Final Climb
• FasterSkier: Sophia Laukli’s First World Cup Podium as Karlsson and Klaebo Win Tour de Ski on the Slopes of the Alpe Cermis

Keep doing snow dances, but also take comfort in knowing that there are lot of good folks working hard to make winter happen!

All my best,

Heidi

Heidi Lange

Executive Director

New England Nordic Ski Association

heidi@nensa.net

www.NENSA.net

Thank you!

Memberships directly support all of our year-round programming,

backing us in our mission to nurture and sustain an active cross country ski

community for all ages and levels throughout the East. 

Thank you for taking a minute to join or renew your NENSA membership,

and for the important support that it provides!

Please join me in thanking and supporting our wonderful NENSA Sponsors 

for their generous contributions and the ongoing impact that they have on NENSA programming and cross country skiing in New England!

We keep using the word miracle to describe many of the events we are having despite a challenging start to winter for the East Coast. Perhaps what stood out the most about the 2023 Bogburn was a robust, indoor awards in the Rikert Outdoor Center’s Barn. Over one hundred BKL skiers and their families gathered in a way we haven’t seen in quite some time — to honor both participation and outstanding performances — with a rustic podium background humbly displaying Olympic bibs from past Middlebury skiers.

The Bogburn is a beloved event and the life’s work of Bob Haydock — however this year, and perhaps into the future, Rikert jumped at the offer to host as there was no considerable snow in Pomfret. Rikert’s new manager did some research and helped retain the character of a simple track passing through the woods. Despite the stark difference of racing on manmade snow — the course had beautiful undulations and several opportunities for two-way traffic. The balance of new and old school was struck perfectly....read much more, see photos, and links to current and historical results HERE.

Last week nearly 100 Eastern skiers competed at the 2023 U.S. Cross Country Ski National Championships in Houghton, Michigan. The races in Houghton served as qualification for a number of events including the U18 Nordic Nations Cup and World Junior and World U23 Cross Country Championships. Full qualifications for U18, Junior and U23 World Championships can be found HERE.

The top-20 juniors from the first three events also prequalified for Junior Nationals in Fairbanks, AK, March 13-16. Eastern Clubs and Teams qualified a potential of 15 athletes via this criteria. College coaches are encouraged to reach out to NENSA’s Competitive Program Director justin@nensa.net with potential intents for JN’s.

Congratulations to Eastern skiers who qualified for the following teams:

Junior World Championships: Whistler Olympic Park, Canada, Jan. 27 - Feb. 5

Women

• Haley Brewster - UVM
• Ava Thurston - Dartmouth
• Hattie Barker - UNH

Men

• Jack Lange - Dartmouth
• Tabor Greenberg - GMVS

U23 World Championships: Whistler Olympic Park, Canada, Jan. 27 - Feb. 5

• John Steel Hagenbuch - Dartmouth

U18 Nordic Nations Cup: Jyvaskyla, Laajavuori (FIN) February 17-19th, 2023

• Tabor Greenberg - GMVS
• Fin Bailey - SMS

Originally staged during the winter of 1972-73, the Geschmossel is one of New England’s oldest citizens’ races. The race originated as a 6-kilometer fun race, and was groomed with a homemade track sled that was pulled by a rope from a grooming machine. Today this 15 km classical style Nordic ski race is part of the ZAK Cup Series and takes place on the Ammonoosuc trail network at the Bretton Woods Nordic Center, and has grown to attract high-level skiers including members of the United States Ski Team.

Registration is open and plans are proceeding, though dependent on the net snow gain from Thursday's storm. A final decision will be made by Saturday.

Remember: NENSA numbers are required for Club and Zak Cup scoring and

NENSA members receive a 20% discount on the entry fee using

the coupon code provided with membership signup/renewal. 

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:

Each year the NENSA Women’s XC Ski Day event raises money for a nonprofit local to the event venue doing meaningful work in the community. The event raises money through registration fees, raffle ticket sales, and direct donations to the benefit organization on the registration page.

This year’s event is raising money for Starting Point which is a non-profit organization in Conway, NH dedicated to ensuring quality services are provided to victims of relationship violence and sexual abuse, preventing future relationship violence, promoting social change, and encouraging accountability and education for perpetrators and stalkers. If you would like to make an additional donation to the organization, you can do so through the registration page HERE.

Please note that the 2023 Women’s Day event is full! This year's event has been quite popular and our waitlist is long. You can check your position on the waitlist HERE (please note that we are moving people off the waitlist in the order they registered from both the NENSA member and nonmember lists). There is no day-of registration this year and we are unable to accept day-of substitutions for folks who are no shows. Thanks for understanding!

We will also be posting any relevant updates to our website HERE including information about a possible Women's Ski Day offering at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine.

Reporting Misconduct and New QR Code for Reporting

Whether you are a coach, parent, volunteer, or athlete, we all play a role in providing a safe environment for the sports that we love. U.S. Ski & Snowboard  Athlete Safety policies, the SafeSport Code, and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard MAAPP help us support that culture of safety.  

• If you witness or are aware of inappropriate behavior or misconduct - REPORT IT!
• Reports may be made anonymously!
• Child Abuse and Child Sexual Abuse – Report to law enforcement or child protective services in your jurisdiction immediately.
• Reports to the Center - SafeSport hotline at 833-5US-SAFE (587-7233) or CLICK HERE to complete an online reporting form.
• Reports to U.S. Ski & Snowboard - CLICK HERE

You may see QR codes posted at events this season. The QR codes open a page on www.usskiandsnowboard.org for quick links to reporting from your smartphone.

Thank you for your diligence in maintaining sport safety and protecting our athletes. 

The 2023 FISU World University Games in Lake Placid officially get underway with an opening ceremony tomorrow and the first cross country event, a mixed team sprint, on Friday. Full event information can be found HERE.

Congratulations and best of luck to the cross country skiers representing Eastern colleges:

Women

Nina Seeman- Dartmouth College

Lucinda Anderson-University of New Hampshire

Renae Anderson-Bowdoin College

Annie McColgan- University of Vermont

Erin Bianco- Colby College

Men

John Steel Hagenbuch- Dartmouth College

Finn Sweet- University of Vermont

Gregory Burt- University of Vermont

Cameron Wolfe- Dartmouth College

Coaching Staff

Perry Thomas- SMS T2

Margaret Maher- Northwood School

Kathy Maddock- Dublin XC

It is time to renew NENSA memberships. NENSA membership is required for attendance at the BKL Festival, Eastern Cup, U16 and EHS Championship events, as well as for Junior National, Zak, and Club Cup rankings. NENSA members receive discounted entry fees to many of our events as well as exclusive offers from our sponsors that are constantly added and updated HERE. Membership directly supports our year-round programming, backing us in our mission to nurture and sustain an active cross country ski community for all ages and levels throughout the East. Thank you for taking a minute to tend to your renewal, and for the important support your membership provides!



THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA SUPPORTING SPONSORS:

Ogden Makes History, Brennan Fourth, Laukli Third in Final Climb

January 8, 2023 | by Leann Bentley

Today was a day for career-bests and rewriting history. Sophia Laukli nabbed her best-ever World Cup result, Ben Ogden made history with the top finish by a U.S. male in the Tour de Ski and Rosie Brennan finished top five overall through the seven stages.

The Final Climb: To cap off the grueling Tour de Ski, the final stage took the athletes still in contention up the Alpe Cermis resort, a 10k course that approaches nearly 30 degrees of steepness at points. The Final Climb course is considered the hardest course on the FIS World Cup circuit as it winds up 10k of alpine terrain with grades that one typically only skis down, not up. 

Laukli, or as her teammates call her, the "uphill queen" left it all out on the course and finished the day in third, skiing to her first career World Cup podium and the best result of her career. Throughout the race, Laukli made pivotal moves that left the women around her shocked.

Laukli, also a professional trail runner, is all too familiar with steep elevation gain in short distances, making the Final Climb far less intimidating. Her experience with steep grades, pushing it through intense elevation gain and just being an overall great skier, led her to make the move onto the podium for the first time in her career. 

“This result is really motivating and it’s so fun to end the Tour on this race. Today topped it all off for sure and I’ll savor this feeling forever!” Laukli said, post-race...read more HERE

Overall Tour de Ski Standings: For the overall Tour de Ski standings, history was made. Ogden finished in 13th, marking the best result of any U.S. in Tour de Ski history. The young American skier has made a rapid push to become a strong and consistent contender on the World Cup circuit and his overall result shows why he deserves to be at the top...read more HERE

Sophia Laukli’s First World Cup Podium as Karlsson and Klaebo Win Tour de Ski on the Slopes of the Alpe Cermis

January 8, 2023 | by Ben Theyerl

Laukli Highlights Women’s Race with First Podium

Sophia Laukli spent the past year seeking out the most challenging propositions in endurance sports, and learning to make them her specialty. Last year on the Alpe, she recorded a 5th place finish alongside teammate Novie McCabe in 7th that marked a definitive breakout. Already then, the goal was set. Return to the Alpe in 2023, and seize it. In the interim, she has run and skied her way to the top of climbs around the world, winning the Lysbotn Opp rollerski climb last July ahead of Heidi Weng and Delphine Claudel, who were 1st and 3rd up the Alpe, respectively, last year. Through highs and lows in this Tour, she was able to keep sight of her “big goals for today” as she put it in post-race comments.

When it comes to the unexpected, however, one can only prepare just so much: “Right before the climb started, I got tripped up and lost all the positions I had made up [by working the flat section],” she said. “I was back to being in the back of the pack going into the climb.” 

Her experience on the climb told her two things: “Tactically, it’s very difficult to pass people, and [the Alpe] is a long climb.” Laukli held it together. She found her teammates, Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan, climbing in 5th and 6th place through the crux of the Alpe. Laukli held her emotions in check, saying she, “[didn’t go] full-on panic mode, and [it] saved me today.” There was poise. There was patience. And there was also a whole lot of power. It appeared impossible that she could climb back to the podium, and yet Sophia Laukli had taken that word and controlled it: it was impossible how well she was skiing. 

That fact became most apparent in the final 200 meters of the race. Having begun the day at the back of the pack, Laukli had raced herself into position to stand on the podium for the first time in her World Cup career. None of that would come easy; she crossed the finish line and folded over in the snow. Five minutes later, she stepped onto the podium in third place. The 22 year old Maine native, and current University of Utah skier, became the first of her new generation of American women to achieve that milestone...read more HERE

THANK YOU TO OUR NENSA OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS:

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