Week of 12/17 Update

Eastern Cup Recap
The first 2007/8 Eastern Cup in Presque Isle was very successful this weekend. Melanie Ross, Amy Lones, Adele Espy, Molly Susla, Rachel Hall, Sam Humphries, Holly Whitney, and Nate Niles are all to be commended for their efforts! The weekend was very competitive and they all skied wonderfully.

Saturday was a 1k sprint that took place on a terrific course. The 1k course had a corkscrew downhill, a major climb, three small “wall hills”, as well as several corners that made the course very technical. There wasn't anywhere to rest on the course. The day started with a 15 second, individual interval start. The top 30 J1’s and the top 8 J2’s advanced to the heats based on their finish. Rachel Hall, Nate Niles, Holly Whitney, and Adele Espy advanced to the heats later in the afternoon. The highlight of the day was Nate Niles advancing from the semi-finals to the finals. There was a timing delay which delayed the finals until dark. Fortunately, the course was lit. In the finals, under frigid conditions, Nate had his best Eastern Cup finish ever, finishing 4th overall in the J2 boy’s field. Congrats Nate!

On Sunday, there was a 5k classic race under equally frigid yet amazing conditions. The course was equally as technical. It was a 15 second interval start. In the J2 boy’s race, MCN was well represented with Nate Niles finishing 9th and Sam Humphries, in his first Eastern Cup, finishing 10th. In the J2 girl’s race, Rachel Hall had a great race, finishing in 8th place against some strong competition. (On a separate note, take a look at the last picture from the Saturday blog update. We’ve talked a lot about ankle flexion and leading with the knee, Rachel does a great job demonstrating this in the photo)
The J1 women’s race had five MCN skiers participating. The race was attended with skiers from University of New Hampshire, Colby College, Bates College, and Stratton Mountain School. In the strong field, MCN skiers finished 6th, 18th, 36th, 41st, and 44th! The day was highlighted with Adele Espy and Holly Whitney finishing in 6th and 18th place respectively.

All of the skiers gained a lot of experience and this will help prepare them for the high school ski season which is in full swing. Everyone enjoyed themselves and should again be congratulated for their efforts! The next Eastern Cup is in late January at Rumford.

Practice This Week
Here is the practice schedule for this week:

Thursday, 3:30-4:45 Pineland trailhead, freestyle

Saturday, 8:00-10:00 Pineland Visitors Center, classic, Note the location change! (Meet at the visitor’s center, I want to wax skis for classic practice and I may need to use and iron) I realize it’s early but I have to attend a family Christmas party.