Good Morning New England Junior National Fans! www.xcjuniornationals2018.com will host 3 options for “watching” the race, under the results tab. Races start at 9am MT today! Go Team New England! #bringbacktheAKcup #racingfastisfun! #oneteam
NENSA News
Bogburn Report and Masters Update
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.
There has been a fantastic display of competition and camaraderie this winter in the Zak Cup Series – and we currently have 104 men and 42 women vying for Age Group titles. These numbers only represent current NENSA masters members, and we have many more skiers who we hope join the action for 2019. We are working hard to improve the citizen racing scene for all racers and we always welcome feedback ([email protected]). Many of our Zak skiers are looking forward to their award mugs and we have a few tricks up our sleeve for end of the year awards, including lodging at the Trapp Family Lodge for our Overall male and female winners and leaders bibs for our four Age Group winners (ties broken by overall).
Speaking of leaders bibs – NENSA and our wonderful sponsors, LL Bean, Nokian Tires and Swix are happy to recognize our top M1-6 and M7+ skiers in each gender with these snazzy bibs (model M8, Leigh Mallory, NWVE).
Moving into the Flying Moose Classic on March 10th the following skiers will have the yellow jerseys:
Eli Enman – Male M1-6 leader
Rob Bradlee – Male M7+ leader
Sarah Pribram – Female M1-6 leader
Carrie Nourjian – Female M7+ leader
You can find complete Age Group and now Overall Zak rankings on our website.
It’s hard to believe there are only three more Zak Cup events left this season – so make the most of it and sign up for one or all of them! You can access the link to registrations by clicking the name of the events below. We will be updating the rankings shortly after each race to keep folks up to date on Zak Cup standings.
Mar. 10 – Flying Moose Classic
22km, mass start
Bethel, ME
Mar. 11 – Mansfield Nordic Skiathlon
3x2km Classic & 3x2km Skate, mass start
Craftsbury Outdoor Center, VT
Mar. 24 – Craftsbury Spring Fling
30km for M1-M6; 15km for M7+ Skate, mass start
Our Citizens Programming will wrap up with the second annual New England Club Relay Championships held in Craftsbury in conjunction with Super Tour Finals. This event will be the determining factor of Club Cup scoring for 2018. Currently NWVE has a solid lead on the CSU for the second year in a row – but what will unfold in the next races…
March 25 – New England Club Relay Championships
2 x 5km Classic, 2 x 5 km Skate Relay – Craftsbury, VT
Congrats to all our racers and a special thanks go out to Nick Mahood (and his staff at Woodstock) and Bob Haydock (founder of the Bogburn) – for all of their energy to make cross country skiing thrive in New England.
2018 New England Junior National Team
NENSA is pleased to announce the 2018 New England Junior National Ski Team who will compete in Soldier Hollow, Utah from March 6th – 10th. Forty-four skiers from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont will represent our division, vying for National Championships— and working together to try and defend the Alaska Cup, the overall team award for the fifth year in a row.
Team New England, will travel with 13 staff members, and compete on the 2002 Winter Olympic and 2017 Junior World Championship courses. The US Ski and Snowboard XC Junior National Championships brings together racers from 10 regions of the country – including New England, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Central CXC/Great Lakes, High Plains, Rocky Mountain, Intermountain, Far West, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska for three individual races and a relay event. You can read more about the Championships on the https://www.xcjuniornationals2018.com/ website.
Skiers qualified for the New England team through our Eastern Cup Series, and specified out of region races. The level of competition at our regional races was very impressive this season and we were fortunate to have great venues and conditions for racing. You can view final rankings and see the depth of our skiers for the 2018 season here: U18/20 Women, U18/U20 Men, U16 Girls, U16 Boys. NENSA would like to congratulate all of our skiers on a great beginning to the season and continued success.
We thank the entire region for pushing forward the level of skiing and making a fun environment for our athletes to thrive. Please stay tuned for event updates as these forty-four exceptional New England athletes compete against the best skiers in the country.
Sun, Snow and Fun for the 2018 New England Bill Koch League Festival
Weston, MA- The weather in New England has been extreme and unpredictable this winter, however the snowmakers at the Leo J. Martin Ski Track made snow every chance they could to ensure snow for this year’s NENSA New England Bill Koch League Festival hosted by the Eastern Mass Bill Koch League Club. This past Friday, the temperatures where warm, and rain had started to fall, but the man made snow was sure to stick around long enough for the NEBKL Festival weekend.
On Saturday morning, skiers arrived and set up their tents in the “tent city” where music played, and everyone could get their face painted, glittered, and fake tattooed with the festival logo at the Nordic Adventure tent. During the day, the Nordic Adventure activities included orienteering, face painting, an obstacle course, tail tag, and tandem skiing. As the day went on, temperatures rose and the sun started to shine. The L.L. Bean Bootmobile arrived with fun L.L. Bean swag, and chances to get a picture with the famous boot! Everyone visited the Swix, Atomic and Fisher tents, the Green Mountain Valley School, Friends of Leo J. Martin and SKIDA who was there selling festival hats, buffs and headbands.
Man made snow had been blown overnight and had been pushed over the track for the days freestyle races. The relay races started with the grades 1-2 and went up through to the grades 7-8 before a break for awards and the Snowdance parade.
Bill Koch was on the club house deck to hand out awards to all the relay teams. Skiers grinned as they received their awards with their relay partners, and after the awards, everyone ran to get their SNOWDANCE theme costumes for the parade. The parade marched around the clubhouse, with representation from clubs in Disco outfits, snowflake costumes, reggae regalia, and other creative costumes.
After the parade Bill Koch stayed on the deck after the parade to greet skiers and autograph their bibs, hats and pictures.
On Saturday afternoon, there were freestyle sprint races for grades 3-8. This sprint course went off in waves of 6, giving skiers the experience of skiing in a heat, but only having to race the course one time. This was a very spectator friendly and fun race to watch!
That evening, participants gathered at the host hotel, the Embassy Suites Hotel in Waltham, MA for a pasta buffet dinner with two seatings, a fun photo booth, lots of socializing, watching the Olympics, swimming in the pool and riding up and down in the elevators!
Six inches of snow greeted skiers on Sunday morning for the individual classic races. The SNOWDANCES had worked, and it was fun to celebrate our love for snow together as a community! Grades 1-4 had their races during the morning, and after the sprint awards from the races the following day, the graduating 8th graders skied down into the stadium to receive a wooden memento as graduates and where Bill Koch handed out certificates to each graduate. Then they lined the finish of the lollipop course for the lollipop race. Lollipop-ers excitedly waited for their turn to ski the course, and on “GO” it was a scurry to the line, skiing down the tunnel of 8th graders who handed them lollipops as they went!
The sun shone brightly as the classic races for 5-8th graders rounded out the day on Sunday, with the award ceremony for the top 20 skiers in each gender. During the day on Sunday, skiers made ice-cream, played bean bag biathlon and other games, and tried out the obstacle course. There were lots of smiling, glittery faces, having fun on skis with their New England ski community!
This festival could not have happened without the Eastern Mass Bill Koch League as the host club with their many volunteers and organizers, and the event site the Leo J. Martin Ski Track. Thank you to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the oldest regional park system in the country-including the land on which the 2018 festival was held! Thank you to the Friends of Leo J. Martin Skiing, a non-profit organization that ensures that Leo J. Martin remains a vibrant home to Cross-Country skiing and other forms of winter recreation. Thank you to the Charles River Watershed Association for being race headquarters for the weekend, and to the Cambridge Sports Union which supports Nordic athlete development in Eastern Massachusetts for all of their volunteer support during the weekend.
We could not have had the weekend without NENSA’s Associate Sponors: L.L. Bean, Swix, and Nokian Tyres, and the Festival platinum sponsors Whole Foods Market, Thoughtforms, Bikeway Source, Ciclismo Classico, and McNeill Baur. Thank you to the Festival gold sponsors Caldwell Sport, Wachusett Mountain, and Windblown. The silver sponsors Jackson’s Honest, Clif bar, Green Mountain Valley School, Kroka Expeditions and SKIDA. The bronze sponsors Stratton Mountain School, Green Mountain Creamery, and Formaggio Kitchen.