McCall for the win

After what feels like a very short season of training and racing, we are finally getting ready to head to Truckee, California for the 2015 Junior Nationals! The final deciding race was held last weekend in McCall, Idaho. The whole intermountain squad made the long trek to these beautiful trails in the Ponderosa State Park. It was definitely worthwhile, because we were able to ski some fun trails and we experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen!

The beautiful sunset of day 1, featuring Payette Lake

The first day of racing was classic sprints. In the prelim everyone has stellar races and everyone qualified for the heats. In the quarter finals a good majority of the Wasatch athletes moved on including, Karsten, Henry, Sarah, Olivia, and myself. Everyone else was close by a hair. After those races we moved on to the semifinals. I was in the second semifinal with Olivia. Sadly, I had a bit of bad luck and backtracked a little bit on the uphill by literally falling on my butt. It was all good though because Olivia was able to move on to the A final! I got to represent Wasatch in the B final. Woop Woop! Olivia skied into second place and made everyone very proud while I also made the second position in my final. Sarah, originally a U14 but skiing up to U16, finished 5th in her B final. Karsten and Henry both skied very well and finished 3rd and 4th. Overall, it was a good day for Team Wasatch! 

After a fun first day of racing, we hit the town and decided to check out some of the local thrift stores. Our treasures were quite astounding...

We decided that Jenae needs to model ski goggles

And that Olivia needs to model mens clothing

On Sunday morning they held mass start skate races. Almost everyone skied a shortened version of the races that they usually ski. For the U18/U20 women, the distance was only a 5k where we usually ski 10k. It was very fun though! The course was extremely fast and the race was over before you even knew it. 

Later that day was the naming of the 2015 Intermountain Junior National Team. Everyone was obviously very excited and nervous. Mostly me! A solid season of racing and training there brought an even more solid team for the Intermountain Division to send to Truckee, CA. 

The 2015 Intermountain U18/U20 Girls Team

Let's hope for snow (in Truckee mostly)! Bye bye for now.

Snowy SoHo? I don't think so...

So we say goodbye to another great weekend of racing and hello to a whole new one! Weekend after weekend we go from race to race. But don't worry, it's not without a huge smile and lots of excitement. 

This past weekend was the second IMD qualifier race at Soldier Hollow, in Midway, Utah. (About 20 minutes from my house!) That made for some pretty comfortable races because we were able to sleep in our own beds and ski on our own courses. But just to ensure that we knew both the sprint and 4k courses, we went out on the Thursday before the races began to get a feel for them one last time. 

On Thursday, the courses were solid, icy, and fast, but when Friday rolled around, we found a whole new beast to conquer. Snow-condition-wise…it was slush! Complete slush…because the temperatures hadn't reached freezing the night before. Plus, it was extremely foggy and that made the visibility extremely low. It was like getting used to the course all over again. We had to work extra hard to ski fast and well in those conditions because finding balance was questionable and with every step forward, you would sink back into the snow a little ways. VERY frustrating. We made due though, we put our game faces on and conquered the slush!

Soldier Hollow the day before the slush...

Friday's race was a sprint, so it took the whole entire day to get through all of the races. Which meant letting 700+ skiers race the course... After my qualifier race, which actually went pretty well, I had to wait for about 2 hours before I was be able to compete in the heats. It was a worthwhile wait though, because it meant that I was able to go out and race again! So after a fun few hours in the Soldier Hollow Lodge, I made my way back down to the stadium to race again! With a sprint, the longer you warm up, the more ready you will be for your race, so I warmed up for a good hour. It payed off too! In my quarterfinal, I sat in 2nd place around the course up until the last turn into the finishing stretch. At that point I was boxed in and pushed back to 4th place. That would not have allowed me to move onto the semifinals so I had to do something about it! And I did! Because the girls on either side of me were V2ing very close, I mustered up all of my strength and double poled out of the cluster. That was able to secure me a 1st place finish in the quarterfinal, which meant that I would move on to the semis! It was also the talk of the afternoon! 

Just before I double poled to the front in the quarterfinal. Photo thanks to Skyler Mullings.

In my next race, I was up against my own teammate, Olivia, and four other girls. I wasn't in the top three at the end of that race so I didn't move on to the A final, but I did still get to race the B final. After a short 10 minutes of rest in between the semis and the B final, I was racing again! Not paying attention tot the technique involved, this was probably my best race. When I made it up the first hill, I looked back and nobody was behind me. So I kept going and when I made it to the top of the second hill, still, no one behind me. At that point all I could focus on was keeping my balance and holding my position. Once I was up the final hill for the last time all I had was the straight away into the finish. And before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line with a feeling of relief washing over me. 

Finishing 4th in the semifinals. Photo thanks to Skyler Mullings.

My final sprint of the day.

The sprints on Friday were a testament to how strong and driven everyone on this team truly is. Even though we had tough conditions, crazy wax, and stiff competition, everyone pulled through and raced their hearts out. The results showed just how incredible everyone skied: Karsten with a 1st in the sprint and an 18th in the 15k after double poling the whole entire race. Henry with a 3rd in the sprint and a 3rd in the 15k after also double poling the whole thing. Olivia finished 1st in the sprint and 8th in the 10k. Lindsey with a 48th in the sprint and a 44th in the U18's. Jenae finished 12th in the sprint and 10th in the 5k. Savanna with an 11th in the sprint and a 34th in the 5k. Sarah with an impressive 27th place in the sprint after racing up into U16 and a 31st in the 5k. Grace with a fantastic 52nd in the sprint and finally, ME, with a 7th in the sprint and a 41st in the 10k. 

Olivia and I after some great sprints!

As these races have come and go, I am sad to say that the SuperQualifier is officially over. But now we have more races to prepare for as Junior Nationals is just around the corner. And it's going to be great! None of this greatness would have been possible without the perseverance of my incredible coach, Bill, and his handy "waxmen," my dad and Kory. Aside from the guys who got us movin on that snow, the people who I should really thank are those who cheered. Not just for me, but for everyone! Thank you for motivating and for yelling loudly. To all of the coaches, parents, spectators, and professional cheerers who spent their weekends out at Soldier Hollow, THANK YOU! Your cowbells were much appreciated.

Sarah's first time experiencing the sprint heats!

Now on to the Boulder Mountain Tour next weekend! Wish me luck!