Maddie Morgan

Hello!

Oh my gosh...the beginning of this 2015/16 ski season has flown by. So far, my team and I have already been to Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and I have gone to Michigan. I actually just finished cheering my team on in the Ute Invitational at Soldier Hollow where they all kicked some serious college butt! In a field of all collegiate skiers my teammates, Jenae, Lina, and Sarah all U16, ranked 22nd, 23rd, and 32nd (out of 35 racers). So proud!

Anyways, I won't go all the way back to the very beginning of the season because that was already a month and a half ago...but here is what I have been up to for the past few weeks:

Most recently, I just returned from Houghton, Michigan where I participated in the 2016 US Cross Country Championships. As many of you heard last year, it was pretty darn chilly. This year, however, it was sunny and 25 degrees nearly everyday. The week started off with a classic distance race, the women's was a 10k. Personally, it was awesome! The very next day we all turned around and figured out how to get our fast twitch, sprinting muscles to work around Michigan Tech's 1.5k course. This race was overall my favorite. I started 33rd and qualified 38th, just barely missing the senior heats. I was still able to qualify 3rd U18 overall and 5th junior starter (U18 and U20) in the Junior heats. After the prelims, the junior heats went pretty well. I missed the semi finals by 2/10ths of a second but I had the race of my life :)

Skate sprint prelim. Thank you Skinnyski for the picture!

Junior heat number three. Thank you Skinnyski!

Classic 10k finish

My biggest fan.

A rare sighting...the sun in the UP!

The absolute coolest part about racing at Senior Nationals this year was watching all of our US women over in Europe kicking butt. Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell made history and they gave me (and I'm sure everyone else) so much motivation and hope. It is possible for us to beat the Norwegians! Their victories allowed me to recognize that anything is possible as long as you work as hard as you possibly can to achieve it.

Congratulations, Jessie!

And congratulations, Sophie!

In the weeks prior to Senior Nationals, Christmas happened, obviously...but we were also able to train on a TON of famous Utah snow. Just a week before Christmas the Snow Gods decided that Utah had suffered for long enough and they finally allowed the snow to fall. All of our license plates that say, "Greatest Snow on Earth," weren't lying this year. It's nice to be able to walk right out my back door and ski everyday.