Archive for Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Nick Rose/Courtesy
Steamboat Springs' Madison Ruppel finished 24th at a J3 girls 3K cross-country skate race at the Soldier Hollow, Utah, course from the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Junior cross-country skiers find reasons to enjoy Utah races
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Nick Rose/Courtesy
Steamboat Springs' Tucker Olson finished 11th at a J3 boys 3K cross-country skate race at the Soldier Hollow, Utah, course from the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Kick for a cause
The Steamboat Ski Touring Center's Tim Paschke reminded folks that Sunday's Colorado Ski for Women day is fast approaching.
"We'll set out a 5K course, and you can skate, do classic or snowshoe or go at your own pace," Paschke said of the event for all ages and abilities. "We have our little costumes ready."
Registration runs from 9 a.m. to noon, and skiing starts at 12:30 p.m. A minimum $20 donation earns participants a gift bag and lunch. All proceeds go to benefit Advocates Against Battering and Abuse. The theme of the festivities is "Black Tie Affair" and will include live music and prize giveaways.
"Hope to see you here," Ski Touring owner Birgitta Lindgren said. "Come as a penguin, come as a cow, come dressed up anyway, anyhow."
Visit www.nordicski.net or call the Ski Touring Center at 879-8180 for more information.
Back to classic
Organizers of Saturday's Ski Haus 15K and 7.5K Classic Race at the Lake Catamount Touring Center are hoping to revive what they see as their sport's sleeping giant.
"It's a whole other avenue of Nordic skiing," Jim Harkness said. "Skate skiing has dominated, but we think classic is a super-cool, other aspect of Nordic."
The inaugural classic-only race starts at 10 a.m. The $10 entry fee includes a race T-shirt and raffle-style prize drawing after the race. Register at Ski Haus or at the Lake Catamount Touring Center Outfitter's Center the morning of the race.
For course information, visit www.steamboatxcski.org.
Steamboat Springs — The annual Super Junior Olympic Qualifier lived up to its billing for 21 local cross-country skiers last weekend at the Soldier Hollow course near Midway, Utah.
The qualifier marked the emotional return to ski competition for Katherine Ingalls, who has been working toward recovery and a return to the form that helped her earn a pair of J2 national sprint titles at the 2007 USSA Junior Olympics. Ingalls survived a bicycle accident this summer in which she was clipped by a semi-trailer rig on Routt County Road 129.
"Just to see her with a race bib on again seems like a miracle," Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club head cross-country ability coach Brian Tate said.
Tate also said the "super" label could apply to the size of the field, with clubs present from eight different western states.
"The field size was triple the normal J.O. qualifier size - for our younger skiers, these are the most competitive races they'll see all season," Tate said. "It's prestigious, because they're racing against about half of the best junior skiers in the country."
The Soldier Hollow course was used in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Ian Mallems, a post-graduate skier in the J1/OJ boys division, took fifth in Friday's skate sprint and sixth in Saturday's mass-start classic race. Other podium finishers included Max Scrimgeour's third-place finish in the J3 boys Friday skate event, Olivia Rose's third-place finish in the J4 girls division of that race and Rose's second-place finish in the classic event. Evan Barbier and Frank Ruppel took second and third, respectively, in the J5 boys classic event.
Tate, especially pleased with the overall skiing of the Club's younger skiers, also noted the performances of the following skiers: Lucy Newman (8th in J3 girls skate event, 6th in classic event), Mary Rose (16th in J1 girls classic event) and Michaela Frias (9th in J2 girls classic event).
The next junior Olympic qualifier will be held in mid-February in Aspen.
Comments
tombedell (tom bedell) says...
if you ever wonder how steamboat manages to produce so many world class skiers, allot of the reason is coaches like Brian. plus the kids are great athletes. keep up the good work!
January 23, 2008 at 9:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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