FAST times at Anchorage Besh Cups
That was quite a trip to Anchorage last weekend. Horrible driving conditions on the way down, but we made the drive in 7 hr, under white out conditions, the highway snow and ice packed most of the way, and at least in our caravan no one hit a moose.
Later in the day one family from FAST did hit a moose. Moose dead. Car drivable, occupants okay.
Saturday's weather for the freestyle sprints (~1.1 km) could not have been much worse (but I heard that last year's sprints at Sr. Nationals actually were). Temps hovered between -2 and +2 F with a stiff 10 to 15 mph wind coming off the Cook Inlet, and the stadium is very open and exposed.
The youngsters (15 and under) had 3 heats. An interval start prologue at about 10:30 and then those who advanced would have semis and finals at about between 1 and 2. The older juniors and seniors were sandwiched between, so there were heats going on for more than 6 hr.
FAST has about a dozen skiers, aged 14 to 24 and I'm working with the 3 youngest. Emma blazed to 2nd in her semi and hammered in a 3rd place J2 finish. The boys, Kuba and Erich must have taken some inspiration. Erich, a 1st year J2 and not a sprinter, just sqeaked into the semi. He started in the 2nd row in a group of 8--with 6 on the front line--and jumped into 6th before the big climb just 200 m after the start. Half way through Erich made a big move an locked onto 4th, which he held. Kuba skied in control and took a solid 3rd in his semi.
In the final, Erich was spent. Kuba was to go for top 4 in the final; he held 3rd through 60%, but he hesitated slightly coming off a short hill, going into the wind, and dropped back a spot. He missed 4th at the finish by a boot--needs to learn that lunge technique.
Won't go into the detail in the older junior and senior categories, but FAST took 4 of the top 7 men's (2nd, 3rd, 5th [16 year old Logan Hanneman], and 7th). The semi's were actually even more exciting--photo finishes in both.
On Sunday, the J2s had a rough day in the 5K classic, with Emma 14th, Erich 11th, and Kuba 9th.
But, man, did the older FAST skiers ever shine in the 15K. David Norris (just turned 19) won the whole thing by 50 sec with teammate Reese Hanneman (turns 20 this week) taking 2nd (winning the senior division over many top skiers from UAF and UAA, and young Logan was 10th overall and won the J1 by a long shot.
Tristan as a 1st year J3 won the sprint B final, taking 7th overall. So he was pretty happy with that. His classic race didn't go so well (dad messed up the wax) and he was 9th on Sunday.
Trip home was long and uneventful (the latter a good thing). Those moose are scary and very dangerous for drivers.
Later in the day one family from FAST did hit a moose. Moose dead. Car drivable, occupants okay.
Saturday's weather for the freestyle sprints (~1.1 km) could not have been much worse (but I heard that last year's sprints at Sr. Nationals actually were). Temps hovered between -2 and +2 F with a stiff 10 to 15 mph wind coming off the Cook Inlet, and the stadium is very open and exposed.
The youngsters (15 and under) had 3 heats. An interval start prologue at about 10:30 and then those who advanced would have semis and finals at about between 1 and 2. The older juniors and seniors were sandwiched between, so there were heats going on for more than 6 hr.
FAST has about a dozen skiers, aged 14 to 24 and I'm working with the 3 youngest. Emma blazed to 2nd in her semi and hammered in a 3rd place J2 finish. The boys, Kuba and Erich must have taken some inspiration. Erich, a 1st year J2 and not a sprinter, just sqeaked into the semi. He started in the 2nd row in a group of 8--with 6 on the front line--and jumped into 6th before the big climb just 200 m after the start. Half way through Erich made a big move an locked onto 4th, which he held. Kuba skied in control and took a solid 3rd in his semi.
In the final, Erich was spent. Kuba was to go for top 4 in the final; he held 3rd through 60%, but he hesitated slightly coming off a short hill, going into the wind, and dropped back a spot. He missed 4th at the finish by a boot--needs to learn that lunge technique.
Won't go into the detail in the older junior and senior categories, but FAST took 4 of the top 7 men's (2nd, 3rd, 5th [16 year old Logan Hanneman], and 7th). The semi's were actually even more exciting--photo finishes in both.
On Sunday, the J2s had a rough day in the 5K classic, with Emma 14th, Erich 11th, and Kuba 9th.
But, man, did the older FAST skiers ever shine in the 15K. David Norris (just turned 19) won the whole thing by 50 sec with teammate Reese Hanneman (turns 20 this week) taking 2nd (winning the senior division over many top skiers from UAF and UAA, and young Logan was 10th overall and won the J1 by a long shot.
Tristan as a 1st year J3 won the sprint B final, taking 7th overall. So he was pretty happy with that. His classic race didn't go so well (dad messed up the wax) and he was 9th on Sunday.
Trip home was long and uneventful (the latter a good thing). Those moose are scary and very dangerous for drivers.
posted by Roger at
1:39 PM
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