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By Larry Wilkinson, on February 4th, 2010
Charlie Bencze of Tupper Lake took a five day trip to Utah to participate in the Soldier Hollow Super JNQ on January 29 and 30th. The largest race for juniors in the lower 48 states, this race included all the best of the west! Intermountain, Rocky Mountain, PNSA, Far West, High Plains and Mid-Atlantic were represented in the field with a total of 642 entrants! The Olympic Venue at Soldier Hollow is at 6600 feet above sea level, making it one of the highest places to race within the altitude limit in the world. Traveling across the country from near sea level and racing at this altitude is no small feat!
Greeting Charlie and helping him in his racing was Swix Nordic Tech Bill Brooker and two NYSSRA Olympians, Laurie Humbert(Grover)and Billy Demong. It was an Adirondack reunion for the four!
Charlie arrived Tuesday night and relaxed most of Wednesday before going to Mountain Dell to ski in the afternoon. There he was introduced to Laurie’s adult training group and skied the trails some of which were used for the World Cup Nordic Races in the late 1980’s. Afterwards he enjoyed a relaxed dinner of Adirondack fare (smoked brook trout, wild turkey and venison) at Laurie’s house in the company of Billy Demong. Many tales of junior racing in the Adirondacks were shared!
Thursday gave Charlie his first taste of the trails at Soldier Hollow and a feel for the altitude. During training he was given advice on the race course by Rick Kapala (Sun Valley Ski Education) and Ben Husaby (Olympian and Mount Bachelor Performance). Charlie was paying attention as his results the next two days would prove! After a few pickups at race speed to get a feel for the altitude, Charlie was ready for Friday’s race.
Friday morning the venue was cloaked in fog. This is when very cold air gets trapped in the hollow below warmer air. It was freestyle sprint day and Charlie was trying to make the top 30 in the Qualifier out of 162 J1/OJ boys. Bill Brooker of Swix was able to find good glide with temps near -10 degrees C for Charlie’s skis and Charlie’s racing ability got him to qualify for the heats in 17th place. Charlie next needed to get thru the quarter finals where he sometimes has trouble. His pole was stepped on early and he spun out placing him in 5th in the heat of 6. He didn’t panic and was able to glide to 2nd riding fast skis down the back stretch and powering into the finish. In the semi-finals while making a great move on the uphill before the long downhill he missed a pole and sprawled. He was able to recover again and advance to the B-final. The altitude and heats started to take their toll on Charlie as he finished 12th overall! This is an outstanding finish considering the altitude, travel, number of heats and Charlie’s age. During the races we were asked (as Charlie’s performance was turning heads!) what we were waxing by Ben Husaby and my answer was Cera 7BS. He said that’s what they were using, I replied “Yeah but you don’t have Charlie Bencze riding on the tops!” Final wax as the sun was shining was HFBW6, Super Cera powder covered by Cera 7BS buffed and Cera Rocket spray buffed. Ask Chuck if they were fast J!
1 Charlie in start gate for sprint qualifier
Saturday arrived with the same temps as Friday for the Classic mass start for U-23 skiers at 12:30. The course was three loops of the Olympic 5km with the fabled Hermode’s Hill included. Charlie spent the morning chilling out in the lodge in the company of Billy Demong and Laurie Humbert sharing stories of the Adirondacks and skiing. It was great for those two Olympians to spend some time with Charlie and I am sure that it inspired him to race well! Billy even delayed an interview with the NY Times to watch and cheer Charlie on! Another Olympian Caitlin Compton (an athlete Laurie has been mentoring) also took time from her cool down to cheer on Charlie! The mass start had over 160 racers! Charlie stuck to his game plan that he had gone over with Laurie and Billy. It was to crawl a lap, run a lap and then race the final lap. With skis that were kicking well and gliding fast, Charlie was able to execute his race plan to perfection and skied to 21st place overall as a first year J1! This is an incredible result considering his age, the altitude and his performance in the sprints the previous day! I think it was having 3 Olympians on course cheering for him that really helped! A final cool down lap in the sunshine with a knee deep powder ski down the mountain side ended the day perfectly for Charlie!
2 Charlie pauses for a pic with Billy Demong before the start of the classic 15km
The following day I dropped Charlie off at the airport to fly home in the darkness of the early morning. He was great to have as a guest, a testimony to his family and Nordic skiing and I was sad to see him leave. I know though that soon we will all get together again and it will be as if we never were apart as that is the wonder of being a Nordic skier from the Adirondacks!
3 Laurie in the frosty morning helping coach Charlie.
By nyssrapoints, on February 3rd, 2010
NYSSRA’s Kathy Schwenk and Eric Grimm, each fresh off of National Championship wins last week were named to the honorary 2010 US Masters Ski Team by AXCS. NYSSRA Nordic Salutes these great skiers and this awesome accomplishment!
release by xcskiworld.com
| February 3, 2010 - The honorary 2010 U.S. Masters Ski Team has been officially named based on best two-of-two scoring of individual races at the 2010 AXCS National Masters held in Craftsbury, Vermont this past weekend (January 28-30). Each athlete on the Team will receive a distinctive racing/training hat provided by Podiumwear by Borah in recognition of their 2010 Team status.
Scored races to determine the 2010 Masters Team included the Saturday, January 30 TD North Craftsbury Classic Ski Marathon official category distance results combined with the Thursday, January 28th 10km freestyle NM2010 championship race. Skiers had to complete both official races to qualify for the honorary 2010 Masters Team designation.
Congratulations to all 2010 U.S. Masters XC Ski Team skiers!
2010 Men’s Team
M1 — Eli Enman
M2 — Reid Greenberg
M3 — Erik Grimm
M4 — Barry Makarewicz
M5 — Robert Bradlee
M6 — Chris Nice
M7 — Donavon Freeman
M8 — Jonathan Chaffee
M9 — Bob Gray
M10 — Edmund Brelsford
2010 Women’s Team
F3 – Laury Saligman
F4 — Kathy Schwenk
F5 — Joann Hanowski
F6 — Carolyn Tiernan
F7 — Trina Hosmer
F8 — Sally Howe |
By nyssrapoints, on February 2nd, 2010
As posted on Monday, NYSSRA’s Eric Grimm and Kathy Schwenk earned Masters National Championship Titles last week in Craftsbury, VT. Grimm won the M3 category in the 50 km classic, and scored a bronze in the 10.5 km. Schwenk skied to victory in the M4 category in the 10.5 km freestyle event. Schwenk also earned Silver in the 50 km race. NYSSRA Nordic is extremely proud of these two Rochester-area National Champions as well as all of our members who took part in the event and represented NYSSRA Nordic so well. It was a challenging event, skied in difficult, extreme cold conditions.
In addition, NYSSRA’s Adam Luban won the J2 category in the 25 km classic, skiing in 1:38:38. Heidi Underwood won the M4 category in the 25 km classic.
There were a number of DNFs and skiers switching distances due to the brutal cold, so the Craftsbury people have been updating their official finishers list… Although it is noticeably incomplete, there are still some skiers missing from the sortable list, like Adam Luban, and Dan Schwenk who finished 2nd in his age group in the 25 km classic.
A more complete results list for the marathon (separated by age class) can be found at the Bart Timing site.
Congratulations once again to all of NY’s skiers who competed in this event. The NYSSRA Championship is at the end of the month. Make sure to be there to challenge for the 2010 New York State Championship!
By Larry Wilkinson, on January 31st, 2010
The Mid-A Committee has released the Junior ranking lists. Theses are the current standings after 5 races. There is still one JOQ race left - Old Forge on Feb 6.
All JOQ Race results to date with points have been re-posted. They were originally scored using the wrong USSA ranking list.
These can be found on the Mid-A Junior pages of the NYSSRA XC Blog. See links below
Link: Junior Points
Link: JOQ Results with Points
By nyssrapoints, on January 31st, 2010
A large contingent of New Yorkers, including many NYSSRA members, headed over to Craftsbury Vt to compete in the annual Craftsbury Marathon. The Craftsbury Marathon was the final race in the AXCS Masters’ National Championships held this past week at Craftsbury. Conditions for the marathon were brutally cold. Temperatures were below zero at the start, and warmed into the single digits during the race. The rain that blasted NY last week hit Vermont just as hard, but a snow squall on Thursday enabled the organizers to set great tracks over the 12.5 km loop.
NYSSRA’s Eric Grimm won the M3 Masters National Championship in the 50 km!
NYSSRA’s Kathy Schwenk won the M4 Masters National Championship in the 10 km!
New York’s Tim Donahue won the M3 Masters National Championship in the 10 km!
All results can be found at the Craftsbury Nordic Center website
Next week: New York’s Signature Marathon Race, the Lake Placid Loppet takes place at Mount Van Hoevenberg on Saturday.
And there are only two ESG qualifiers left, both next weekend: The Old Forge Classic on Saturday, followed by the Dewey Mt Freestyle in Saranac Lake on Sunday.
New Yorkers in the 50 KM Craftsbury Marathon Classic:
| 1 |
50km |
m |
M3 |
erik grimm |
Pittsford, NY |
72 |
02:43:17.00 |
| 2 |
50km |
m |
M3 |
Tim Donahue |
New York, NY |
67 |
02:52:50.05 |
| 3 |
50km |
m |
M1 |
Chris Yarsevich |
Saratoga Springs, NY |
49 |
03:00:42.14 |
| 4 |
50km |
m |
M3 |
Carl Johnston |
Ontario, NY |
78 |
03:04:15.95 |
| 5 |
50km |
m |
M4 |
Stanley Hatch |
Cadyville, NY |
112 |
03:13:46.15 |
| 6 |
50km |
m |
M3 |
Jim Kobak |
Peru, NY |
81 |
03:16:06.61 |
| 7 |
50km |
m |
M4 |
Alan Evans |
Beaver Dams, NY |
104 |
03:18:44.55 |
| 8 |
50km |
m |
M5 |
Tim Huneck |
Rexford, NY |
281 |
03:22:10.20 |
| 9 |
50km |
m |
M5 |
Justin Gabreski |
Orchard Park, NY |
277 |
03:28:27.45 |
| 10 |
50km |
m |
M7 |
chris beattie |
LAKE PLACID, NY |
349 |
03:30:57.67 |
| 11 |
50km |
f |
M4 |
Kathy Schwenk |
Corfu, NY |
460 |
03:34:39.11 |
| 12 |
50km |
m |
M6 |
David Burt |
Queensbury, NY |
303 |
03:36:31.47 |
| 13 |
50km |
m |
M6 |
Ed Luban |
Syracuse, NY |
329 |
03:37:15.05 |
| 14 |
50km |
m |
M4 |
Robert Dadekian |
Niskayuna, NY |
101 |
03:41:24.12 |
| 15 |
50km |
m |
J0 |
Daniel Lowenstein |
Garrison, NY |
28 |
03:43:58.76 |
| 16 |
50km |
m |
M7 |
David Hunter |
Lake Placid, NY |
355 |
03:45:23.22 |
| 17 |
50km |
f |
M6 |
carol fisher |
queensbury, NY |
482 |
03:50:25.64 |
| 18 |
50km |
m |
M5 |
pat mcfalls |
pennellville, NY |
288 |
03:54:18.47 |
| 19 |
50km |
m |
M5 |
mark chmielewicz |
clinton, NY |
269 |
03:57:17.20 |
| 20 |
50km |
m |
M6 |
Paul Ketzer |
Orchard Park, NY |
323 |
04:00:56.31 |
| 21 |
50km |
f |
M6 |
Janet Findlay |
Lake Placid, NY |
481 |
04:08:18.83 |
| 22 |
50km |
f |
M1 |
Jenny Townsend |
Canton, NY |
437 |
04:31:33.08 |
| 23 |
50km |
m |
M7 |
Frank Krueger |
Jay, NY |
359 |
04:34:13.48 |
| 24 |
50km |
m |
M4 |
George Hluck |
Painted Post, NY |
113 |
04:43:38.47 |
| 25 |
50km |
m |
M7 |
Rick McAllister |
Chittenango, NY |
362 |
04:55:11.28 |
| 26 |
50km |
m |
M6 |
mike bottini |
east hampton, NY |
302 |
05:05:44.20 |
New Yorkers in the 25 km Classic
| 1 |
25km |
m |
M0 |
Kevin Emblidge |
Canton, NY |
138 |
01:29:30.09 |
| 2 |
25km |
f |
M0 |
Annelies Cook |
Saranac lake, NY |
499 |
01:32:26.47 |
| 3 |
25km |
f |
M3 |
Heidi Underwood |
Kattskill Bay, NY |
527 |
01:36:59.34 |
| 4 |
25km |
m |
M8 |
per martin Larsen |
New York, NY |
243 |
01:44:24.67 |
| 5 |
25km |
m |
M7 |
Darwin Roosa |
Altamont, NY |
228 |
01:45:08.75 |
| 6 |
25km |
m |
M3 |
Edward Lis |
Lake Placid, NY |
168 |
01:45:41.86 |
| 7 |
25km |
f |
M4 |
Betsy Richert |
Keene, NY |
535 |
01:50:35.65 |
| 8 |
25km |
m |
M8 |
Alec Davis |
Ballston Lake, NY |
238 |
01:58:03.92 |
| 9 |
25km |
m |
M8 |
Rene Clarke |
Queensbury,, NY |
236 |
02:00:08.87 |
| 10 |
25km |
m |
M8 |
roger henry |
rexford, NY |
241 |
02:05:30.64 |
| 11 |
25km |
m |
M7 |
richrd dixon |
mayfield, NY |
220 |
02:20:29.12 |
| 12 |
25km |
f |
M7 |
Sherry Dixon |
Mayfield, NY |
562 |
02:24:57.87 |
| 13 |
25km |
f |
M8 |
Joan Henry |
rexford, NY |
569 |
02:48:14.75 |
New Yorkers in the 10 km Freestyle National Championship Race
1 m M3 Tim Donahue New York, NY 17 00:29:26.0 25
2 m M3 erik grimm Pittsford, NY 19 00:30:11.2 15
3 m M3 Tony Hoffman East Aurora, NY 22 00:31:51.1 10
4 m M3 Carl Johnston Ontario, NY 23 00:32:34.8 8
5 m M3 Jim Kobak Peru, NY 24 00:33:37.5 7
6 m M5 Joseph Korzenecki Lake Placid, NY 73 00:35:14.2 8
7 m M6 Dan Schwenk Corfu, NY 103 00:35:24.3 4
8 f M4 Kathy Schwenk Corfu, NY 170 00:35:58.6 20
9 m M3 Edward Lis Lake Placid, NY 26 00:36:06.0 0
10 m M6 Ed Luban Syracuse, NY 96 00:36:40.0 1
11 m M6 bob maswick lake placid, NY 98 00:37:59.7 0
12 m M7 David Hunter Lake Placid, NY 120 00:38:12.1 8
13 m M5 mark chmielewicz clinton, NY 67 00:38:13.1 3
14 m M7 chris beattie LAKE PLACID, NY 114 00:38:25.1 6
15 m M4 Darrell Rikert Millerton, NY 51 00:38:43.1 0
16 m M6 David Burt Queensbury, NY 85 00:38:58.3 0
17 m M7 Darwin Roosa Altamont, NY 126 00:39:01.2 4
18 f M6 carol fisher queensbury, NY 187 00:40:50.5 12
19 m M8 per martin Larsen New York, NY 139 00:41:39.7 15
20 f M6 Janet Findlay Lake Placid, NY 186 00:42:28.6 11
21 m M7 Frank Krueger Jay, NY 122 00:43:13.6 2
22 m M8 Alec Davis Ballston Lake, NY 134 00:44:05.2 11
23 m M8 Rene Clarke Queensbury,, NY 133 00:44:56.0 9
24 m M8 roger henry rexford, NY 137 00:46:23.5 7
25 f M3 Lisa Hoffman East Aurora, NY 161 00:46:27.2 15
26 m M4 George Hluck Painted Post, NY 44 00:48:14.5 0
27 m M7 richrd dixon mayfield, NY 116 00:50:16.5 1
28 f M7 Sherry Dixon Mayfield, NY 192 00:54:38.3 12
By Larry Wilkinson, on January 29th, 2010
Registration is now open for this year’s festival to be held at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. Deadline for your skier’s name to be in the program is February 12th. Online Registration closes February 19th.
Note to Parents of NYSSRA BKer’s planning on attending. Margaret Maher and NYSEF will be traveling to The festival. Margaret will be acting as the NY District Chair. She will attend the Pre Race Meeting and pick up all the bibs and race packets for NY. Look for Margaret at the NYSEF waxing tent Saturday morning when you get there to get your bibs. Travel and accommodations are on your own. to contact Margaret margm@nysef.org
FROM NENSA
A few notes to communicate to club leaders about this year’s registration…
1. The new ‘age class by grade’ system is in place.
2. Grade 1 & 2 is a new age class (J6). This age class is considered a transition class. There will be an individual event and a relay offered. The relay will be a combination of B/B, G/G, or B/G… left to the DCs to put together. The events of this age class will not be timed, nor will they receive the traditional medal and place ribbon awards. Rather, they will receive a special transition type award… more info to follow on this. The most important message is “LOW KEY”.
3. A child, Grade 2 and Younger, can choose to enter the Lollipop event. Just b/c a child is in grade 1/2, does not mean that they need to enter the Grade 1/2 age category. The child can only select one category to enter for the weekend, though.
4. in past years, we allowed Lollipoppers to age up to J5. Due to the implementation of Grade 1/2 age class, we will not allow any child to “age up.”
2010 BKL Festival Website | 2010 BKL Festival Registration
By Larry Wilkinson, on January 27th, 2010
The Holland Patent Wolverine Ski Club reports their Jan 30th ESG race has been canceled.
By nyssrapoints, on January 26th, 2010
The NYSSRA points series managed to get in a spectacular weekend of racing before Mother Nature drenched the state with a January deluge. NYSEF’s Harry Eldridge weekend featured well over 200 racers battling it out over two days. Team HURT remains the top NYSSRA Club, in command of the Points Series. A real battle is brewing between NYSEF and Peru Nordic Masters for the second spot. In the NYSSRA Series, Tim Hunek sits atop the Red Group, with Ann Jardin and Eric Seyse tied for second. Many of NYSSRA’s master skiers will be heading to Craftsbury, VT this week for the AXCS Masters National Championships/Craftsbury Marathon. However there are two races on the schedule this weekend, The Wolverine Classic and the Higley Hustle, that will hopefully be on, even with the recent warm and wet weather. Updates for these events will be found here on the NYSSRA Cross Country website.
POINTS SERIES
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
EMPIRE STATE GAMES… NYSSRA Nordic, Inc. assists the Empire State Games by qualifying cross country ski racers. A separate ESG points list is found on the Points Series Page. Skiers interested in the ESGs should read the following:
ESG Qualifying Points List
In order to compete in the Empire State Games Cross Country skiing events a competitor must follow what is outlined below:
- Be a current member of NYSSRA Nordic- February 1st is the deadline to be eligible for ESGs - join now
- Minimuim age 12
- New York State Resident or a full time student in a New York State School
- Compete in a minimum of two ESG Qualifiers of which one must be Classical and one must be Freestyle - see schedule
- Qualify in the top of your respective competition class as stated below
Competition Classes (Age as of Dec 31st 2009)
- Scholastic (Ages 12 - 17)- Top 60 male and top 60 female on the point’s list will qualify to compete in the Empire State Winter Games xc races. Scholastic competitors will receive an ESG uniform.
- Open (Age 18 and older)- Top 40 male and top 40 female Open skiers on the point’s list with the exception of Masters age skiers (30+) unless said Masters have declared their eligibility in the Open class to the cross country chairman (Larry Wilkinson 315-797-9341 / nordic@roadrunner.com) by February 1st. Open class competitors will receive an ESG uniform
- Master (age 30+) - All masters who meet the minimum requirements will automatically qualify to compete in their respective age class. Masters wishing to compete in the Open Class must declare their intention to the cross country chairman no later than February 1st. Masters who chose to compete in the Open Class will not be eligible for Masters age Class medals. Masters do not receive ESG uniforms but these may be purchased at times designated by the ESG organizers in the letter to competitors.
NOTE: Masters who declare their eligibility in the open class must also compete in the open class in all Nordic sports for which they qualify.
official web site of the Empire State Winter Games
The Empire State Games and NYSSRA Nordic are two separate organizations. ESG is a year round organization that organizes and runs amateur sporting competitions. These are open to NY residents only, with some exceptions for some sports. NYSSRA Nordic is a nordic sports organization that promotes the nordicsports of cross country skiing, biathlon, and Ski-orienteering. NYSSRA Nordic designs qualifying rules and runs qualifing events for athletes to qualify and compete in the ESWG. ESG gives NYSSRA Nordic specific guidelines to fiollow in designing these qualifying rules.
By nyssrapoints, on January 20th, 2010
After a big weekend at the Saratoga Biathlon Club, Eric Seyse sits atop the NYSSRA Red Group, Seyse won the Shenendehowa 10 k classic, and followed that with a strong top ten showing in the tough Great Sacandaga 30 km Mini Marathon. Seyse is ahead of the Team HURT father/son one-two punch of Austin and Tim Huneck. The Hunecks lead Team HURT in points, and after a huge weekend of racing, have helped Team HURT stretch their Club Championship Series lead to a sizeable 900 point lead over defending champs, NYSEF. The Peru Nordic Masters sit in 3rd place, just a few points ahead of Rochester Nordic Racing. Next weekend the racing continues with the Harry Eldridge Memorial Races at Mount Van Hoevenberg hosted by NYSEF. This set of races, with a 7.5 km freestyle on Saturday, followed by a 15 km classic on Sunday, usually features top NYSSRA skiers, as well as big guns from NENSA and the Collegiate Scene. Do not miss this great weekend of racing in Lake Placid.
Points Series
Club Championship Series
By Larry Wilkinson, on January 18th, 2010
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Major Events
| Date | Event | Location |
| Feb 19-21, 2010 | Empire State Games | Lake Placid |
| Feb 26-28, 2010 | NYSSRA Champs | Saratoga Biathlon Center |
| March 13-14, 2010 | Mid-A Bill Koch Festival | Lapland Lake |
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