Four SVSEF Athletes Qualify for North American Cross Country World Cup Sprint Tour
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Four SVSEF cross country athletes have been selected to represent the U.S. in this year's North American World Cup sprint competition, held in Quebec and Minneapolis, March 13-17. Kevin Bolger, Peter Holmes, and Katie Feldman, all members of the Gold Team, will compete. Sydney Palmer-Leger, a senior on the Comp Team, qualified but declined to attend.
Kevin qualified based on a number of top-30 performances in World Cup sprint events this season, while Peter, Katie, and Sydney qualified with a strong Nations Group of athletes based on top SuperTour results through this season.
"We’re really excited to have a number of athletes from SVSEF getting starts at these upcoming World Cups. It's been a big goal for these athletes to qualify, so it’s awesome to see it come together for them. The atmosphere and crowds in Quebec are always amazing and there’s going to be even more energy in Minneapolis, as this will be the first World Cup race on U.S. soil in 20 years," said Gold Team Head Coach Chris Mallory.
Following the Sprint Tour, Kevin and Johnny Hagenbuch will be starting Canmore World Cup Finals, March 20-22.
Learn more about the Quebec events here.
Learn more about the Minneapolis events here.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.3.1"][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="3.3.1" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_image src="http://sunvalleyskied.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/kfeldman_supertourmn.jpg" _builder_version="3.3.1"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.3.1" custom_margin="-26px|||"]Katie Feldman
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type="1_2" _builder_version="3.3.1" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_image src="http://sunvalleyskied.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/spl.jpg" _builder_version="3.3.1"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.3.1" custom_margin="-26px|||"]Sydney Palmer-Leger
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.3.1"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.3.1" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_image src="http://sunvalleyskied.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SVSE1059.jpg" _builder_version="3.3.1"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.3.1" custom_margin="-26px|||"]Peter Holmes
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.3.1"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.3.1" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_image src="http://sunvalleyskied.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_1227.jpg" force_fullwidth="on" _builder_version="3.3.1"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.3.1" custom_margin="-26px|||"]Kevin Bolger, photo by Caitlin Patterson
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Life After SVSEF: Loni Unser
Read about SVSEF cross country alum Loni Unser's foray into car racing in the latest issue of SVPN.
Cross Country – West Yellowstone Rendezvous Results
On Saturday, November 26, SVSEF cross country skiers got back into the swing of racing in West Yellowstone, Montana, after spending a week of training on the Rendezvous Ski Trails there. West was hit with about a foot of snow the day before the Comp and Prep contingents were to depart Friday, November 18 – the athletes, who were prepared for a continuation of the running and roller ski training they’ve been stacking up all spring, summer and fall, stepped onto snow on Saturday, November 19. With two sessions a day, the skiers were fitting in a hefty amount of on-snow hours. Gold and PG skiers arrived Monday and got some solid time on snow before the races that were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Both races were FIS-sanctioned and drew athletes from across the U.S., most of whom consider West Yellowstone a staple in their schedule for early winter on-snow training. In the men’s 10km skate race on Saturday, Gold Team skier Rogan Brown powered into second place with a time of 20:59.1, behind SMS T2 skier Patrick Caldwell, who claimed victory in 20:32.4. Teammate Jack Hegman wasn’t far behind, taking fourth place overall, only .3 seconds out of third. PG skier Eli Jensen had a standout race, with a 17th place finish overall and a win in the U20 age group. In the women’s 5km skate on Saturday, Gold Team skier Mary Rose took sixth, Annie Pokorny 14 and Kelsey Phinney 16 in a field of 76 competitors. Comp Team skier Eve Jensen was 43, Lily Brunelle 51, Ella Wolter 55, Sophia Mazzoni 56, Laine Allison 59 and Katherine Estep 69. In the U16 men’s race, SVSEF’s Johnny Hagenbuch took the win in a time of 11:28.7 in a field of 24 on the 5km course.
Sunday featured a 10km/5km classic race. Gold Team skier Matt Gelso looked strong throughout and claimed silver in the men’s division, which included 70 athletes. He broke a pole with .5km to go, but was able to maintain composure and secure his spot on the podium. According to Chris Mallory, Gold Team Head Coach, most of the athletes opted to double pole the course, as the biggest climb was taken out of the race due to conditions. Gelso was one of only two skiers in the top ten to choose to use classic skis and kick wax. In the women’s 5km classic with a field of 74, Deedra Irwin was just out of the top ten, skiing to 11. PG Kae Fink came in 23, and teammate Sarah Goble was second in the U20 category and 32 overall. Kat Paul, an Australian skier who has skied for SVSEF in the past, was 34, Kirsys Campbell 54, Jenna Nurge 56, Chloe Tanous 57, Laura Anderson 63 and Michaela Petty 69.
With an influx of skiers throughout the week and warm temperatures, Mallory commended the organizers of the event, as they “put together some really good tracks with only a few inches of snow on the ground.” SVSEF Comp Team athletes head back to West Yellowstone today to join Gold and PG skiers who stayed there to get more training on snow – they’ve been getting in some good intensity workouts, and conditions should be better this weekend as a few more inches accumulated on Sunday. A total of 30 SVSEF athletes will compete in the SuperTour opener that was moved from Bozeman, Montana, for lack of snow there.
Results from last weekend can be found here.
Cross Country Gold and PG Teams Make Strides at Frozen Thunder Camp
Hundreds of truckloads of snow later, Canmore opened their “Frozen Thunder” trail to cross country skiers on October 22. The Alberta Parks Canmore Nordic Centre saves man-made snow over the summer and spreads it over 2km of trail each year. Among those who made the trek to Alberta were the SVSEF Cross Country Gold and PG Teams. Set against the striking backdrop of the Canadian Rockies, SVSEF skiers spent the week fitting in a high-volume block of training that was both technique and tactic intensive. The group made significant progress in their final preparation heading into the race season, with the advantage of early season skiing and a couple race efforts to cap it all off.
The first race of the camp took place on October 28, with a 7.5 km freestyle for women and 12 km for men. SVSEF Gold Team skier Mary Rose took sixth in the women’s event, and teammate Matt Gelso skied into second place, just 4.6 seconds out of first. Sarah Goble, a PG skier for SVSEF, had a strong showing with a second place finish in the junior women category.
The second event of the week was a classic sprint, which consisted of a morning qualifier followed by three heats in a “King’s Court” format. This unique style involves heats in which competitors are seeded based on their qualifier. In the heat races, the top two move up a bracket, while the bottom two move back. On Tuesday, heats went off every minute, which lent plenty of action and excitement to the day. Variable conditions, with two inches of fresh snow from the night before on top of the old man-made tracks, made for interesting waxing that went from hardwax to klister, with constant changes in between. By the end of it all, some competitors were opting to double pole in the final heats. Top SVSEF results came from Gold Team skier Kelsey Phinney, who took first overall in the women’s race. Teammate Mary Rose finished fourth, and Jack Hegman claimed third in the men’s event.
The teams head back to Sun Valley today to continue training before they head to West Yellowstone at the end of November. Following a tune-up race there on November 25, the first Super Tour races of the season will be in Bozeman, Montana, December 3-4.
(For a recap of the Frozen Thunder distance races, read the FasterSkier article here.)
Chris Mallory Returns to SVSEF as Cross Country Gold Team Head Coach
The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation is pleased to welcome Chris Mallory back to the organization as head coach of the SVSEF Cross Country Gold Team. Mallory returns to the Wood River Valley after a three-year stint at the University of Vermont, where he was the Catamounts’ Cross Country Team assistant coach. Mallory assumes his new role out west following the departure of Gold Team coach Colin Rodgers, who has accepted the position of program director for the Green Mountain Valley School Cross Country program in Waitsfield, Vermont.
Rick Kapala, SVSEF Cross Country program director, commented, “We are really excited to have Chris returning to our SVSEF Cross Country program. Chris has a track record of demonstrated success at every level and he brings the depth of knowledge combined with a high energy work ethic that is critical for success at the Gold Team level.”
Growing up, Mallory skied out of Colchester, Vermont, before racing for the University of New Hampshire, where he received a bachelor of science degree in recreation management and policy in 2005. According to the University of Vermont, he was a member of the UNH ski team all four years and a captain for two years – Mallory earned All-EISA honors two times, and twice was an Academic All-American. After college, he was an invaluable member of the SVSEF cross country staff for eight years as the Post Grad Team Head Coach and as an assistant coach for the Comp Team, prior to coaching at UVM.
Mallory will be working with a number of athletes at SVSEF who he has already had the opportunity to coach; former UVM skiers Jack Hegman and Cole Morgan are new to the SVSEF Gold Team this year, and returning teammate Rogan Brown also skied under Mallory while racing for UVM. Earlier in his career, he coached another Gold Team athlete, Annie Pokorny, when she skied for SVSEF as a junior racer.
Mallory said, “It’s exciting to be back with the SVSEF program, which has an amazing ski community behind it. I’m looking forward to the challenge of heading the Gold Team program. There is a strong, deep team assembled there this season, and it will be fun to see where the athletes can take themselves.”