Summer, NYSSRA Membership Championships. Race Organizers

Summer, 2016 NYSSRA Membership ! other forms, is available at nyssranordic.org under the race organizers pull down menu. Despite the lack of snow...
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Summer, 2016

NYSSRA Membership

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other forms, is available at nyssranordic.org under the race organizers pull down menu.

Despite the lack of snow across NY last winter, NYSSRA-Nordic saw a 42% increase in

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membership from 405 to 576 members. Well, it’s

2017 Championships

time for all of us to renew our memberships since NYSSRA Nordic memberships run from July 1st to the following June 30th. Our membership costs were held steady at last year’s rates and we are expecting to expand our member benefits significantly. So, get online and sign-up as soon as possible and get a friend to join. When you join, please printout your receipt and use that as your membership card.

While renewing with NYSSRA, why not take

a good look at USSA General Membership? Prices start at $15 and you will be helping to support Nordic skiing across the country. The greater the number of Nordic skiers who are members of

The 2016-17 race season is starting to take shape with some dates and locations already set. The Junior Nationals are scheduled for March 3 March 12, 2017 at Lake Placid. This prestigious high school event doesn’t come to NY very often. NYSSRA and its members definitely need to show our full support of the event.

From March 10 - 12, 2017, the U16 Championships will be contested at Titcomb Mtn in Farmington, Maine while the Eastern High School Championships will be held a week later, March 17-19,2017, at Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Chittendon, VT.

USSA, the larger the financial support USSA gives to out national Nordic team.

Race Organizers

Now is the time to submit your race(s) and date(s) to NYSSRA Nordic to assure you get on our calendar and get the date(s) you want. All the necessary information, including sanctioning and

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Junior National Championships

by Marge Maher

The Mid-A team led by the NYSEF junior racing team met its season long goal of a top finish in the USSA Club Standings at the 2016 JN Championship in Wisconsin. As a team, we improved from 13th in 2015 to 10th overall in 2016. We came home with National Champions Karl Schulz & Scott Schulz and 9 All-American performances by the Schulz brothers, Henry McGrew, Lucy Hochschartner & Bryce Hartman. Congratulations to the entire Mid- team and we all look forward to the 2017 Junior National Championship at Lake Placid.

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Bill Koch Festival at Great Glen

by Rachel Mattern

The Bill Koch Youth season came to a close with a 2016 NENSA Bill Koch Festival on March 5th & 6th at the Great Glen Trails at the base of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Days before the event, Great Glen trails received 8” of fresh snow which made for great skiing under bluebird skies. Approximately 45 skiers from NY travelled to New England for this event, which had a total participation of over 400 skiers. The competition

was a high level and many NY skiers represented with strong finishes.

The first event was a classic sprint. NY was able to earn a top 10 finish in the 1st-2nd Grade Boys Category with a 2nd place finish Linden Bellizzi (RXCSF); a 7th & 9th place finish in the 3rd-4th Grade Boys Category from Braden Bellizzi (RXCSF) and Owen Keal (Saranac Lake); a 9th place finish for Leah Shaffer (RXCSF) for the 5th-6th Grade Girls; a 7th place finish for James Flanigan (NYSEF) in the 7th-8th Grade Boys Category; and a 9th Place finish for Grace Mattern (RXCSF) for the 7th-8th Grade Girls.

On Sunday, the skiers enjoyed a freestyle race and received their medals or ribbons directly from Olympian and festival namesake, Bill Koch. NY had only one skier in the 1st-2nd Grade Category but Linden Bellizzi (RXCSF) represented well with his 1st place finish. Moving into the 3rd-4th Grade Category, there were top 10 finishes from Miles Mattern (5th place / RXCSF) and Braden Bellizzi (7th place / RXCSF). The 5th-6th Grade Category had a 6th place finish from Leah Shaffer (RXCSF) while the 7th-8th Grade Category featured a 3rd place podium finish for James Flanigan (NYSEF) and a 6th place finish for Grace Mattern (RXCSF).

All 40+ NY athletes skied well and it was great to see representation from all across the State: NYSEF, NYSSRA, RXCSF, Saranac Lake Nordic, and the Old Forge Polar bears. The 2017 Bill Koch Festival will likely take place in Massachusetts. Hopefully, we can continue to see NY skiers travel to this festival and represent!

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Lapland Lake

A Touch of Finland in the Adirondacks!
 Expert Snowcat Grooming
 38km XC Trails, Classic & Skate
 12km Scenic Snowshoe Trails
 518-863-4974
 www.laplandlake.com

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Eastern High School Championship

by David Paarlberg-Kvam

While March brought marginal (if any) ski

conditions to much of the NYSSRA landscape, Nordic facilities with snow making worked strategically and tirelessly to make skiing & racing possible. The Eastern High School Championship (EHSC) races, which traditionally cap the race season for junior skiers, fortunately was slated for the Rikert Nordic Center where some of the best snow farmers were hard at work. Snow stuck around in Ripton, VT, despite rain & high temps in the preceding weeks and the NYSSRA junior skiers came out for one last hurrah on the ribbon of snow that still existed.

This three-day championship meet features the top 48 high school skiers (24 boys & 24 girls) from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. While NY often struggles to fill their team roster with junior skiers, this year’s trip was bigger and more competitive than in the recent past. NYSSRA juniors came from across the State to score for NY and did a great job representing many of our top NYSSRA clubs: Rochester Nordic Racing, NYSEF, ADK Vauhti, HURT, Polar Bear and even Wilderness Wildcats (our newest member from Western Pennsylvania), as well as many of our top high school programs.

Henry McGrew & Lucy Hochschartner from NYSEF led the way for the NY team. Henry found the podium in the freestyle skate race on Friday and was joined on Sunday by Lucy, Bryce Hartman & Jackie Garso for 3rd place in the team relay. The skiers were treated to a weekend that featured soft spring-like conditions on Friday only to have the temps drop over the weekend turning the race course into a firm, fast, technical track. The NY team was comprised of 33 athletes many of whom came as U16 skiers looking to gain experience from racing against tough New England competition and in formats that included classic sprinting and mass start distance racing. These are formats seldom seen in NY high school racing and exposure to them will help develop stronger, more confident and competitive athletes for future EHSC teams. The weekend was inspiring, extremely motivating and will pay huge dividends as our NY juniors develop into top level racers.

With the Junior National competition coming to Lake Placid next season, there is a lot of buzz among the junior skiers about ways to use the end of the season and the off-season as a launching pad into a great 2016-17 campaign. Participation in this event has left these skiers with a great set of new goals and anxious to begin offseason training.

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NYSSRA 2nd VP Position

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NYSSRA-Nordic is looking for an individual

who can volunteer his/her time to serve as our 2nd Vice President. The primary responsibility of this position is to disseminate information about upcoming NYSSRA races and events. It primarily involves:

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* working with NYSSRA president and web coordinator;

* compiling race results and sending them to the web coordinator; and,

* working with the points committee.

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Eric Seyse at [email protected]

Tim Huneck at [email protected]

Greg Malia at [email protected]



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Nordic Ski Coach: Brighton High School (Rochester, NY) on the snowy southern shore of Lake Ontario is seeking applicants for the position of Varsity Nordic Coach for the 2016-17 season. This is a well developed program with strong support from the school and the community. Groomed trails at a nearby park and the Bristol Nordic Center provide excellent training venues. Interested individuals should contact:

Fritz Kilian - Athletic Director 585-242-2070

[email protected]

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Nordic Ski Coach: West Irondequoit High School (Rochester, NY), on the snowy southern shore of Lake Ontario, is seeking applicants for the position of Varsity Nordic Coach for the 2016-17 season. This is a well developed program by the highly organized assistant coach, parent volunteers, and an excellent junior high feeder program. Groomed trails at a nearby park are excellent for training. Interested applicants should contact Assistant Coach Ann Burns at [email protected].

Anyone interested in this amazing opportunity should contact:

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Positions Available

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Nordic Race Official - Chief of Timing: The Monroe County HS Nordic Ski League, in the Rochester, NY area, seeks qualified candidates for the position of Chief of Timing for league and championship meets. This is a part-time position during the ski season and pays $70-75 per race with 8 - 10 races per season. Training is available. If interested, contact Anna Gorbold, League Chair at 585-261-3300 or

[email protected] by August 31, 2016.

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From the Executive Director

Here we are in the middle of the summer

with a heat wave and I’m about to talk about snow. I know I talked about it in my last message and I promise I won’t address it again for a while. When was the last time we had a winter like this past one? With so many areas looking at record low snowfall totals, some ski areas (especially in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains) never even opened for Nordic skiing. The two ski centers we could rely on were Lapland Lake (one of our sponsors) and Osceola XC Ski Center. Paul & Kathy, at Lapland, did a great job opening so many days despite the little snow they received and Hugh, at Osceola, seemed to be open almost everyday. Thank goodness for the Tug Hill Plateau.

What the Hudson Valley has been experiencing for the past 10 years of low snowfall seems to be creeping northward. Not that many years ago, we could count on snow & races at Lapland Lake & Osceola in December. Lapland discontinued their race a few years ago due to the number of times they had to cancel it due to lack of snow and the Osceola “Pie Race” was cancelled this past season. Section 9 high schools in the Hudson Valley did not hold one local race all season. Every race was held at least 2 hours north of Kingston.

What does this lack of snow mean for Nordic skiing in NY? Here are a few things I’ve noticed. High school skiing in Section 9 is declining with teams folding due to lack of interest. Can you blame a high school student for leaving a sport where they compete only 3 times all season, have to travel 2-3 hours to race and get on snow only a few times a year? The NY U16 team was cancelled due to lack of interest and the EHSC team wasn’t full.

Not all is dark and dreary though. NYSSRA-Nordic membership is up 40% from last year. Gore Mtn has added snowmaking for a XC loop and the NYSPHSAA Championship as well as the NYSSRA-Nordic Championship were great -

exciting, fun, full of enthusiasm and energy. We have a fantastic group of XC, Biathlon and Ski-O athletes active and involved in NY skiing.

So, what do we do? We can’t change the weather. We’d all love to see the snowfalls of the past return and, hopefully, they will this coming season. However, we should seriously talk about and plan for future winters like this past one. I believe this means - snowmaking. The Lake Placid ski jump, Gore Mtn Ski Bowl and Bristol Mtn were lifesavers for the NYSSRA-Nordic and the NYSPHSAA ski seasons. I don’t want to see Lapland Lake, Osceola, or any other ski center loose business and I don’t believe they will because no one would rather ski on artificial snow at the ski jumps at Lake Placid than at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. However, just like a retractable roof on a baseball stadium where you want to play under a sunny, blue sky; however, you can close the roof on a rainy day so the game still can be played, perhaps we need a few more ski centers with snowmaking capabilities to guarantee skiing during bad winters.

I believe it’s time for a statewide discussion on this and I’m proposing we form a working group to look at how NYSSRA-Nordic might play a role in expanding snowmaking around NY. Anyone interested can contact me.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to renew your membership and support our sponsors.

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Greg Malia

845-518-8598

[email protected]







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