Conference Meet - Wednesday

A little heads up on the plan for Wednesday.

Bus leaves at 7:30 AM for Baker.
We are responsible for two workers for each of the 4 races.

Race Schedule:
10:00 Girls Skate
11:00 Boys Skate

1:30 Girls Classic
2:30 Boys Classic

4:00 Awards

Practice Saturday 1/29 and Races Next Week

Saturday the varsity skiers, and those interested in going to Baker, will meet at the high school to carpool. Baker does not allow buses on the weekends so we will have to caravan down.

Monday is the JV Conference meet at Woodland Trails in Elk River. The meet schedule is listed below. The team will be leaving the high school at 1:50 with dismissal at 1:40. Each racer will select the race they would like to ski in, skate or classic. Varsity skiers will not be going to the meet in Elk River. Instead they will be going to the Skijoring park. There will not be a bus, so if carpooling is an issue, then the skier would need to travel with the team to Elk River.

Start times:
3:31 boys skate at 1:00 on the clock. One skier per school at a time every 20 sec.
3:45 girls skate at 15:00 on the clock
4:05 boys classic 35:00 on the clock
4:20 girls classic 50:00 on the clock

Wednesday the competing skiers will miss the entire day of school for the meet at Baker. JV skiers will have to ski on their own after school. Girls go first at 10:00 AM with the skate leg.

Meet January 20th Canceled

Wind chills are too cold to hold a meet today. As a result we will have a normal practice at 3:00 PM and go to the Skijoring trails in Bunker.

This Weekend

For those of you in town this weekend, I would encourage you to come and watch at least one of the race days at Theodore Wirth. This is a Supertour/Collegiate/JNQ race and it will have some of the best skiers from the cities, midwest, and nationally. I'm sure there will be at least 2 olympians racing (Garrott Kuzzy, Caitlin Compton) and this is a nice opportunity to see them perform.

http://www.mayorsxcchallenge.com/

Here's a video of last years start & some racing:

Keep in mind that it was slushy, rainy, and slow that day. This year it should be much faster since it will be cold & hard.

Coach Dubay will be at the race waxing for the Minneapolis Ski Club, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Sisu Ski Club. Look for him under a Swix tent, possibly by the Gear West waxmobile.

Waxing Benches

I know a number of people were talking about wishing to have a wax bench of their own. Here's the most economical one out there: http://www.waxbenches.com/. You can get the stand with it if you're so inclined, but otherwise it is easily clamped to an old table or sawhorse.

Meet Schedule V2

Bumping this for easier retrieval!

ABC Relays Info

ABC Relays are held at Theodore Wirth Park located north of Hwy 55 between 100 and 94. From Hwy 55 follow Theo Wirth Pkwy north and you can't miss the ski area. As mentioned in the previous post, parking is VERY limited so plan accordingly.

Info for 1/12 & 1/15

Team pictures are planned for Wednesday at Bunker. Full uniforms will be required for the team pictures, warm-ups are fine for individual photos.

ABC Relays
7:30 Bus leaves Andover (load at 7:15)
10:00 Boys Race
11:30 Girls Race
1:00 Awards

Note: Parking is very limited and it is highly suggested that people car pool. The race consists of teams of 4 skiers where two classic and two skate. The first two legs of the relay classic.

Tuesday, January 11th Meet

This meet includes two separate races. The top 4 boys and girls from each team compete in an elimination sprint race while the rest of the team competes in a 5 km classic race. Each sprint racer competes in the qualifier sprint. The top 24 qualifiers move on to the heats where each qualifier is guaranteed two additional sprints. Below is the schedule for the afternoon.

5 km Schedule
3:30 Boys Waves
4:00 Girls Waves
4:30 Non Qualifying Sprinters

Sprints Schedule
3:30 Qualifiers, boys on the lower course, girls on the upper course
4:00 Heats begin and will go off every 5 minutes with alternating courses.
5:00 Girls Final
5:10 Boys Final

All sprint races are Freestyle technique and will begin with a double pole section. "Tracking" is NOT ALLOWED IN THE SPRINTS. False starts in the sprints are an immediate disqualification. Starters will begin each sprint heat with the commands "Starting with-in 10 seconds" and "GO". It is the TOE of the athlete that counts at the finish line.

A Peek @ the Week 1/3/11

Monday: Classic @ Elm Creek bus at 3:00

Tuesday: Race 7.0 km classic @ Elm Creek - Leave school at 1:50 out at 1:35
3:30 Boys 7K
3:45 Girls 7K
4:00 Boys 5K
4:15 Girls 5K

Wednesday: Skate
Thursday: Skate
Friday: Classic

Note: The conference sprints are on Jan. 11th.

Practices 12/31 - 1/2

Check with your captains for the specific times and locations.

Friday - 2 hours of skate skiing with bursts
Saturday - 2.5 hours classic with bursts
Sunday - 2 hours skate with 10 x 1 minute

If the weather stays warm for Saturday, then do the Sunday workout on Saturday and classic on Sunday.

Remember there is a meet on Tuesday. Sprints for varsity skiers and a 5 km skate for JV skiers.

How to foot throw

Just to clarify with some how to properly do a foot throw at the end of a ski race. This one is from 2002 after 20 kilometers of ski racing:

Volunteers Needed for 12/22 Meet

Andover is hosting the meet at Elm Creek on 12/22 (7.5K (or maybe 10K) skate) which means we need 5-6 parent volunteers to help run the meet. No training or prior experience required! Just show up early and ask if you can help.

Holiday Relays Directions

Click the link below for directions to Saturday's meet at Trollhaugen Ski Area:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Andover,+MN&daddr=45.26562,-93.15937+to:2232+100th+Avenue,+Dresser,+WI+54009+(Trollhaugen+Ski+Area+%26+Convention+Center:+Ski+Shop)&hl=en&geocode=FZI0sgIdtHxw-inxxY58KxazUjEgMcZaXzwTBw%3BFdSysgIdNoBy-infgu4akB-zUjHTqtqTuLCVfA%3BFXYBtAIdaMJ6-iGxGgZvXLp4Ag&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=12&via=1&sll=45.254347,-93.096428&sspn=0.136552,0.362892&ie=UTF8&ll=45.314012,-92.951202&spn=0.272817,0.725784&z=11

Holiday Relays Information

The schedule and race entries for Saturday are below.

6:45 AM Bus leaves Andover
8:00 AM Packet Pick-up
9:30 Girls Classic 4x3km
10:45 Boys Classic 4x3km
12:00 Noon Girls Skate 4x3km
1:00 PM Boys Skate 4x3km
2:15 Awards

Race Schedule for Thursday 12/16/10

Once again we will be at Elm Creek for our meet. This race will be an age group classic event. Each participating school will send out one skier every 20 seconds for each designated group. Freshman and beginning skiers race together. Since the race is classic it is important that each skier test their kick wax well before the start of their race. In most cases you will be expected to wax for kick on Wednesday after practice. This race will be a one loop 5km race, the Northern Lights loop.

Estimated start times.

3:30 - Sr. Girls
3:35 - Jr. Girls
3:40 – Soph Girls
3:45 - Freshmen Girls
3:55 – Sr. Boys
4:00 – Jr Boys
4:05 – Soph Boys
4:10 - Freshmen Boys
4:20 – Jr high/middle school/beginner Girls
4:25 - Jr high/middle school/beginner Boys

December 8th Race Schedule - Elm Creek

Approximate start times. There may be an attempt to compress start times but that is usually a difficult thing to do.

3:30 - Sr. boys
3:40 - Jr. boys
3:50 – Soph boys
4:00 – Sr. girls
4:10 – Jr girls
4:20 – Soph girls
4:30 – Freshman/Jr high/middle school/beginner boys
4:40 - Freshman/Jr high/middle school/beginner girls

V-2 Alternate/Open Field Technique

Watch this video for what the World Cup skiers look like on their Open Field/V-2 Alternate technique. Remember that Open Field and V-2 Alternate are the same thing, just different names.

Practice Monday

Practice begins at 2:45. We will be going to Bunker once again. Beginners will skate ski while experienced skiers will classic. Experienced skiers will need to have applied kick wax to their skis prior to leaving, so plan your arrival accordingly. The bus leaves at 3:00 PM. After practice we will focus on setting up for glide waxing.

There is a skate race at Elm Creek on Wednesday.

Winter Trip Chaperones

The team is looking for chaperones for the trip to Ironwood. There would be a private room available and duties would include preparing meals and supervising clean up. Let Coach Clark know if you are interested.