Twenty four Far West Juniors recently travelled to Jackson, New Hampshire to compete in the USSA Junior Olympics from March 6-11. This was the largest team Far West has ever sent to the J.O.'s. An entourage of a dozen coaches and parent helpers accompanied the team. These athletes spent months preparing for the competition and were ready to give their best efforts against the fastest junior skiers in the United States.

The venue at Jackson was a picturesque New England village, with ski trails meandering down the river, across open fields, and up and down the wooded hills. The Far West Team stayed at a lovely inn just a stone's throw away from the competition stadium. It was a perfect set-up, except that recent rain and warm temperatures were destroying the snow pack. This situation was to set the tone for the week of competition.

As the snow melted, the standard race week format of the Junior Olympics was thrown out the window as race organizers panicked to save the event. The sprint races, normally the kick-off event, were moved to the back burner, and the skating races were set for Monday. This was bad news for Far West skiers, who had hoped to use the 1 km. sprints to get some speed into their legs for the rest of the week. This would have been ideal to recover from a long travel day and to adapt to the low altitude.

A course inspection on Sunday revealed the 5 kilometer loop to be relatively easy and on the short side. This was to be the only look at the race course (which had a single, long climb), as organizers were doing everything possible to preserve the fragile snowpack. The icy snow was sure to contribute to fast times and tightly packed results. Monday's race was set to begin at 8 am and all starts were to be at 15 second intervals. In other words, the Far West skiers were going to have to get with it.

In the J2 girls 5 km free-style race, Kristina Trygstad from Northern Inter-Mountain smoked the course in 12:49. Far West's Natalie Joffe pulled off a 20th place in 14:11, a great result for a J3 racing as a J2. Not far behind Joffe was another talented young Far West skier, Kara LaPoint, who finished in 29th in 14:24. North Tahoe's Rory Bosio claimed 30th place, just a second behind LaPoint. The fast, frozen granular snow held up for the rest of the races, benefitting the J1 girls, who produced even faster times over the 5 km course. Alaskan powerhouse skiers Kikkan Randall and Tara Hamilton set the pace with times of 12:17 and 12:32 respectively. The results were very tight, and Laura Spohr (13:28) from North Tahoe raced hard to place in the top 20 with a 17th place finish. There were only 10 seconds between 14th and 24th places in this race. U.S. Ski Team member Rebecca Dussault took the 5 km OJ title easily in 12:18. Older Junior Emma Garrard, skiing for Far West from UNR had a solid 13th place finish in 13:59 and Far West's Emily Robins took 19th in 14:15.

The conditions remained stable for the J2 Boys race, with Midwestern skier Dan Skold skating the 5 km course in a scorching 11:22. Far West's best finish in this event was Nick Sterling's 18th place (12:18), again in a tightly packed field. 18th place was also the best result for Far West in the J1 Boys 10 km race. Louis Van Blarigan from Truckee skated two laps of the fast course in 24:59, a result which put him only 6% behind race winner Leif Zimmerman from Northern Inter-Mountain (23:34). The Older Junior Boys field was one of the strongest in recent Junior Olympic history, with Ryan Quinn, skiing for Alaska, winning the 10 kim event in just 22:21. Far West's Eric Wieman (UNR) skied an excellent race in 23:45, earning 11th place. Ian Case, just warming up in these JO competitions, had a solid 22nd place result in a super competitive field. The consensus of the far West athletes after the first day of racing was that everyone felt sluggish, and unable to move quickly. This is hardly surprising considering the long travel day to low altitude just two days prior to the first race.

Racing resumed on Wednesday after a day to inspect the classic course (the same 5 km course with minor changes). Warming temperatures on Tuesday promised changeable wax conditions for Wednesday's events. The good news was that the races would again begin at 8 am. It turned out that 8:00 wasn't early enough because what was left of the course on Wednesday deteriorated to mush and mud by 10:00. Despite the changes in the schedule and adverse conditions, Far West skiers were fired up for another chance at the competition and confident in the coaching staff's ability to keep up with the changing wax conditions.

J1 Boys had the best conditions of the day for the 15 km race at 8:00. The course was hard and fast and the Far West wax gurus and testers hit the klister combination perfectly. Far West skier Scott Hill was in good form, skiing to an 11th place result in 43:08, just 9 seconds out of the top ten. Scott's percentage back from the winner, Zach Hill from Alaska (40:46), was only 5.79%. Tony Bozzio had a strong race, as well, finishing in 21st in 44:05. Both these results are promising, as Scott and Tony are first year J1 skiers. OJ Boys skied next, racing 3 laps on a softening course. New England skiers Sean Gallagher and Ethan Foster swept first and second places in 41:25 and 41:42, respectively. Far West had a good showing with outstanding performances by Ian Case and Eric Wieman. The wax was perfect, and Case responded, giving the single long climb his best effort each lap. Ian was in the medals with a 10th place finish in 43:47, only 5.70% out from the winner. Wieman had another great finish, just out of the medals in 12th place (44:09).

The OJ Girls 10 km classic race was won easily by Rebecca Dussault from Rocky Mountain in 34:57. Far West's Emma Garrard was fired up and in her best form, finishing 8th in 38:57. Emily Robins was 22nd in 41:28. By now, the course was slowing dramatically, turning the once fast flats and long downhill into serious hard work. Far West wax testers radioed the kick wax changes back to the waxing team in the stadium, and the J1 Girls were on their way in the 10 km event. Once again, Alaska's Kikkan Randall and Tara Hamilton took the top two results, finishing just a second apart in 36:33 and 36:34, nearly a minute ahead of the third place finisher. Jessica Ford from Lee Vining, in her first year as a J1 and strong in classic skiing, earned the top Far West finish (27th place in 41:31). Thirty second intervals in the 10 and 15 km events allowed the Far West split timing team to get their act together and give good information to the racers. Good splits can make a big difference in longer distance races. For the J2 5 km races, the start intervals were decreased to 15 second intervals.

By the time the J2 Boys started, the tracks were hardly distinguishable and the snow was the consistency of mashed potatoes. Dan Skold of the Midwest won his second race in 16:41, just 5 seconds ahead of second place. It was a tough day for Far West J2 Boys, whose best effort was Nick Sterling's 38th place in 18:35. The final event of the day was the J2 Girls 5 km race. The slow, sloppy conditions were perfect for Truckee skier Kara LaPoint, whose quick, running style of classic skiing earned her 15th place in 19:57. LaPoint (a J3 skier) was one of the youngest in the J2 field, and her 15th place finish was a respectable 9.22% behind race winner Lindsey Weier (18:16) from the Midwest. Far West's Rory Bosio finished 30th (20:47), with rookie JO skier Betsy Van Blarigan of Truckee 31st in 20:51.

After the individual distance races were over, race organizers were forced to look to higher ground for the relays and sprint event. After the classic races, the stadium was a mess of standing water and dirty snow patches. There was no question that any more races could be held on the 5 km loop. A local farmer several miles up the road from Jackson kindly loaned his pastures to the race organizers for the remainder of the events and a schedule was set: the relays would go off on the following day (Thursday) and the sprints on Saturday. All teams started scrambling to prepare for the relays as soon as the classic races were over, and Far West was no exception.

There were many skeptics going into the relay events, but the Jackson organizing committee cleverly put together a great three kilometer loop for the races. There were technical corners, a steep uphill, gentle rolling terrain, and an exciting downhill complete with screaming fast S-turns. There was even a commanding view of Mt. Washington. From the stadium, spectators could see the entire course. The relays themselves were some of the most exciting ski racing I have seen in this country.

The J2 Girls had the first start of the day at 8:30, and conditions were fast on the still frozen granular snow. Far West had two teams for the 3x3 relay: FW#1 Kara LaPoint, Rory Bosio, and Natalie Joffe and FW#2 Betsy Van Blarigan, Shannon Lankenau, and Margaux Joffe. Nineteen J2 Girls teams started the race, and Far West's LaPoint sprinted to the front like an old pro, with VanBlarigan of the second Far West team about mid-pack. At the end of the initial classic leg, Kara was in 8th place, and in good contact with three teams. Teammate Rory Bosio took off at lightning speed and skied an outstanding skate leg (5th fastest leg time) to tag anchor leg Natalie Joffe, who skated well to bring the team home in 6th place, just six seconds out of 5th place and the medals. A great accomplishment by a very young team! The race was won by a strong Northern Inter-Mountain team.

Temperatures were starting to warm up at the start of the J2Boys 3x3 race, but the snow stayed fast for this event. Far West's team of Andrew Van Blarigan, Nick Sterling, and Philip Violett raced hard for a 15th place (out of 19). Sterling, in his second JO, skated well for the ninth fastest leg time. The J2 Boys field has some pretty burly looking lads, whose strength and size made first year Far West J2 skiers Van Blarigan and Violett look like little kids skiing in a college race. The Far West boys held their own and got an education doing so.

The J1 and OJ Girls raced together, with a total of thirty four teams on the starting line. The snow was softening quickly and the corners were getting thick and grabby. It was a sight to see the pack, which stayed together for a long time, go around the turns. Racing for the Far West J1 team were Jessica Ford, Esther Bottomley, and Anne Spohr. Ford got off to a bit of a slow start, but worked her way forward on the two lap course to tag off in 7th place, a fine result for Jessica. Australian teammate Bottomley skated a solid race, and was especially impressive in the rutted downhill S-turns. Anne Spohr anchored the J1 team to a 13th place result (out of 21 teams). In the OJ Girls race UNR skier Emma Garrard pulled out of the start at the back of the pack, but made up several places to tag Emily Robins for the skate leg in 7th place. Emily was on fire, and had the fourth fastest leg time, moving the team forward several places at the final tag. Laura took over, skating hard to bring the team home in 5th place- a medal result! It was difficult for coaches to keep straight who was a J1 team and who was an OJ team in this race, but it made for a more exciting, competitive event to race the two age classes together.

There were 43 J1 and OJ Boys teams on the course for this combined event, and an exciting race it was. Far West's Eric Wieman, Ian Case, and Eric Ford teamed up for the OJ race. Wieman, a good classic skier with lots of relay experience started for the Far West team, and skied with the lead pack all the way to tag off in fifth place, just two seconds from 1st. Ian Case bolted out at the tag, maintaining position with the lead pack. Ian skated a great leg, the fourth fastest, and didn't let the front skiers out of his contact. Taking the lead going into the lap, Case went the wrong way, but got straightened out without losing the leaders. He handed off to Eric Ford, who skated the final leg (under more than a little pressure), bringing the team in 9th. Far West fielded two J1 teams for the relay: FW#1 Tony Bozzio, Scott Hill, and Louis Van Blarigan and FW#2 Dana Mosman, Jakub Benes, and Cory Martin. Bozzio sprinted to the front at the very start, and maintained a very fast pace for a short while. It was an impressive start, but Tony "blew up" on the first lap, tagging Hill in 15th position. Hill and Van Blarigan did what they could on the rapidly deteriorating course (the turns had water in them, and many skiers took horrible spills), but wound up 14th in the J1 race. The Far West #2 team was 17th. New England was triumphant in both the J1 and OJ races. It was an exciting day of racing, with some outstanding individual Far West performances.

The first ever JO Sprint championships were held on Saturday at the relay venue under cloudy skies and colder temperatures. A highly visible 1 kilometer course was set in the pasture above Jackson, and conditions were icy and fast. A qualifying round was held for each age class, with skiers starting in 15 second intervals. After a break of an hour and a half, racing resumed with a semi final round of the 16 fastest qualifiers. Two heats of 8 skiers each made up the semi final round, with the top four from each heat proceeding to the finals. After the qualifying round, two Far West skiers advanced to the semi finals. Nick Sterling and Margaux Joffe both got another chance to sprint in some pretty thrilling heats. Neither advanced to the finals, but Joffe claimed 13th place in the J2 girls results, and Sterling was 13th in the J2 Boys race. Based on her qualifying time, Rory Bosio took 17th place in the J2 Girls event and Ian Case was 12th in the OJ Boys event. The final rounds were exciting races and great fun to watch. The entire event was exciting from both the athletic and spectator points of view. The Far West coaching staff came away from the sprints with an eyeful; it was clear that strength and technique are hugely important in the sprint competition.

 

USSA All American status was earned by four Far West athletes at the Jackson JO's. This distinction is awarded to athletes finishing within 7% or less behind the winner of a JO race. Congratulations to Louis Van Blarigan, Ian Case, Scott Hill, and Eric Wieman!

In summary, the trip to the Jackson 2000 Junior Olympics was a success. Our athletes' success would not have been possible without the hard work done by Head Coach Glenn Jobe throughout the last year. As trip leader in Jackson, Glenn arranged to have the team stay in comfortable lodgings with great food right on the race course. Thanks also to Glenn for his kick waxing expertise which the team depends upon for good classic results. Bill Sterling did a great job helping with trip organization and headed up the glide waxing effort in Jackson. He and Dan Hill worked around the clock on the athletes' skis. Lynn Harriman was on top of the piles of paperwork, meetings, and organization at JO's, as well as being in the stadium at all races to help the athletes get to their starts. It was great having Erica Alexander-Wescott on the coaching staff. Her years of experience came in handy every day, and she was a crucial part of the kick wax testing team. Thanks to Larry Ford, Don Mosman, and Mark Spohr for their work doing split timing and for the hours spent in the wax room. Jodie Sterling and Edith Jobe did a wonderful job keeping the athletes fed and the coaches in coffee. Thanks also to Michelle Violett and Bill Blubaugh for their help with lunches and some great ski racing photography.