It's that time of year again...
The season without snow, with rollerskiing, running, bugs, sun, heat, sweat, misery, work, hammocks, beer, lakes, swimming, more sweating and finally, and most important for us here at the UW Nordic News, a general lack of UW events.
That's right, for 4 long months the UW ski team is scattered throughout Ontario and Canada frantically trying to make enough cash to survive another winter, or if you're on a screwy Co-Op stream, frantically trying to learn as many things as possible to prevent you from being removed from the ski team in the fall.
Unfortunately this means there will be little exciting news or excessive adjectives posted on here for the immediate future. As training camps are planned and executed over the course of the summer, information will be posted, but for the most part it will be sporadic.
Thanks for checking in with us on a regular basis this year, if you didn't do that, sorry, you missed out big time.
Next year things will be much the same, perhaps with more features, perhaps with consistent posting. Reader feedback is always encouraged, either reply in the 'Comments' section or send us an email.
Enjoy the heat, because in a short 5 months, it will be alllll gone.
The UW Nordic News Team
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Awards!
As April is upon Southern Ontario, so is the end of the ski season (despite the snowfall of last week). With the end of the ski season comes the inevitable awards season! This is the part of the year where people are recognized for their hard work, dedication to the team or overall awesomeness. This year's awards are as follows:
MVP (or MVS):
Awarded yearly for best performance on the team, or contributions above and beyond, the MVS is fairly self explanatory. If you haven't figured it out, if you're an MVS, you're pretty much entitled to whatever you want. Rides to practise, fluoro's on your skis at races, bagels out of the rookies lunches, you name it, you got it.
Female MVS: Nellie Dow
No surprises here. Nellie Dow has been outstanding her past 2 years of OUA Competition, All-Starring twice. This year she capped off her season with a 4th place at OUA's, a personal-best. On top of that, she was the Women's Team Captain and maintained a full courseload with a high average, as is evidenced by her intimate knowledge of the 3rd floor of the Dana Porter Library, as well as being able to tell you exactly how many books are in the St. Jerome's Library.
Male MVS: Kieran T. Jones
From his point of view, also no surprise, but for the rest of the team, who realized that listening to Kieran Jones was a waste of time, it came as a shock. Jones, in his third season with the Warriors, posted several personal best finishes, including an 11th place monster-come-from-behind-pull-out-all-the-stops-un-real-storm-the-finish-line performance on the Classic Mass Start day at OUA Championships. Overall at OUA's Jones finished in 16th as UW's top male skier. Described as a "team leader" who was "dedicated to practise" and was in general an "all-around great guy" by Head Coach Faulkner, Jones, for possibly the first time ever in his life, deserved an award which he received.
Most Improved
Almost as important as the MVS category, the most improved goes out to those who pulled up their socks from the previous year. This is usually acheived through an increased dedication to training, a significant decline in academic performance, or by failing the drug tests at OUA Championships.
Male: Yudai Nakagawa
Without a doubt the strongest member of the UW ski team, last year Yudai Nakagawa relied mostly on his gigantic calves and sleep deprivation to propel him to success on the ski trails. This year, with renewed dedication to physical activity, Nakagawa quickly became the bouldering and slacklining expert on the ski team. With his focus shifting away from legs and onto the upper body, he improved greatly, moving from placing 39th and 34th in the 2008 OUA Champs to 29th and 27th at the 2009 OUA Champs, and thus is well deserving of the 'Most Improved' Title.
Female: Kelly Skinner
Without a doubt the shortest member of the UW ski team, Kelly Skinner is also the only mother on the team. Taking last year off to have her first of what will undoubtably become countless children put a damper on her training and racing for the season, but Skinner returned with a vegenance and a baby jogger this past fall. Again, not to harp on this point or anything, but following the grand tradition of birthing mothers turning in hot ski seasons, Skinner placed far better this year than her last two competitive seasons, in '07 and'05 respectively.
Rookie of the Year
Always hotly contested, as rookies generally come in with great enthusiasm, ideals and acne, this year the competition was a little different. While UW did have the requisite baby-faced, pre-drinking age, cut-the-crusts-off-my-white-bread-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich rookie in Nolan Beanlands, the team also featured some more elderly first-timers who managed to steal the coveted award. Presented for dedication to the team, exceptional performances or bringing a much needed fresh presence, the ROY always goes to those who deserve it.
Male ROY: Andrew Jeffery
Much has been made of this young man for the entire ski season. Be it his uncanny resemblance to the University of Guelph's John Rennie, his unrelenting dedication to a massive pile of curricular and extra-curricular activities, or his willingness to come out for the varsity ski team in his third year at UW, Andrew Jeffery pretty much did everything a rookie could and then some. Somewhere in the middle of laying down consistently the best performances on the UW team throughout the OUA qualifiers and the UW time trial season while at the same time juggling intramural ice-hockey, ball-hockey, six courses and volunteering, AJ became the standout for Rookie of the Year.
Female ROY: Jessica Stevenson
Much like Andrew Jeffery, Jessica Stevenson waited until her 3rd year at UW to join the team. An shadowy, ghost-like figure for most of the fall due to coop commitments, Stevenson had the misfortune of joining the ski team at the beginning of Winter Term, thus missing out on the many team building opportunies in the fall. Luckily for us, however, Jess is neither wierd nor socially awkward, so after a few nights at Bechtel Park getting frostbite together, things were pretty much normal. A previous standout for Foothills Nordic, Jess took 3 years off racing and her willingness to get back onto the boards after such a layoff earned her the title of Rookie of the Year.
The 'Final Climb' Award
Named after the last race in the Tour de Ski which features a ski race up a downhill run, gaining approximatly 425 vertical meters in 3km, this award is doled out to those who take the most possible pain in a season. The 'Final Climb' in the Tour is done on a voluntary basis, so to achieve this award it must be the same. Getting hit by a car while rollerskiing, closing your finger in the van door or falling on the S-Turn at Highlands and having to spend 20 minutes picking trees out of your belly button because of your own idiocy does not count.
Derek Hartman and Martha Sutton
Split between the two because the panel couldn't decide who suffered more, both Hartman and Sutton struggled valiantly - and finished. Martha managed to sustain a knee injury early in the fall which kept her in a knee brace and unable to train for the majority of the season, but, determined to give the UW Women's team the best possible shot at success, came to OUA Champs anyway.
While Hartman was not injured for quite as long, a groin injury in the middle of January limited his on-snow racing and intensity sessions, throwing a wrench into his plans for the ski season. What was the best shape of his life quickly became a nightmare, as at OUA's he was restricted to large amounts double-poling. Despite this, Hartman still managed to post OUA personal best placings.
MVP (or MVS):
Awarded yearly for best performance on the team, or contributions above and beyond, the MVS is fairly self explanatory. If you haven't figured it out, if you're an MVS, you're pretty much entitled to whatever you want. Rides to practise, fluoro's on your skis at races, bagels out of the rookies lunches, you name it, you got it.
Female MVS: Nellie Dow
No surprises here. Nellie Dow has been outstanding her past 2 years of OUA Competition, All-Starring twice. This year she capped off her season with a 4th place at OUA's, a personal-best. On top of that, she was the Women's Team Captain and maintained a full courseload with a high average, as is evidenced by her intimate knowledge of the 3rd floor of the Dana Porter Library, as well as being able to tell you exactly how many books are in the St. Jerome's Library.
Male MVS: Kieran T. Jones
From his point of view, also no surprise, but for the rest of the team, who realized that listening to Kieran Jones was a waste of time, it came as a shock. Jones, in his third season with the Warriors, posted several personal best finishes, including an 11th place monster-come-from-behind-pull-out-all-the-stops-un-real-storm-the-finish-line performance on the Classic Mass Start day at OUA Championships. Overall at OUA's Jones finished in 16th as UW's top male skier. Described as a "team leader" who was "dedicated to practise" and was in general an "all-around great guy" by Head Coach Faulkner, Jones, for possibly the first time ever in his life, deserved an award which he received.
Most Improved
Almost as important as the MVS category, the most improved goes out to those who pulled up their socks from the previous year. This is usually acheived through an increased dedication to training, a significant decline in academic performance, or by failing the drug tests at OUA Championships.
Male: Yudai Nakagawa
Without a doubt the strongest member of the UW ski team, last year Yudai Nakagawa relied mostly on his gigantic calves and sleep deprivation to propel him to success on the ski trails. This year, with renewed dedication to physical activity, Nakagawa quickly became the bouldering and slacklining expert on the ski team. With his focus shifting away from legs and onto the upper body, he improved greatly, moving from placing 39th and 34th in the 2008 OUA Champs to 29th and 27th at the 2009 OUA Champs, and thus is well deserving of the 'Most Improved' Title.
Female: Kelly Skinner
Without a doubt the shortest member of the UW ski team, Kelly Skinner is also the only mother on the team. Taking last year off to have her first of what will undoubtably become countless children put a damper on her training and racing for the season, but Skinner returned with a vegenance and a baby jogger this past fall. Again, not to harp on this point or anything, but following the grand tradition of birthing mothers turning in hot ski seasons, Skinner placed far better this year than her last two competitive seasons, in '07 and'05 respectively.
Rookie of the Year
Always hotly contested, as rookies generally come in with great enthusiasm, ideals and acne, this year the competition was a little different. While UW did have the requisite baby-faced, pre-drinking age, cut-the-crusts-off-my-white-bread-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich rookie in Nolan Beanlands, the team also featured some more elderly first-timers who managed to steal the coveted award. Presented for dedication to the team, exceptional performances or bringing a much needed fresh presence, the ROY always goes to those who deserve it.
Male ROY: Andrew Jeffery
Much has been made of this young man for the entire ski season. Be it his uncanny resemblance to the University of Guelph's John Rennie, his unrelenting dedication to a massive pile of curricular and extra-curricular activities, or his willingness to come out for the varsity ski team in his third year at UW, Andrew Jeffery pretty much did everything a rookie could and then some. Somewhere in the middle of laying down consistently the best performances on the UW team throughout the OUA qualifiers and the UW time trial season while at the same time juggling intramural ice-hockey, ball-hockey, six courses and volunteering, AJ became the standout for Rookie of the Year.
Female ROY: Jessica Stevenson
Much like Andrew Jeffery, Jessica Stevenson waited until her 3rd year at UW to join the team. An shadowy, ghost-like figure for most of the fall due to coop commitments, Stevenson had the misfortune of joining the ski team at the beginning of Winter Term, thus missing out on the many team building opportunies in the fall. Luckily for us, however, Jess is neither wierd nor socially awkward, so after a few nights at Bechtel Park getting frostbite together, things were pretty much normal. A previous standout for Foothills Nordic, Jess took 3 years off racing and her willingness to get back onto the boards after such a layoff earned her the title of Rookie of the Year.
The 'Final Climb' Award
Named after the last race in the Tour de Ski which features a ski race up a downhill run, gaining approximatly 425 vertical meters in 3km, this award is doled out to those who take the most possible pain in a season. The 'Final Climb' in the Tour is done on a voluntary basis, so to achieve this award it must be the same. Getting hit by a car while rollerskiing, closing your finger in the van door or falling on the S-Turn at Highlands and having to spend 20 minutes picking trees out of your belly button because of your own idiocy does not count.
Derek Hartman and Martha Sutton
Split between the two because the panel couldn't decide who suffered more, both Hartman and Sutton struggled valiantly - and finished. Martha managed to sustain a knee injury early in the fall which kept her in a knee brace and unable to train for the majority of the season, but, determined to give the UW Women's team the best possible shot at success, came to OUA Champs anyway.
While Hartman was not injured for quite as long, a groin injury in the middle of January limited his on-snow racing and intensity sessions, throwing a wrench into his plans for the ski season. What was the best shape of his life quickly became a nightmare, as at OUA's he was restricted to large amounts double-poling. Despite this, Hartman still managed to post OUA personal best placings.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
OUA Championships Classic Mass Start - Finally
Well, now that it's official that no one ever checks this blog anymore, it's time to post the most exciting, surprising, fascinating and spine-chilling news of the season.
Despite the fact the race was over a month ago, a recap, some pictures and a review of the Waterloo results remains necessary.
Sunday morning saw the women prepping for a hilly two-lap mass-start 10km. With perennial All-Star favourite and classic skiing specialist Nellie Dow sitting just out of the top 10 after Saturdays skate race, the Waterloo coaching staff and Men's Team hunkered down for what was going to be an intense race. They were not to be disappointed, although a lot of other OUA women were.
Following a hectic start with 41 women jostling for position, Dow managed to find herself in the front group with an assortment of high-powered OUA women, including Queens' Julie McVicar, a pile of Lakehead women, and Carleton's rookie sensation, Adele Lay. A little further back, Kelly Skinner, Jess Stevenson and Martha Sutton rounded out Waterloo's women's team. With 4 starters, this effectively doubled the number of women Waterloo fielded at last years' OUA Championships, and gave our women a chance to punish U of T severly on the scoresheet.
Nellie Dow (center) destroying the pride of Queens (left) and Carleton (right) on her first lap.
Skiing strongly, Dow managed to come through the top of the stadium in 3rd, on her final loop just ahead of Linnea Kershaw, sister of National Team member, World Cup participant, all-around Canadian skiing hero Devon Kershaw. The two battled it out to the finish, with Dow falling just short of an OUA medal, finishing in 4th, but easily securing her spot as an OUA All-Star yet again.
Shortly thereafter, Kelly Skinner crossed the line in 23rd, the exact same placing as Saturday's skate race. Jess Stevenson rebounded from a tough day at the office on Saturday to post the 29th fastest time, narrowly edging out a U of T rival. Martha Sutton cruised to 32 place, and while it was off her pace from last year at OUA's, her ability to fight through a season-ending knee injury to give Waterloo a team is inspiring and courageous.
Kelly Skinner fighting off the agressive U of Guelph.
Martha Sutton, injured knee and all, also dueling the persistent and ever-present U of Guelph. Man, they have a lot of skiers.
With the women finished racing for the year, it was time for the Waterloo men to take to the chevron for the 15km Classic. Cam Moore looked to be Waterloo's most promising hope for a male All-Star, as his 13th place on the skate day indicated, as well as last year's success on the circuit. However Andrew Jeffrey had been improving all year, and knew when to bring his A game, and Kieran Jones had put all his chips on the classic race, exclusively double poling for weeks beforehand. Not to mention Yudai Nakagawa's raw upper body strength and Nolan Beanlands green hat. As for Derek Hartman, going into Sunday with a strained groin and a best-ever OUA placing on Saturday, his goal was simply to finish.
Due to the small stadium size, and the ridiculous loop that was planned for the start of the race, the Waterloo men opted for discretion, and stayed out of the 50 man-hectic traffic jam which began the race. Once out of the tight turns full of testosterone-charged Lakehead and Guelph skiers, Moore and Jones got on their horses, and made some moves up the field. Jeffery, a little intimidated by his first mass start spent a little time working out the kinks. Nakagawa and Beanlands, who prefer skating, were a little further back but still holding strong.
Kieran Jones followed closely by Cam Moore on the first lap, both just having worked their way out of significant traffic.
Yudai Nakagawa, Andrew Jeffery and Nolan Beanlands (in the green hat) preparing to completely overwhelm U of T's Andrew Bradbury.
After the first lap, things began to shake apart with strong Lakehead and Carleton contingents stretching out the pack. After losing Moore, Jeffery and a large chase pack, Jones bided his time until the start of the second lap, and then began his quest for a top 10 finish. Passing 5 men in the last 2km to set himself up for a sprint finish, Jones came into the last 500m loop 10 meters behind Lakehead's Matt Cuddy and Jake Porter, both strong skiers. With a little jump on the last uphill, Jones downed Porter in a heated double-poling exchange, but just ran out of real estate to catch Cuddy, and had to settle for 11th place. Moore and Jeffery, a little further back in the field were busy engaged in a tight battle between each other and several rivals for key spots. Moore managed to throw some bows and slide into 22nd, with Jeffery 3 seconds behind in 23rd.
Kieran Jones crushing Lakehead's Jake Porter in the double pole into the finish.
Nakagawa rounded out the scoring men with an impressive 27th, fighting off U of T's hotshot rookie Todd Inkila, who clearly could not handle Nakagawa's double-poling strength. Beans, after posting his OUA best result on Saturday, ran out of gas on his second lap and faded back in the field a little, finishing 36th while Derek Hartman's groin suffered a relapse, forcing him to double pole 5km into the finish, placing 38th.
Yudai Nakagawa coming into the finish strong. The man who usually is behind the camera finally gets some photo time.
The final result showed no UW men in the Top 10 overall, disappointing to be sure, but strong results on both days indicate that the young talent on the team is maturing nicely. While this year and next can still be considered rebuilding years for the UW team, especially with the departure of Nellie Dow, the fact that the entire mens team save Mike Neilly, who was not present at OUA's, will be returning bodes well.
Despite the fact the race was over a month ago, a recap, some pictures and a review of the Waterloo results remains necessary.
Sunday morning saw the women prepping for a hilly two-lap mass-start 10km. With perennial All-Star favourite and classic skiing specialist Nellie Dow sitting just out of the top 10 after Saturdays skate race, the Waterloo coaching staff and Men's Team hunkered down for what was going to be an intense race. They were not to be disappointed, although a lot of other OUA women were.
Following a hectic start with 41 women jostling for position, Dow managed to find herself in the front group with an assortment of high-powered OUA women, including Queens' Julie McVicar, a pile of Lakehead women, and Carleton's rookie sensation, Adele Lay. A little further back, Kelly Skinner, Jess Stevenson and Martha Sutton rounded out Waterloo's women's team. With 4 starters, this effectively doubled the number of women Waterloo fielded at last years' OUA Championships, and gave our women a chance to punish U of T severly on the scoresheet.
Nellie Dow (center) destroying the pride of Queens (left) and Carleton (right) on her first lap.
Skiing strongly, Dow managed to come through the top of the stadium in 3rd, on her final loop just ahead of Linnea Kershaw, sister of National Team member, World Cup participant, all-around Canadian skiing hero Devon Kershaw. The two battled it out to the finish, with Dow falling just short of an OUA medal, finishing in 4th, but easily securing her spot as an OUA All-Star yet again.
Shortly thereafter, Kelly Skinner crossed the line in 23rd, the exact same placing as Saturday's skate race. Jess Stevenson rebounded from a tough day at the office on Saturday to post the 29th fastest time, narrowly edging out a U of T rival. Martha Sutton cruised to 32 place, and while it was off her pace from last year at OUA's, her ability to fight through a season-ending knee injury to give Waterloo a team is inspiring and courageous.
Kelly Skinner fighting off the agressive U of Guelph.
Martha Sutton, injured knee and all, also dueling the persistent and ever-present U of Guelph. Man, they have a lot of skiers.
With the women finished racing for the year, it was time for the Waterloo men to take to the chevron for the 15km Classic. Cam Moore looked to be Waterloo's most promising hope for a male All-Star, as his 13th place on the skate day indicated, as well as last year's success on the circuit. However Andrew Jeffrey had been improving all year, and knew when to bring his A game, and Kieran Jones had put all his chips on the classic race, exclusively double poling for weeks beforehand. Not to mention Yudai Nakagawa's raw upper body strength and Nolan Beanlands green hat. As for Derek Hartman, going into Sunday with a strained groin and a best-ever OUA placing on Saturday, his goal was simply to finish.
Due to the small stadium size, and the ridiculous loop that was planned for the start of the race, the Waterloo men opted for discretion, and stayed out of the 50 man-hectic traffic jam which began the race. Once out of the tight turns full of testosterone-charged Lakehead and Guelph skiers, Moore and Jones got on their horses, and made some moves up the field. Jeffery, a little intimidated by his first mass start spent a little time working out the kinks. Nakagawa and Beanlands, who prefer skating, were a little further back but still holding strong.
Kieran Jones followed closely by Cam Moore on the first lap, both just having worked their way out of significant traffic.
Yudai Nakagawa, Andrew Jeffery and Nolan Beanlands (in the green hat) preparing to completely overwhelm U of T's Andrew Bradbury.
After the first lap, things began to shake apart with strong Lakehead and Carleton contingents stretching out the pack. After losing Moore, Jeffery and a large chase pack, Jones bided his time until the start of the second lap, and then began his quest for a top 10 finish. Passing 5 men in the last 2km to set himself up for a sprint finish, Jones came into the last 500m loop 10 meters behind Lakehead's Matt Cuddy and Jake Porter, both strong skiers. With a little jump on the last uphill, Jones downed Porter in a heated double-poling exchange, but just ran out of real estate to catch Cuddy, and had to settle for 11th place. Moore and Jeffery, a little further back in the field were busy engaged in a tight battle between each other and several rivals for key spots. Moore managed to throw some bows and slide into 22nd, with Jeffery 3 seconds behind in 23rd.
Kieran Jones crushing Lakehead's Jake Porter in the double pole into the finish.Nakagawa rounded out the scoring men with an impressive 27th, fighting off U of T's hotshot rookie Todd Inkila, who clearly could not handle Nakagawa's double-poling strength. Beans, after posting his OUA best result on Saturday, ran out of gas on his second lap and faded back in the field a little, finishing 36th while Derek Hartman's groin suffered a relapse, forcing him to double pole 5km into the finish, placing 38th.
Yudai Nakagawa coming into the finish strong. The man who usually is behind the camera finally gets some photo time.The final result showed no UW men in the Top 10 overall, disappointing to be sure, but strong results on both days indicate that the young talent on the team is maturing nicely. While this year and next can still be considered rebuilding years for the UW team, especially with the departure of Nellie Dow, the fact that the entire mens team save Mike Neilly, who was not present at OUA's, will be returning bodes well.
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