Welcome Gustie fans! This is the first installment of many on the Gustavus Nordic ski team blog. This blog will be used to keep our fans updated on the places we travel and our results.
This past week several members of the Gustavus Nordic team (Jed Friedrich, Jens Brabbit, Andrew Poffenberger, Andrew Tilman, Logan Smestad, and Kelly Chaudoin) traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for U. S Nordic Ski National Championships. The venue for this race was Kincaid Park. We arrived on December 31st for what we thought would be an exciting week of racing. The first was suppose to be the classic sprint race on January 3rd. When we arrived at the park we learned that the race would be delayed and then cancelled since the rules state that temperature must be above -4. With the race cancelled we decided to train and prepare for the race the next day. As you may have already heard the race was once again cancelled and this continued to be the scenario for most of the week. On Monday, we drove to Kincaid Park and were actually able to race. The temperature at the start was a balmy 0 degrees. The distance was originally supposed to be a 10k women’s race and a 15k men’s race. With the temperature still cold the distance was shortened to 5k for women and 10k for men. The race was also held on the original classic course. For Logan Smestad and Andrew Poffenberger this was their first time at U.S Nationals. I am sure they would agree that it was a great experience for them. The skate race was used as an NCAA qualifier for the Central Region. We will have many more to come in the Midwest and I hope many of you will get a chance to cheer for the Gusties at a race or two this season! From all the members of the Gustavus team I would like to extend a thank you to the volunteers and organizers who worked hard to make Kincaid park a spectacular venue regardless of how the weather turned out. Until next time……Jens Brabbit
Gustavus Men (CCSA place, name, time)
2. Jens Brabbit (27:41)
27. Andrew Poffenberger (31:28)
31. Logan Smestad (32:59)
33. Andrew Tilman (33:44)
Gustavus Women (CCSA place, name, time)
4. Kelly Chaudoin (16:34)