The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Base pace to race pace
The Crested Butte Junior Nordic Team put their preseason training to the test at the first race of the 2013 season December 8-9 on the Grand Mesa.
The skiers started with dry land in mid-November and some brief but early snow had the kids on skis on the Lily Lake trail.
With their first Junior National qualifier race coming up in mid-January, coach Austin Ross decided it would be best to get a race under their belts prior to the start of qualifiers.
“This race was to shake off the rust from last season,” says Ross.
It also served as an introduction to several individuals to their new age classes. Last season both Prawit Durgan and Forrest Smith qualified for junior nationals in their second year of racing in the J2 age class.
This year, they will be racing in the J1 age class for the first time.
“It’s a tough thing to make it back the junior nationals your first year as a J1,” explains Ross.
Both Smith and Durgan got a taste of the new age class in Grand Mesa as Durgan placed 11th in the five-kilometer skate race on Saturday and ninth in the 10-kilometer classic on Sunday. Meanwhile, Smith placed 18th in the skate and 11 in the classic race.
“It was a good wake-up call,” says Ross.
That being said, Ross believes the two skiers are not out of the mix by any means.
“I think their goals to make it back to junior nationals are realistic,” says Ross. “By the end of the season they should be right in the mix.”
For Kai Sherman, the move from J3 to his first year as a J2 appears to be rather smooth. Sherman spent most of his season last year at the top of his age class in the Rocky Mountain Division (RMD) and was back near the top in his first race in the J2 age class this season.
Sherman opened the weekend placing fifth in the five-kilometer skate race and then posted a second place finish in the five-kilometer classic race on Sunday.
The team also had race rookies Aiden Truettner and Calvin Bates compete in the J2 class and both held their own for their first race. Bates placed 10th in skate and eighth in classic while Truettner finished with 13th and 12th place results.
“For those guys it was a really good experience,” says Ross.
The team also had young gun Robbie Oberling join them competing the J4 age class. Oberling had a stellar weekend posting a third-place finish in skate and a second-place finish in classic.
Ross now looks to switch gears with the athletes as they prepare for their next RMD race, a junior national qualifier event in January.
“We’re still building up their base in endurance,” says Ross. “We’re hoping to transition to race pace training.”
Part of that training will come from the team’s participation in the local Citizen’s Race series as they take on some of the local iron lungs right here in Crested Butte.
