WJC and U23 Update

Fri, Mar  16, 2007 - By Pat Casey - TeamToday.org

Four races down.

12 top 30 results

Day 1 Junior Sprints

Rosie Brennan 10

Sadie Bjornsen 30

We ran into some bad luck with the guys and none of them qualified because they didn't use skate skis for the qualifying.  Rosie skied amazingly; she rebounded from a tough semi final and skied great in the B final for a 10th place. 

Day 2 U23 Sprints

Laura Valaas 2

Morgan Smyth 8

Lindsay Williams 13

Mikey Sinnott 24

Tyson Flaharty 25

This was a really fun day.  We got to see the American flag raised during the prizegiving ceremony for Laura.  She was really close to winning the whole thing.  Just a foot back from the girl who was the best in the world that day.

Day 3 Junior 5/10km Skate

Liz Stephen 7

Alexa Turzian 16

Matt Gelso 29

This day was a total success.  Three of the 6 girls that beat Liz on the day were also top ten at World Championships in Japan.  It is a very tough field here and our skiers are competitors, not participants...  Top 30 results at Junior world championships used to be celebrated by all.  Matt Gelso was quoted after the race saying that he didn't feel good and it was not a good race.   The other junior boys have unrepresentative FIS point and ended up with really late starts.  They all skied way up from where they started, but they didn't really stand a chance.  So, get your FIS license early if you plan on making WJC or U23's.  The boys never gave up.  It was a real Rocky moment to see Tad, Charlie, and Alex grinding away for every last second the whole time.  They have heart, and that's all it takes in the end.

Day 4 U23 10/15km Skate

Tazlina Mannix 14

Morgan Arritola 25

These girls skied very well today.  They are not content, so look for more on Saturday...  The boys were handicapped by some extremely late starting positions and with the changing weather, they were behind from the beginning.  It will be different for the Pursuit Mass Start races.

Some Pics..

Laura came down to race U23's instead of World Cup sprints this week.  Her decision had to do with launching a career that shows how good she is compared to her peers.  She can be the best in the world...

 

Mikey Sinnott lunging for the line in the sprint qualifying.

 

Morgan Smyth skiing towards an 8th place sprint result.
 

 

Taz Mannix and Morgan Smyth working hard in their skate races today.

 

Three more days of racing...  The team is doing great, and there is good momentum going into the two pursuit days and the Junior Relay day.

All in.

Pat