The 2019-20 Michigan Cup Calendar is out!

The Michigan Cup Committee made lots of interesting changes for the 2019-2020 season! If you can't wait, you can find the complete list of races for the season here. (Go ahead, take a peek, then come back. We'll wait....)

New "Michigan Cup Champion"

One of the most interesting proposals was from Jay Woodbeck and Kyle Hanson, who suggested we create a Michigan Cup Championships weekend each season.

We propose that one weekend a year is designated as the Michigan Cup Championships. Our proposal is:

The Championship shall not take place during the American Birkibeiner or World Masters in order to accommodate high-level skiers who have these races as their season goals.
The races shall not be marathons, in order to accommodate all levels of racers.
The Championship Weekend is worth more Michigan Cup Points than other races.

Proposals for points:

Double Points (scored out of 400; men decrease by 2, women by 8)
Extra 50 Points (scored out of 250, men decrease by 1, women by 4)
Other ideas from the MI Cup Committee??

Benefits of a Championship Weekend include

Having a known race on the schedule where most, if not all, competitors will participate.
Extra points will draw more participants
Encourages a weekend where we all ski against each other, not just a patchwork of high and low competition races
Racers have a goal to work towards during the season

The weekend we have identified is the Forbush Freestyle/Hanson Hills Classic race. It fits well in the calendar - not too early in the season, but not conflicting with other big races. Both venues have proven they can handle a large field. Race distances are moderate and appropriate for most racers. Forbush's addition of snowmaking also adds appeal.

A very interesting discussion transpired among the members of the Michigan Cup Committee:

Does it create more participation?
Does it force people to do both classic and freestyle?
Does it change the type of racer? Do they have to do both skate and classic, which penalizes "half" skiers.
Does it diminish the final Michigan Cup overall champion?
Course implications: Hanson Hills single track was problematic. Would race organizers have to adapt the race to fit the championship?
Providing extra points would mean it would be impossible to catch up if you miss the race weekend. Maybe count each race as two races? That allows racers who miss the weekend to still attend other races for points.
Gives extra recognition for top racers who don't have time to race - "I may not have time to ski 5 races for the overall competition but I could race at least one weekend!"
Justin said he can change the trail anyway we want, including not using the single track.
Too difficult to figure out how to do a combined race: additive time or additive points.
"It's nice being in a race with a big field for a really competitive race. You can see how you stack up to the others."

The Michigan Cup Committee decided...

The Forbush Freestyle and Hanson Hills Classic will constitute the Michigan Cup Championship Weekend for 2020. A different set of races could be used in future years; the location will be determined during the annual Michigan Cup Committee Meeting before each season.
A men's and women's skate champion and classic champion will be declared. Winners of each race, male and female, will be crowned the Michigan Cup Freestyle or Classic Champion. The winners will receive a Michigan Cup Mug like the one awarded to the overall champion. Medals will not be awarded to the year-end freestyle and classic champions.
Michigan Cup will fund the winner trophies. If the race organizers want to give awards to 2nd and 3rd, they pay for them.
Scoring will be normal Michigan Cup scoring for each race.
Justin Andre from Hanson Hills said he would be happy to eliminate the single track and to do a mass start for the Championships.

New and Updated Races

Hanson Hills 4 Hour Team Ski Day

The Hanson Hills 6 Hour Relay will be changed to Hanson Hills 4 Hour Team Ski Day. There will still be teams of three skiers, but instead of a relay race, skiers on a team may ski together, separately, with their teammates or with their other friends. The total number of laps by each team will count toward a team total. This will allow skiers to put in a long ski if they want without the pressure to ski coordinated relay laps.

As before, Michigan Cup participation points will be awarded rather than individual points to keep the race informal and to promote maximum participation.

Vojin Baic Memorial Race

With the opening of Hickory Hills, the Vasa Ski Club expressed a desire to hold a Vojin Baic Memorial at the new venue. The Michigan Cup Committee wholeheartedly approves this plan and offers the day after the Cote Dame Marie, Jan 19, as the best fit for such a race. The race will also serve as a practice race for organizers for the High School Championships.

Michigan High School Championships

The Michigan High School Championships will be held Feb 28 & 29th at Hickory Hills in Traverse City. As background, this year the Great Lakes Division was expanded to include not only Michigan but also Wisconsin. In an effort to avoid conflicts with Junior National selection races and coordinate one date for High School Champions for Michigan and Wisconsin this date was selected for this year only. It is expected to move earlier in the year is subsequent years.

New Junior Flying Squirrel Skiathlon

Crystal Mountain and Amy Powell requested that a Junior race be included this year at Crystal Mountain. The only date open this year is the day before the Michigan Cup relays, March 7. It will be a junior race with separate distance for Junior High and High School skiers and scored as a skiathalon. Skiers must do both the classic and freestyle legs with a combined time used for scoring.

The name for the race, "Flying Squirrel Skiathlon", is named for a very fun & testing trail that will be a part of the High School race. Race distances will be:

Middle School: 2.5k Classic / 2.5k Skate
High School: 5k Classic / 5k Skate

There will also be an option to race only the Classic or Skate event. Again, only those skiers completing both the freestyle and classic races will count for Michigan Cup points.

Junior National Qualifiers

There will be no Junior National Qualifiers in lower Michigan this year because of the Great Lakes District now includes both Wisconsin and Michigan: it was too late to reschedule existing races. JNQ races are not part of the Michigan Cup but are an elite set of races for junior skiers looking to make a college team or attend national and international competitions.

Michigan Cup Registration Fees

Michigan Cup skiers fees have been raised from $6/skier to $7/skier to cover declining revenues the last several years due to increased costs.

Scoring changes

Each year the Michigan Cup Committee looks are the percentage of skiers in the categories of senior men, senior women, junior men. and junior women and adjusts scoring accordingly. All race winners get 200 points, and the points earned by 2nd, 3rd, and so forth increment down based on the average for gender division participation: Points will be allocated as shown in the table below:

Place	Senior Men	Senior Women	Junior Men	Junior Women
1	200	200	200	200
2	199	197	196	193
3	198	194	192	186
4	197	191	188	179
Etc.	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .