2/10/11 - Book Across the Bay

A warm front melted so much of the snow that participants found themselves skiing on very icy conditions indeed! Yet and still, a good time was had by all. Some parents helped the young ones complete this 8K or so night-time race, the longest to date for some of our kids. What a great accomplishment. Hurray for our families! Vanessa & Geneva received age group awards. Way to go!

TG Kids Results
Kiah, 43:20
Vanessa, 43:38 (3rd girl age 12 & under)
Maria, 52:20
Reiley, 1:04:10
Eleanor, 1:29:26
Lillian, 1:33:33
Sylvia (age 6!) 1:39:03

TG Adults Results
Geneva, 30:37 (2nd woman age 30-39)
Victoria, 30:51
Sandy, 31:33
Amber 43:15
Travis, 1:04:10
Karen, 1:39:07

2/5/11 - Mt. Ashwabay Summit

It was a perfect day for a ski race: in the upper 20s and overcast with 25 Team Gogebic hats warming up on the nicely groomed trails.

First up were the TG Kids for 3.5 K of excitement. We toed the line with high school kids and soon were off to the cheers of the crowd. First came the big winner in under 14 minutes! TG's first finisher was Kiah, then Vanessa and before it was over we had to line up for the adult 11.5K race.

Soon we were all at the finish line with our stories: Dave threw out his back, Neal broke a pole, went to his car, gott another one, and did the race! Several of us fell, a few thought they might not finish, but all did, some passed and others got passed.

Meanwhile our great kids entertained themselves patiently as the results were tallied. Between awards & raffles, we all went home with enough sugar-laden goodies to keep us carbo-loaded until the next race.

Full results can be found at skinnyski.com

3.5K Kids Race
Kiah, 21:46, 1st 8-9 year old
Vanessa, 26:41, 1st 10-12 year old
Tim, 27:34, 7th 10-12 year old
Blaze, 28:34, 2nd 8-9 year old
Tad, 29:17, 3rd 8-9 year old
Lillian, 42:15, 5th 10-12 year old
Eleanor, 48:34, 6th 10-12 year old
Ethan, 53:30, 12th 10-12 year old






11K Adult Race
Ken Hazel, 40:02, 2nd 50-59
David H, 41:44, 4th 50-59
Rich S., 44:00, 7th 50-59
Jackie Powers, 46:45, 1st woman
Geneva, 48:55, 1st 30-39
Victoria, 49:14, 1st 50-59
David R. 52:02, 7th 40-49
Sandy, 52:23, 3rd 40-49
Amber, 56:05, 3rd 30-39
Neal, 59:40,
Michelle, 1:06:55, 5th 40-49

Men's 42K Skate Marathon                         Men's 42K Classic Marathon
Rich S., 3:16, 13th                                       Will A., 3:17, 1st
Brian, 3:17, 14th                                          Dave H. 3:41, 3rd
Neal, 3:42, 31st

Women's 42K Skate Marathon                    Women's 42K Classic Marathon
Jackie, 3:28, 4th                                          Carolyn, 3:27, 1st
Sandy, 3:52, 6th

Men's 21K Skate Half Marathon                  Women's 21K Skate Half Marathon
David R., 1:50, 10th                                     Michelle, 2:13, 10th
Jason, 2:16, 7th                                           Maria, 3:04, 2nd
Scott, 2:53, 19th
Tom, 2:57, 8th

Day 1: 9K at Montreal. Ben broke a pole in the 1st K and still came in 7th. Ben, Luke, Dave, Brian, Jason, Will, Caroline, Britta, Neal, Jackie, Scott, Maria, Kenny D all had great skis. Photos in Photo Gallery.

Day 2: 12.5K at MECCA Trails in Mercer. Coach Ken joined in and a good time was had by all. Ben made up some time to finish 5th overall, 3rd in his age group. Will earned 2nd in his age group and Britta finished 1st in her age group. The rest of us had to content ourselves with raffle prizes! Full results at: http://www.skinnyski.com/racing/results/

This year 13 kids represented Team Gogebic at the Loon Invite. Britta, Valerie and Vanessa brought home ribbons for their individual performances. Everyone skied well, went fast, and had fun. Although there is no award for it, Team Gogebic wins for the most spectators and loudest cheers at the finish line! Go to Photo Gallery for photos.

Girls Middle School Team - 2K freestyle - 2nd place team
7:10, 5th place, Valerie Rowe, age 13, 7th grade
7:42, 7th place, Vanessa Nasi, 11, 6th grade
11:34, 9th place, Lillian Tiziani, 11, 6th grade
11:38, 10th place, Eleanor Tiziani, 10, 4th grade
12;12, 11th place, Ashleigh Nuce, 12, 7th grade

Boys Middle School Team 2K freestyle - 3rd place team
7:05, 14th place, Kiah Hollenbeck, 9, 4th grade
9:12, 15th place, Tim Rowe, 11, 5th grade
9:13, 16th place, Blaze Hollenbeck, 8, 2nd grade
11:45, 17th place, Tad Rowe, 9, 3rd grade
12:02, 18th place, Reiley Hollenbeck, 7, 2nd grade

Girls High School Team - 5K freestyle - 3rd place team
15:38, 2nd place, Britta Schroeder, 16, Jr.
25:50, 18th place, Caitlin Nuce, 16, Sr.
28:01, 20th place, Maria Fairfield, 17, Sr.

All our training paid off on race day. Despite the hills, humidity, and heat, we each brought home our share of the results, for a final time of 3:16:47 and third place in the 5 person mixed relay division. Here are the specs:
1st 5 miles: Sandy, 40:45
2nd 5 miles: Jackie, 39:14
3rd 5 miles: Barney, 37:24
4th 5 miles: Ken, 37:21
Last 6.2 miles: Ben, 42:03
Britta: #1 cheerleader

Yes those are first place trophies for Ben (10K), Britta and Barney (5K) in their respective age groups. And that's a second place medal for Coach Ken (5K) who conceded first place to fellow TG age-mate Rich Scott. And there's me with no hardware (if only I had made it to all those speed sessions...) but still feeling good about my first foot race of the season. Next stop, Bessemer Hometown Run June 26th.
Jackie

Frozen Fish and Minnow Triathlons 3/6/10

by David Rowe

 

In what is hoped will develop into an annual event, 8 area youth participated in the Frozen Minnow Triathlon this past weekend.  The Tri consisted of a 2k cross country ski at Gogebic Community College, followed by a 1 mile run and a 200 yard swim at the GCC pool.  Results:

Name	Ski	Run	Swim	Total	Place
Tim	7:21	10:04	5:35	23:00	1st overall
Team Super Awesome AKA Vanessa/Ethan	8:06	12:05	5:06	25:17	1st team
Valerie	7:00	13:59	4:30	25:29	1st female
Mandie	8:14	13:43	4:41	26:38	2nd female
Tad	9:01	12:08	7:27	28:36	1st 8 y.o.
Blaze	9:02	15:53	8:34	33:29	1st 7 y.o.
Matthew	12:15	13:20	7:55	33:30	2nd 8 y.o.

Later in the day, the fifth annual Frozen Fish Triathlon was held at Wolverine Nordic Ski Trails.  The Frozen Fish Tri consists of a 10k cross country ski at Wolverine Nordic Trails, a 4 mile run to the college, and a 500 yard swim in the GCC pool.  Winning the event was Rich Scott with a time of 1:21:49.  Paul Kolesar was second with a time of 1:29:20.  In the Women’s division, Elsa Schroeter won with a time of 1:33:28 and placing second was Tracy Rowe.  In the team division, the team of Anna Schroeter, Brian Kearney and Alan Peterson won with a combined time of 1:08:04.  Race organizer Dave Rowe commented that “Wolverine Nordic Ski Club has been very gracious in helping us with the Frozen Fish Triathlon through the years. It is such a great place to start a really unique race.”

Ken, LeeAnn & I accompanied Ben & Britta to the Keweenaw Nordic Festival in Houghton last weekend so they could race in the Jr. Olympic qualifiers. We had a good time eating out great Asian food, visited with Nicole & Steve and TG alumni Sean Beckman, and of course, supporting the racers. Both youth did well, learning alot about racing and facing the hills and the competition. There are a few photos in Photo Gallery.
Jackie

Men's 42K Classic                                                             Men's 21K Classic
Andresen, Will     2:45:06            10                   4             Wyzlic, Luke           1:26:24       2nd!
Men's 42K Freestyle                                                         Bergman, Tom        2:37:06        26                  1
Harkness, Dave   2:29:07            28                 11            Men's 21K Freestyle 
Kearney, Brian     2:38:39            43                 13            Thumm, Steve        1:39:13        17                  5
Scott, Rich           2:49:39            65                 21             Erickson, Scott       1:52:41        22                 7
Schroeter, Neal   3:06:04             85                 29            Burchell, Bob          1:52:42        23                  8
Kolesar, Paul       3:07:51             87                 31            Women's 21K Freestyle
Women's 42K  Freestyle                                                   Andresen, Carolyn  1:29:04          4                 1
Powers, Jackie    3:13:48            12                   3            Mathieu, Michelle     1:51:39       17                 6
Pera, Sandy         3:14:01           13                   4            Taste 'n Tour
Brown, Susanne    DNF                                                   Wieringa, Molly
                                                                                         Wieringa, Lily
                                                                                         Colasacco-Thumm, Nicole
                                                                                         Driessel, Ken

Hi Jackie,
  I will try to keep you updated on Ben’s week at the JO’s in case you want to post it on the Team Gogebic website.  Here’s the first:
 Ben made it to California around noon (Pacific time) on Friday.  After having the “jitters” Thursday night (which Ben said was “unusual” for him), we were up at 4 am and to the Appleton airport by 4:45.  Ben’s flight left at 6 am and, after a 3 hour layover in Chicago he was on his way to CA.
 He made connections with one of the Great Lakes coaches at the Sacramento airport and it was off to the mountains.  As soon as he was settled in at the house in Truckee, he skied one of the courses (I think it was the sprint course).  Ben said they have to ski it twice and he described it as “the hardest course” he’s ever skied.  He said a good part of it went right up the side of the mountain.  Some of the other racers said it was pretty typical of a JO course.  Ben sounded up to the challenge though, even though sleep was sparse again last night (Friday) and he’s trying to adjust to the time change.  (They were on their way to dinner last night at 9:00 Central!)
 Ben said to say “Hi” to everyone here at home and he’s looking forward to doing his best for Team Gogebic!
Brad (Ben's dad)

Sunday
Well, the opening ceremonies are over and the races start tomorrow.  As of last night (Saturday), Ben said that they had trained for about 2 ½ hrs.  He said to tell you “the snow is great, it’s taller than I am—and I don’t mean the snowbanks!”  If anyone would like to check out the happenings and see a few pictures, the JO’s have their own website.  Its:  www.xcjuniorolympics2009.org   I will let you know how the first race goes on Monday or Tuesday.
Laura (Ben's mom)

Monday
  Well, the sprints are over.  After the first heat there was only one qualifier from the Great Lakes Division and it wasn’t Ben.  He came in 2nd for GLD, but 46th out of 123. He was 4 seconds away from qualifying. He called after the race feeling a little disappointed, but he’s  fired up for the freestyle race on Wednesday.  Here’s a picture from the JO website of Ben finishing his sprint.  He said he’s had a few altitude issues and that he had some major lactic acid burn at the end of his sprint.  You can sure see it in his face here…
He said to tell everyone that “everything is going good and the next race is Wednesday”.  His parting words to me were “I’m really going to have to train hard this year!”
Laura

Wed
We talked to Ben Tuesday evening and he said they had a “rest day”.  He skied for a short time in the morning and was taking a walk when he called.  He was mentally preparing for today’s freestyle race.  He said to tell everyone “the race tomorrow is gonna be crazy—we will be skiing up the mountain twice!”  This is the course he checked out the first day.  The coaches advised they take the first lap very easy because a lot of people can’t make it up the mountain the second time.  We will be anxiously waiting to hear from him this afternoon (he races around 1:30 our time).  Ben said to thank you all for your support!
 Laura

Wed night
Well, the Freestyle race is behind him and Ben placed 89th.  “I just hit the first round too hard and died going up the mountain the second time!”  (Ben never did understand the words “go easy.”)  Well, live and learn.  He’s feeling pretty unhappy this evening, but after several “pep talks” from those who love him, he’s doing fine and ready to do better in the Classic race on Friday.  We’ll let you know how things go.  Thanks again to everyone for all the wonderful support Ben has gotten!
Laura

Sat.
  Ben finished the Classic race a little stronger yesterday.  He came in somewhere in the 70’s (I misplaced my notes just now, but the exact times and places are on the JO website).  He was feeling a little better about it all.  I think he realized just how great the competition is—the best in the country—and he’s happy to be there with them!  “I think I’m finally getting the hang of it here” he said.  “I finally didn’t get the burn in my legs like the last two races.”
 I think he may actually be acclimated  to the elevation, now that it’s Saturday.  Anyway, Ben was excited about the relay race today.  He is on the Great Lakes B Team.  Check the website for times (I really did have notes here when I sat down!).
 Brad, Daniel and I are all VERY anxious to pick Ben up in Appleton tomorrow night at 10pm (hopefully no flight delays).  Please pray for a safe, smooth trip home for him!
 Ben asked me to say “Thank You” to those of you who have been e-mailing all the encouraging words—and the cell calls too.
 I will let you know how things turn out in today’s relay.
Laura

Sun.
We’re on our way to Appleton to pick Ben up.  The Great Lakes Division B Team finished 24th in the relays.  It was a very close race though with only three minutes between the #1 team and GLD B team.  Ben was happy with the race.  The team took a ride into Reno afterward to check out the city and do a little shopping.  Then they had the closing ceremonies and a dance for all the racers last night.  I talked to Ben at 8:30 (our time) this morning and he was already at the Sacramento airport.  His flight doesn’t leave until 1:45 (their time), so he has a long wait—there was only one van going to Sacramento today and they had to leave extra early because it was snowing so hard in the mountains they were afraid they might have to close the pass.  Ben said to “thank everyone again for all their help and encouragement”.  “I couldn’t have done this without all of you!”  Thanks from the whole family!
Laura

Wed.
Hi Everyone!  I had an awesome time at the JO’s.  The California mountains were amazing.  It’s good to be home, but I have a lot of school work to catch up on!  You were all great to help me be able to go to the JO’s and I really appreciate your support while I was there.  I hope to see you all at the pot luck on Sunday.
Ben

Ben Noren has qualified for the Junior Olympic Cross-Country Ski Team! He will be joining eight other boys to represent the Great Lakes Division of the Central Cross Country Ski Association (CXC) at the JOs in Truckee, CA March 6 - 15.

High school boys from the Great Lakes region competed in the Junior Olympic’s J1 division (ages 16-17) in Houghton on Feb. 14 & 15.  This was the last qualifying race for the Junior Olympic Team for this season.  Prior JO qualifiers in which Ben competed included the Wolverine race in Dec, and the NorAm Supertour in Hayward in Jan. In each race the boys were awarded points based on how competitive the race was and how they placed among that competition. The team was chosen based on their best performances in two JO qualifiers.

Ben is the first Team Gogebic member to qualify for the Junior Olympics. We wish him well on his travels and look forward to an article on his adventures when he returns.
.

"Extreme Team Jr. Division"
wins Frozen Fish Triathlon March 1, 2009

Pictured here are Tim, Valerie, and Molly, 1st place finishers in the "under 12" team division. TG's Rich Scott was the overall winner with a combined time of 1:19:24.

The triathlon consisted of a 10-kilometer cross-country ski at Wolverine Ski Trails followed by a 4 mile run to Gogebic Community College and then a 500-yard freestyle swim in the Lindquist Center Pool. 
TEAM GOGEBIC PARTICIPANT RESULTS
 
Men 40-49
David Rowe- 2nd, 1:44:36
 
Women 40-49
Jackie Powers – 1st, 1:28:11
Sandra Pera – 2nd, 1:45:05
Tracy Rowe – 3rd, 2:01:04
 
Men 50-59
Rich Scott – 1st, 1:19:24

Mixed Children (all age 12 or under)
1st – Team Extreme Junior Division:  Molly Wieringa, Tim Rowe and Valerie Rowe (2:30:59)
 
Boys (all age 13-18)
1st – Ben Noren, Alan Petersen and Timothy Oliver (1:05:23)
 
Men (combined age 119 or under)
2nd – Dave Rowe, Gerard Lauzon and Myles Rowe (1:29:19)

Hi Jackie and Ken,

There is an old adage "kids cannot be what they cannot see".  If you want a child to do something you have to show them how, either by doing it yourself or by taking them where they can see it done. Especially effective in this regard is a child seeing for herself or himself lots and lots of other kids doing something en masse. Beyond the sheer fun of the event, these sights and sounds are hugely motivating for young people. They are thrilled to be a part of a beautiful spectacle of color and sound and sunshine and smiles and they want to engage in a huge way. This same concept is used to motivate kids in many arenas, like music-making. It is one thing to take children who study the violin to hear a symphony in a hall with incredible acoustics. They greatly enjoy it and are moved by it. However, take them to a summer camp or summer institute where they see an orchestra of kids play that same symphony in a high-school gym or auditorium and you will see jaws drop and these kids will sit on the edge of their seats, the whole time wanting to be those kids playing that music right now. It doesn't matter how difficult the musical instrument, they are undaunted by that, they will figure out how to do it if they're given the chance.

This is why the Junior Birkie is so important, and why the kids love it so, and why each year Junior Birkie has gotten bigger and bigger. This is the biggest year of all so far, and the 10-12 yearr old girls group was the biggest of 2009. I was very proud of how  Molly and Lily skied in the event. They finished 33rd and 38th respectively out of 74 girls, but the most important work of the day wasn't done by them skiing, it was done by them watching. The event was a huge success: I know because today Molly and Lily proudly wore their Junior Birkie medals around their necks to school.

Thanks for all you and the team have done for them.

Susanne

It was the day of the race and my sister and I were getting ready, my mom was loading three pairs of skate skis and poles into the car. Last year, we had skied the same race. We had skied the 5k part. But this year we were going to ski the 10K: that’s about 7 miles!

I had been training 3 months for this race. One day I skied 6k (the most that I had ever skied in one day so far). My sister, mom and I had been training harder than an ox that’s been pulling a plow!

Finally, we got there after about 2 _ hours of driving. We got our things, got to the warming tent and, got ready. Then we took our boots off and changed into our ski boots. “Go warm up over there”, my mom said. So we did. Finally the race started and we all lined up and I looked. There were about 500 of us at the starting line (I must tell you, reader, that this race is just a family thing). “ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, GOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” yelled the speaker. Immediately I sped off. We skied and skied and skied and skied some more. Then I had to stop—I needed water—so I stuck my ski poles in the snow and reached for my water bottle and gulped, gulped and “AAAHHHH”. I took my poles and skied some more. Finally I reached the 5k mark. I waited for my mom and sis there. Finally, they arrived.

My heart was beating like a wild bull. So we continued. About half of the skiers only did the 5k. About three hours later we reached the 7k mark. Here you had a choice to go back or go on farther. We went on. When we saw a sign, cart and man, we stopped. The man was giving out warm water and energy drinks to the skiers, so I stopped and got a drink. The sign said only 1k to go! So after I had drunk my share I sat down on a bench to wait for my sister and my mom. Soon my sister came, drank her share, and sat down on the bench with me to wait for our mom. After about 5 minutes she came rumbling down the hill, drank her share, and then joined us. Then we started skiing again. After 20 minutes we reached the finish line. YES!! WOOHOOOO!!!! I finished! I skied in and got my pin, and, boy! What a ski!!! My heart was beating faster than a cheetah can run!! After the race was over, my mom bought us 2 cookies. We did some games in the game room, got some lunch and left the lodge for home.
 

Steelers - Team Captain: Molly - Team: Rich, Clyde, Britta, Susanne, Ken D.
Cardinals - Team Captain: Katie - Team: Geneva, Jackie, Will, Scott, Dave
Referee: Coach Ken

It looked like it was going to be all Cardinals when Will skied the length of the field for a TD on the first play. The Steelers learned quickly how to put an end to that! Late in the first half, Britta intercepted a pass and skied it in for a TD and tied the score.

Early in he second half Katie’s catch and TD was ruled illegal because she fielded a foreword pass – who ever heard of such a silly rule? Both teams then dug in for a hard-fought defensive battle with neither team able to score. In a dramatic attempt to catch a high flying pass, Dave found out skis aren’t made for jumping and landing; his folded in half under the pressure! Yikes!

Penalty loops were handed out by Ref Ken for everything from illegal formation to blocking to unsportsmanlike conduct. Will and Scott escaped penalties with their constant cry of, “Good call ref!” Brownnosers, or good strategists? Then just as the Cardinals were poised to score, the whistle blew and the game was over.

We then convened in the cabin for a post-game celebration as all present feasted on pies won the day before at the Valhalla Summit ski race. A happy day.
Jackie

Last Saturday, under huge pressure to bring home the bakery goods for the TG YooperBowl,  4 TG teammates carpooled west to Washburn for the Mt. Ashwabay Summit 11K race. Rich, Dave H, Kenny DEE and Scott piled into the Subaru and made it to Washburn with only one bathroom stop.
 
The race course was similar to last year’s, but slightly longer towards the finish. Conditions and grooming were very good, and pretty fast considering our recent cold spell.
 
Dave and Rich, respectfully, lined up in the second row. Ken and Scott lined up in the back to protect their teammates from any foul pole flailing. On the go, Rich and Dave quickly found themselves in a pack of 8 skiers. The pace was quick, but definitely not full throttle, as the group knew there was a big climb to come. Dave heard Rich chit-chatting at the back of the line and decided if there was talking going on in the pack it was time to ramp it up a notch! Dave took the lead of our pack (there were 4 other skiers already off the front) as Rich cheered him on from the back. We all held our own on the big hill thanks to Coach Hazel’s advice. Then came a very fast downhill and we hit the finish line. Dave in 8th place, Rich in 10th (second place AG), Scott in 30th, and Ken in 31st.
 
The team went 4 for 4 in the fresh baked, homemade, bakery good prize department: the raffle was kind to us and Rich won a pie for his age group place.