Monday, March 03, 2008

More from Banquet

Seniors....

The whole team dressed to go

Women's 15k Mass Start Classic

The final race of the regular season for the women was the 15k mass start classical. The course and conditions were tough, but the women came together and fought hard to pull of a strong performance, with Kara 17th, Chelsea right by her side throughout the race in 18th, and Paige in 26th. And now it is on to NCAAs for Paige, Chelsea and Lutz, hoping to ski the same course again even faster.

Lady's Start

Wolfpack women looking strong together after LaP 1



Last hill

Men's 20 k Mass start Classic Bozeman

The men skied their final race of the regular season today, which was in fact the final college career race for two of them!! It was a 20 k mass start classic race, and it missed no elements in terms of toughness. But our boys outlasted many of the others, proving that the Wolf Pack has true grit. While the difficult waxing conditions and less-than-perfect skis on top of a challenging course caused some to drop out of the race after just the first lap, and others to slow down immensely, our boys persevered and pushed all the way through, leading to some great results on the day! Lutz led the guys team today with a strong 17th place finish, his second best classical result for the season, while Matty D. was just behind in the top 20, 19th place (while also winning the award for best headband), followed by Dom in 22nd, and Sam in 31st. Great job guys!!!





More from Men's 20 k Mass start Classic Bozeman

A few more photos of those Wolf Pack guys, so hot right now...

Lutz

Matt

Sammy

Lutz

Johnny

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Regionals Banquet, Bozeman

At Regionals every year the teams from the west come together to celebrate the end of another season of racing with a banquet, most of the time themed for dress-up, where senior bibs are given out, some of the season's race prizes awarded, and teams get a chance to mingle with one another (both alpine and nordies together... wow!). It's usually a pretty good time, but man this year was really rockin. With a prom theme determined by MSU, the WolfPack went all out with their attire, though the men pretty much showed the ladies up and won the prom court title, with Coach August being dubbed Prom King, alongside Greta in his top hat. Chelsea also made an appearance on stage when she picked up her two podium prizes (awesome!), and Paige, Kara, Dom and Matt all picked up a senior bib and got to say a little farewell to college racing on the microphone. Overall, the night was fun, the food was actually pretty good, and everyone looked super sharp to wrap up the season before heading to bed with just one last race ahead in Bozeman.
Ladies, classy as always...

Guys, looking very Suave Rico

And believe it or not they were stylish enough to win prom court!!

And he was even prom king...! The No was really bringin the heat tonight...

And Chelsea wins a cool prize from New Mexico. Way to go!

President's Cup Race at TDXC




Crested Butte Relay

During our time in Crested Butte after the races were complete and before heading off to New Mexico, we all got together with some of the other teams who stuck around for an inter-team relay race. The participants included UNR, MSU, Whitman and Western State. The rules were that everyone had to partner up with a member of another team, each skiing three times around the loop and tagging one another in between, saying the person's name each time you tag. This proved to be a little more challenging (and interesting) for some than others, but all in all it was successful, and everybody made it through the race, concluded by Lutz with a snowball-covered finish. While everyone skied at their own pace after the running start, there were none who didn't seem to enjoy the event. It made for some good team bonding, new friends, and fun memories on a beautiful sunny day in the Butte. All in all, this was a great day to share in the joy of skiing with others, free from pressures and competition, and just doing what we love to do with some great people, which is what racing is really all about.

The line-up... VERY intense....

And they are off, with a running start to the skis.

"Chandraaaaa!" My partner was Bernhard, he is straight LEGIT.

Chelsea leading the way

Johnny showing some excellent form out there on that loop.