Thank you for all your hard work with the Junior Olympics. Now it is time to celebrate!

Sunday April 17, 2011
1 – 3 p.m.
Wirth Picinic Pavillion
3201 Glenwood Avenue North
Parking is availble across the steet at Wirth Beach
Map: http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documents/permits/park_maps/Wirth_Park.pdf

Enjoy food provided by Divine Swine, refreshments, and all your friends from J.O’s.

R.S.V.P. by April 12 to: remak@cityoflakesloppet.com
Please include number of people attending from your household.

Hope to see you there.

Choose one of the following links:

Athletes- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GR9LGD3
Coaches- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TJNCWD2
Parents- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T2VL3QL

The last day of the 2011 Junior Olympics, the classic relays, favored skiers with experience.

Winter returned to Minneapolis in the form of temperatures in the low twenties, strong winds, and a trace of new snow. The course was firm-to-icy and the tracks were filled with the fresh drifting snow. Given the abrasive conditions, coaches tested a variety of klister or binder bases covered with waxes slightly warmer than the temperature. The savvy athletes double-poled out of the tracks and strided in the tracks. Coaches tried to find the balance between wax that wouldn’t shear off on the ice and wax that offered good glide on the dry snow that filled the tracks.

Given the very short racing length, 3 x 3 kilometers, speeds were very high and aggressiveness played a big role in the scramble leg. The course had one long and one short very fast downhill, each with a corner at the bottom. The athletes who were both fearless and skilled on their feet had the advantage.

In the first race of the day, the J2 boys relay, New England’s scramble leg, Hamish McEwen, set the tone by taking an aggressive lead from the gun. McEwen and the other top skiers in the field double-poled out of the stadium between the many tracks. The remainder of the boys quickly caught on and also exited the tracks. Most then remembered to get back into the tracks for the climbs, but some forgot and were dropped instantly as they slipped.

McEwen gained an 8-second lead over the course of his leg and tagged off to Ben Hegman. Hegman lost two seconds to the Midwest team, but still held the lead when tagging off to Tyler Foulkes. To the delight of the hometown crowd, the Midwest’s Harris Dirnberger skied an aggressive anchor leg, passing Foulkes and skiing the Midwest to a six-second win.

Matthew Berntston, second leg for the Midwest, said the team had thought that they had a chance to win. “The goal of the first and second legs was just to keep up with the leaders. We hoped that Harris would beat out anyone.”

Unlike many Junior Olympic winners, Dirnberger has not been thinking about this day for a long time. “My first JO qualifying race was this winter. I went because I thought it would be fun to race the JOQ with my teammates. I did pretty well in the classic, so I kept going to the JOQs. I made the team, so here I am.”

Dirnberger’s success isn’t surprising to his coach Piotr Bednarski of Go! Training, who first saw his talent this summer. “He first came to practices this summer. He surprised me by staying with an elite CXC skier in rollerski sprints.”

J2 Boys
1. Midwest (Nick Proell, Matthew Berntson, Harris Dirnberger)
2. New England (Hamish McEwen, Ben Hegman, Tyler Foulkes)
3. Intermountain (Noah Anderson, Karsten Hokanson, Marc Jackson)

Watch Skinnyski.com’s J2 Boys video recap

The J2 girls relay was also won on the last leg, when Alaska’s Marion Woods erased a 23-second deficit to pass New England for the win. Wood’s teammates were motivated by her successes this week. Sarrissa Lammers, the team’s scramble leg explained, “We really wanted to get Marion her four golds.”

Woods, for her part, still seems surprised by how well she finished this week. “I didn’t know what to expect coming down here. I knew a lot of people had been training a lot. I just planned to come to JOs and do my best.”

J2 Girls:
1. Alaska (Sarrissa Lammers, Mackenzie Flynn, Marion Woods)
2. New England 1 (Brooke Mooney, Cate Brams, Heidi Halvorsen)
3. New England 2 (Halie Lange, Zoe Snow, Hannah Benson)

Watch Skinnyski.com’s J2 Girls video recap

The J1s and OJs raced together, even though they were scored separately.

The New England OJ’s scramble leg, Skyler Davis, posted the fastest time of the first leg, but Intermountain’s J1 team scramble, Cole Morgan, remained in touch, five seconds behind and in second place.

Strong second legs were put in by Intermountain’s Sawyer Kesselheim and Midwest’s Dylan McGarthwaite, who were the only two skiers in the second leg to dip under nine minutes. Kesselheim caught New England OJ Peter Hegman and passed him on the long climb, going through the lap in the overall lead by one second. McGarthwaite’s strong leg pulled the team into second for J1s and fourth overall.

The anchor for Intermountain, Akeo Maifeld-Carucci, faced the daunting prospect of trying to keep up with David Sinclair, the winner in this week’s mens OJ classic. “Sinclair caught me early on, so I tried to stay with him as long as I could.” Maifeld-Carucci held on bravely, staying within five seconds Sinclair (New England OJ team) and bringing Intermountain in for the J1 victory with a 24-second margin over the Midwest J1 team. Carucci sums up his experience: “I had really good skis and super-strong teammates. It all came together for us.”

J1 Boys:
1. Intermountain (Cole Morgan, Sawyer Kesselheim, Akeo Maifeld-Carucci)
2. Midwest: (Andy Dodds, Dylan McGarthwaite, Ben Saxton)
3. Alaska (Forrest Mahlen, Isaac Lammers, Logan Hanneman)

OJ Boys:
1. New England 1 (Skyler Davis, Peter Hegman, David Sinclair)
2. New England 2 (Austin Cobb, Chris Stock, Bridger Tyler)
3. Alaska (Jack Novak, Silas Talbot, Peter Mamrol)

Watch Skinnyski.com’s J1/OJ Boys video recap

The Minneapolis crowd looked forward to the finale of the weekend, the OJ/J1s girls race, knowing the Jessie Diggins would anchor the Midwest OJ team.

Diggins and her team did not disappoint. First and second legs, Libby Ellis and Elizabeth Simak, accomplished their plan of staying within reach of the leaders. Simak tagged off to Diggins in 2nd among OJs and 4th overall. As expected, Diggins made up the slack. She roared by the three teams in front of her, bringing the team in first overall, 23 seconds in front of the New England J1s.

Teammates Ellis and Simak were confident that if they held their own on the first legs, Diggins would make up any deficit. “Jessie is the most motivated person we have ever met. If she wants something, she goes out and gets it.”

Victory was especially sweet for this close-knit team. Ellis and Diggins have been skiing together for five years, while Simak been with them for four. The team raced the course with gold-glitter face decoration, a tradition the Midwest girls started at the 2006 Soldier Hollow JOs. Ellis explains that this is the perfect end for her and Diggins, who are both in their last year as older juniors. “It’s even better that this race is here in Minneapolis. I love the fans and appreciate all the hard work the organizers did to put this together.”

The New England OJ team of Heather Mooney, Cambria McDermott, and Corey Stock won the J1 relay, although they were pushed by the team from Rocky Mountain. Heather Mooney and Michaela Frias were neck-and-neck at the front of the pack throughout the scramble leg; Mooney had a 1-second lead at the tag. Mary O’Connell put the hammer down on her leg, and tagged off to Emily Hannah with an 11-second lead. The speed of Corey Stock, who was likely motivated by being passed by Diggins, was just too much for Rocky Mountain. Stock brought the team in for the J1 win and second-place overall.

Second-place in the J1s was a good result for team Rocky Mountain. They followed their race plan perfectly. For Frias, that plan was to “get the team in a good a position.” O’Connell’s role was to “push the pace high.” Hannah was determined “to try to stick with their position.” All three skiers are from Steamboat Springs High School, the public high school in the community of Steamboat Springs.

J1 Girls
1. New England (Heather Mooney, Cambria McDermott, Corey Stock)
2. Rocky Mountain (Michaela Frias, Mary O’Connell, Emily Hannah)
3. Alaska (Celia Haering, Tristan Ramey, Teagan Yutrzenka)

OJ Girls
1. Midwest (Elizabeth Ellis, Elizabeth Simak, Jessie Diggins)
2. Alaska (Mackenzie Kanady, Alyson McPhetres, Kinsey Loan)
3. New England (Anne Hart, Mary Cirelli, Isabel Caldwell)

Watch Skinnyski.com’s J1/OJ Girls video recap

Alaska Cup Scoring After the Classic Relays
Club Team Scoring
High School Team Award – Boys
High School Team Award – Girls

Skinnyski.com’s Coverage of the 2011 Junior Olympics
Skinnyski.com’s Youtube Channel

The relays are arguably the most exciting spectating all week. There are four starts. J2 boys at 8 a.m., J2 girls at 9 a.m., older junior and J1 boys at 10 a.m. and older junior and J1 girls at 11 a.m. Each region can field as many relay teams as it has skiers to fill the teams. For the J2 boys and girls this will mean about 20 teams per start as there are ten regions. For the OJ/J1 races this will mean around 25-30 teams all starting together. Each team’s lead competitor skis 3.3 kilometers before tagging off to a teammate, who then skis the same 3.3 kilometer loop. Each relay team has three competitors. See full schedule.

Fans will be able to see the competitors each time they come through the stadium and, with a little jogging around, multiple times on course. Bells will be ringing, drums played and cheering galore!

Each region will throw their best competitors out there to win the relay crowns. Watch for New England to try to continue their dominance. Alaska will also be tough. But with the Midwest on home turf and with a sympathetic crowd, the six titles (OJ, J1 and J2 – boys and girls) are anyone’s to grab. Watch for the Midwest’s J1 boys to do well and, with Jessie Diggins on the older junior team, the girls cannot be counted out.

Plan to park at the Mortenson Construction parking lot (northwest corner of Highway 55 and Wirth Parkway) and take the convenient shuttle bus to the start. Or park at Wirth Beach and ski to the venue.

The Midwest Junior Championships follow the Junior Olympics competition – all the best young skiers in the Midwest compete in relays and ski games! Visit www.midwestjuniorchampionships.com for more information.

By Corey Coogan

Going into the third day of Junior Olympic competition, Friday’s skate individual start, four athletes had a chance to sweep all individual events: Hamish McEwen (Cambridge Sports Union) in J2 boys, Marion Woods (Alaska Winter Stars) in J2 girls, Logan Hanneman (FAST) in J1 boys, and Jessie Diggins (CXC) in OJ girls. When the day was finished, only McEwen was knocked off the top step of the podium. (He was still second!) Woods, Hanneman, and Diggins each succeeded in the rare feat of winning all individual events at the Junior Olympics.

As a result of the wet snow on Wednesday and below freezing temperatures overnight, the course set up firm and lightning fast. Silas Talbot (Alaska Winter Stars) called the course “challenging.” “It was a little scary on the downhills. There were some tough turns at the bottom of hills. You had to ski as fast as you could, but be sure to be in control.” Still, athletes commended the course conditions. J1 Sawyer Kesselheim: “It was a good course. I’m glad they raked the corners. It kept it really nice. I thought it would get more chopped up.”

For the J2 boys, Stratton Mountain School’s Tyler Foulkes managed to upset the previously dominant McEwen. Foulkes finessed the technical course to a 18-second win. This margin of victory is even more impressive when one considers the short time the athletes spent on the course; the top-10 skiers were all under 12 minutes. Foulkes was joined on the podium by McEwen (2nd) and Durango Nordic’s Haakon Sigurslid.

As anticipated based on previous results, Marion Woods was the J2 girls golden girl yet again. Second-place finisher Anika Miller (Payette Lakes Sports) started 4th in the bib order, ten spaces ahead of Woods, so she had the disadvantage in terms of splits. Splits given on the long climb just short of 5 km had Miller clearly leading, until Woods and Sarrissa Lammers came by. Woods had made up the 15-second spread on Lammers, but Lammers bravely hung on up the long climb, earning her best result at JOs thus far.

In the J1 girls 5 km, Corey Stock earned her second gold and third podium result. At the finish, she was embraced by her coach who said, “Next year, we’ll do some training, and it will hurt less!” obviously referring to her late season return to racing after compartment syndrome surgery.

Runner-up Heather Mooney was just two seconds behind Stock. Mooney went into the race with a plan that she executed. “My plan was to ski the first kilometer really whippy, and then to relax and ski the transitions well. At about three and one-half kilometers, I just went as hard as possible.” Mooney, who is a senior at Stratton Mountain School, noted Stratton’s role in her success. “The biggest thing is just being around a group of great girls to train with. There’s also the academic flexibility to come to a race like this and know the school is totally behind it.”

Stratton Mountain School’s Cambria McDermott earned third place, just seven seconds out from the win.

Logan Hanneman (FAST) took over the J1 boys race in lap one and then held it throughout. On the first lap, Patrick Caldwell looked to be a contender. He was tied with Hanneman at just under 4 kilometers, and then 10 seconds down (but in second place) at the lap. Unfortunately, Caldwell faded on lap two and finished fifth.

Second and third for the J1s went to APUNSC teammates Forrest Mahlen and Jack Novak.

J1 boys fourth-place finisher Sawyer Kesselheim (Bridger Ski Foundation) might be a name to watch in the future. Kesselheim, who was tenth in the sprint and fifth in the classic, did not even qualify for last year’s Junior Olympics. He used to be a soccer player, but last year he quit and “really committed to skiing.” This is the first year he trained for skiing year-round. Kesselheim played the pacing game just right; he was in a three-way tie for seventh at the lap. “I had a slower first lap and tried to build over the second lap. I think I found a pace I could maintain.”

Jessie Diggins once again showed complete domination over the OJ girls field, winning the 5 km race by 51 seconds!

Given Diggins’ results at the World Championships, and throughout the week at the Junior Olympics, Annie Pokorny’s second-place finish must have felt as good as gold. While Pokorny doesn’t consider herself a power skier (she usually races in the West), she was delighted to find that the firm conditions worked for her. “It was probably my best 5 km skate ever, easily…” Pokorny, who will be at Middlebury next year, took time to thank Minneapolis Junior Olympics volunteers: “This event is so well organized. It is really easy to be a skier here.”

Kinsey Loan (APUNSC) missed second-place by the narrowest of margins, just four tenths of a second. Loan had a clear plan for racing the firm and fast course: go as hard as possible. “With the fast snow and so many downhills, I tried to race this like a sprint.” In planning her tactics, Loan is able to draw upon her experience in two sports. She says she races nationally on her bike in the summer (road and mtb). “Skiing and cycling complement each other very nicely.”

Success in the OJ boys race depended on a fast second lap. Dartmouth’s David Sinclair was down to George Cartwright at 5 km, but turned it on in lap two to take the win. Third-place Silas Talbot also had a strong second lap, moving from fifth at 5 km to third at the finish. Without yet having seen the official split, he said, “The beginning was slower. It took a while to get into it.”

George Cartwright’s pacing was just the opposite. He took a four-second lead through 5 km, but ultimately finished second by the narrowest of margins, just seven-tenths of a second off Sinclair.

In the Alaska Cup competition, New England brought a solid lead into Friday’s races. While current points had not yet been tabulated as of this writing, it seems unlikely that Alaska’s Friday performance was enough to make up the significant points gap. The fact that the cup will likely go to New England makes tomorrow’s relay races all the more important. While the cup is determined by place points, each age group’s relay will go to the team who can string together the fastest skiers. Anticipate that underdog Alaska will fight for the win in every race, while the Midwest will hope to upset in one or more.

5K Freestyle Individual Start Results
10K Freestyle Individual Start Results

Skinnyski.com’s Freestyle Coverage
David J Owen Photography
f/go Photography

With the warmer weather, the overflow parking lots across the street from the main Chalet are now closed. Race Officials with a parking pass may still park in the main lot. Everyone else should plan to park at the Breck Ice Arena parking lot on Friday (overflow from Breck may spill over to Wirth Beach parking lot on Glenwood) and at the Mortenson Construction parking lot on Saturday. Click here for a detailed parking map showing the location of these lots.

By Corey Coogan

At Wednesday’s Junior Olympic mass-start classic races, “zeros” were the skis of choice.

On race morning, coaches and athletes awoke to an inch of fresh, wet snow and temps hovering around freezing. Wet snow flurries continued throughout the day, while temps rose slightly, making for glazed tracks. Prior to the first race of the morning, the boy’s J2 races, the atmosphere around the wax trailers was frenzied.

By later in the day, the level of panic had abated for most, as zeros had established themselves as the clear choice. Of the six winners of the day, five were on zeros. As J1 champion Logan Hanneman (FAST) put it, “Zeros were the money.”

Understandably, most juniors in the competition don’t own their own pair of zeros. Most regions had anticipated this challenge and had begged and borrowed enough zeros to outfit most of their skiers. In fact, a number of racers tried zeros for the very first time just prior to racing. J1 third-place finisher, Annie Hart, a Dartmouth skier, and J1 Scando Cup veteran, had never tried zeros before today. She adjusted wonderfully. “I just had to tell myself ‘these are going to work’ and they did.” Though Annie noted the skis’ different feel on the downhills, she said they were “golden.”

Sharing skis was not without its disadvantages. Since the J1 boys race and OJ boys race were run back-to-back, and these athletes needed similarly stiff skis, coaches were kept very busy. They retrieved skis from the J1s at the finish line, applied a new top-coat of flouros, and handed them off to the OJs at the start. The other clear disadvantage was that some regions did not have access to zeros; as athletes hit Wirth Park’s hills, it was clear some could not compete because of their wax.

At least one skier succeeded on a waxed kick zone; Marion Woods of Alaska Winter Stars won the J2 girls race on wax. Woods, who spent much of the race at the front of the pack, pulled away from runner-up Heidi Halvorsen (Green Mountain Valley School) in the last kilometer. While Woods didn’t know exactly what wax her coaches had used, she called it “something magic.” In the finish area, Woods’ joy from her success was evident in her glowing face. It seems that Woods’ happiness was shared by many of her competitions—she received and gave a barrage of hugs and well wishes immediately after her finish. Stratton’s Brooke Mooney took third for the J2 girls. See skinnyski.com video recap of J2 girls race.

Both the J2 girls and the J2 boys raced only five kilometers, making much of the race a crowded scramble. In both races, falls occurred on the second corner leaving the stadium. Both Woods and Far West’s Laurel Fiddler (who was involved in a crash) concurred that “there was a lot of skiing out of the tracks” as skiers tried to find space to get around.

For the boy’s J2 race, Hamish McEwen (Cambridge Sports Union) captured his second win of the championships, pulling away from 2nd place Tyler Foulkes (Stratton Mountain School) on the race’s final climb.

The story of the boy’s J2 race was Midwest’s Harris Dirnberger (Hopkins HS), who took third place despite significant adversity. In the early part of the race, Dirnberger was herringboning in traffic when a competitor’s ski snagged his, releasing his binding and pulling off the ski. Dirnberger chased down the ski, put it back on, and got back into the race. This was a jaw-dropping race for Dirnberger. He did not even qualify for the Minnesota State Championships in February.

The third repeat-winner of the day was Logan Hanneman, who led Alaska’s strong performance in the J1 race. Hanneman went earlier than he planned, about 2 kilometers into the last lap. He inadvertently built a little gap on a herringbone climb and then seized the opportunity to take the lead. Near the finish, Hanneman chanced to turn and see Alaskan teammate Issac Lammers in second place, and he “knew it was going to be a good day for Alaska.”

It was a good day for Alaska as they placed five athletes in the top ten: Hanneman, Lammers, Forrest Mahlen, Kyle Barnhart, and Jack Novak.

Issac Lammers (Alaska Nordic Racing) said he was “ecstatic” with his result. Lammers’ second place is his first significant national result and also a big step forward from his recent sixth place at the Alaska State Championships. He gave a lot of credit to the zeros he borrowed from his club, which he tested just 10 minutes before the race. Clearly delighted with his performance and his skis, he summed it up: “Great race! Great race! Great race!”

Local favorite Ben Saxton (Minnesota Valley), the Minnesota State Champion, rounded out the podium for J1 boys despite breaking a pole on the first lap. “Breaking a pole actually forced me to pace myself,” said Saxton. See skinnyski.com video recap of J1 boys race.

Girls J1 winner Corey Stock is no stranger to the top step of the podium at the Junior Olympics, having earned four golds at last year’s championships. Yet, Stock’s win this season is more impressive given that she had surgery for compartment syndrome and did not return to racing until January. Since missing the early season excluded her from the Scando Cup or Junior Worlds, Corey made the Junior Olympics her focus. “It was my major goal to win this race. I have been thinking about it all year. It’s the grand finale.”

Heather Mooney of Stratton Mountain School brought home the J1 silver. She was followed by Steamboat Springs’ Michaela Fria, who took a number of turns at the front during the race. See skinnyski.com video recap of J1 girls race.

The girls and boys OJ races were characterized by large-margin victories.

OJ David Sinclair (Dartmouth College) won his race by 37 seconds. He dropped all but Skyler Davis at three kilometers and built a 15-second gap by 5 kilometers. Sinclair skied fast enough this season to qualify for NCAAs but could not attend due to the three-per-team rule. With that in mind, Sinclair targeted JOs. Despite his formidable lead, Sinclair he says he, “kept hammering” because his “major goal of this season was to win this race.”

Silas Talbot (Alaska Winter Stars) claimed second, eight seconds ahead of Chris Stock (Cambridge Sports Union). New England put eight skiers in the top-10 for OJ Boys. See skinnyski.com video recap of OJ boys race.

In 2006, Jessie Diggins, then a J2, attended her first Junior Olympics in Soldier Hollow. Although she won both the skate 5 km and the skate sprint, she finished a disappointing 7th in the classic race. She says, “My technique was horrible. You could hear my skis slapping behind me around the course.” This year’s classic race “went a whole lot better.” The pack stayed with Diggins early on, but she broke away prior to the lap and increased her lead to 36 seconds by the line. Even with Diggins’ World Championships experience, she says she still gets nervous. “Actually, in some ways there is more pressure, more expectations at this race. I still get nervous, but I’m better at dealing with that now. “

Athletes Mary Cirelli (Mountain Top Nordic Ski Club) and Anne Hart (Dartmouth) finished second and third. See skinnyski.com video recap of OJ girls race.

Current Alaska Cup Standings (XLS Version)

A great day of racing Wednesday morning. A little snow and temperatures hovering around freezing meant challenging waxing – but the racers persevered and fans lined the course cheering. Full story, video and pictures coming soon.

After the first set of races, New England has established a large lead followed by Alaska and Midwest close together in 2nd and 3rd.

Latest Alaska Points PDF

By Corey Coogan

Monday’s Junior Olympic sprint competition at Wirth Park was a staggering success. After the noon qualifiers and early afternoon quarters, a select 72 skiers earned the right to compete under the lights in the evening’s semis and finals.

The night racing was uniquely special, as athletes competed on a lit course accented by luminaries and with a view of the Minneapolis skyline. In his post-race interview, boy’s J1 winner Logan Hanneman, called the venue, “Sick!” (a complement!). Hanneman, who has been around the world as a ski racer (Scando Cup team the last two years), especially wanted to praise the course and the volunteers, “It sounds cliché to complement the race, but in this case it’s legitimate. It’s sweet racing in a city environment.”

By the event’s 8:00 pm conclusion, six athletes had earned themselves the right to call themselves national champions. Not only did they win their final race of the night, but they also endured the pressure and fatigue of a long day at the venue, demonstrating more than just speed.

J2 boy’s winner, New England’s Hamish McEwen felt right at home at Wirth Park. McEwen, who took the overall win after qualifying in first position in the morning, calls the Weston Ski Track in Cambridge, Massachusetts home. Weston, located just outside of Boston, is a golf course with 15 kilometers of ski trails. Wirth Park, McEwen says, is “a lot like Weston.”

McEwen reports that he has done the training to back up his win. As he puts it, “I ski a lot” and estimated his training volume as being 450-500 hours last year.

Like McEwen, the other medalists in the boy’s J2 race, showed consistency through out the heats. Second place Thomas O’Harra (Alaska’s East HS) and third place Haakon Sigurslid (Rocky Mountain’s Durango HS) qualified in third and second respectively in the morning. Watch Skinnyski.com video of J2 boys sprints finals.

On paper, Marion Woods (Alaska’s Dimond HS) was a clear favorite in the girls J2 field. Though only a J2, she participated in this year’s Scando Cup J1 Trip, and was recently runner-up in the notoriously difficult Alaska State Championships. Nevertheless, after she crossed the line for the win in the final, she appeared delighted by what she had accomplished, and called JOs, “the ultimate in scale.” Behind Woods, New England scored critical points by putting two on the podium: Brooke Mooney (Stratton Mountain School) finished second after winning the morning’s qualification, and Heidi Halvorsen (Green Mountain Valley School) took third. Watch Skinnyski.com video of J2 girls sprints finals.

In the J1 boy’s field, Logan Hanneman (Lathrop HS) added another win to a successful season. Logan’s win, two weeks after his dominating win at the Alaska State Championships, is especially sweet given his health at this time last year. In 2010, he was unable to fulfill his end of season goals after he was diagnosed with mono around State Championships time. This year, his season started slowly (he had additional health problems in the fall), but now he finds himself peaking at the end of the season, in his words, “getting better and better” each day. Behind Hanneman were three Midwest skiers successfully representing their home region (second: Andy Dodds of Apple Valley HS, third: Kevin Bolger of Lakeland HS in Wisconsin, and fourth: Ben Saxton of Lakeville North HS.) Watch Skinnyski.com video of J1 boys sprints finals.

The girls J1 final was a show of dominance by New England. Heather Mooney (Stratton Mountain School) won by a decisive ten or so meters, and teammates Corey Stock (Cambridge Sports Union), Cambria McDermott (Stratton Mountain School), Tara Geraghty-Moats, and Rachel Hall (Stratton Mountain School) filled positions two through five. The group would not quite acknowledge that a sweep was their plan for the day, they said, “We knew we had the potential to do it. We woke up this morning ready to make the A-Final.” Watch Skinnyski.com video of J1 girls sprints finals.

Junior World Championships teammates and good friends Skylar Davis (Stratton Mountain School) and George Cartwright (High Plains, Northern Michigan University) knew it was likely to come down to one of the two of them for the win. Skylar acknowledged coming into the final really psyched; right before the final, he ate a Powerbar gel blast (cola), which “really got him going.” He made his move on the hill, gaining a few critical seconds on Cartwright and then held him off, although he was “completely spent in the lanes” and could hear people yelling for George, who finished second. Third went to the Midwest’s Ben Hugus, a Northern Michigan University skier, who won the Korteloppet two weeks ago. Watch Skinnyski.com video of OJ boys sprints finals.

For the hometown audience, the best race came last as Afton, Minnesota’s Jessie Diggins, recently returned home from the World Championships, lived up to her billing with a decisive win. Diggins was completely humble despite the triumphs of her 2011 season. She said that she had to “go all out,” and that she was happy to be competing against “such great girls. It’s a great privilege to race against them.” When asked to compare her experience at the Minneapolis Junior Olympics to her recent adventures at the Holmenkollen World Championships, she said, “Holmenkollen is cool, but a hometown crowd is even cooler.” Watch Skinnyski.com video of OJ girls sprints finals.

Skinnyski.com’s JO Sprint Coverage