Welcome to the 2010 PNSA Junior National Team!

Nordic Heritage Sports Club Presque Isle, Maine

March 5-14, 2010

Congratulations! You have worked hard to make it to this point in your racing career and your Junior National coaches will do everything they can to help you reach your goals. At this point in the season it is important for you to balance school and family responsibilities with your skiing commitment. In just 11 days we will depart for the Junior National trip to Presque Isle, Maine. Please use this time to prepare yourself physically and mentally for the journey. Also, make arrangements with your teachers if you will miss school during March 5 to March 14. You know the drill…get plenty of rest, focus on eating, sleeping, and training well, making good choices etc.

Here are the immediate things that need to be taken care of:

1) Respond to info@bendnordic.org to confirm your spot on the team by Monday, February 22nd at 5pm. This is when you will be entered into the races. If your information is incomplete or missing- you won’t be on the team roster. Yes- that’s 29 hours from now!!! Respond via e mail with both your intentions to be on the team and your personal information (see “ATHLETE INFORMATION” below)– this includes Bend Nordic Team skiers.

2) GET YOU USSA NUMBER or make sure your USSA NUMBER IS RENEWED! Go to www.ussa.org today to secure your number.  You cannot be entered into the events without a current USSA number. You also need to have your PNSA dues paid (this is a special box that you check on your USSA membership).

3) New team members need to purchase a PNSA suit ($140) and Jacket ($60)  Returning members need to find their old PNSA jacket- black or blue Patagonia- we are using the same ones as in previous years. If you have any uniform needs (didn’t get one yet, lost your old one- contact Ben bhusaby@bendnordic.org To pay for your uniform- write a check to Bend Nordic Team (BNT) at the address below. You will receive your uniform when we arrive at our hotel in Maine.

4) HEADS UP! There will be checks and waivers being written and sent to 2 different places!

The trip will cost $1350…..send this to PNSA.

For athletes that need a jacket- add….…$60- write and send check to BNT

For athletes that need a race suit- add…$140- write and send check to BNT

All 3 waivers (medical release, code, bio…see below) go to BNT!

Here’s the tricky part- this needs to be done on Tuesday, February 23rd:

5) Make out a check for $1350 to PNSA and send to:

PNSA Attn. Nordic JOs

2671 Flowery Trail Rd

Usk, WA  99180-9740

phone: 509-445-4454, fax: 509-445-4455,

e-mail: pnsa@pnsa.org

*In the Note section of your check please write “Nordic JOs and Your Name”

6) Sign and send the 3 waivers (medical release, code, bio) and your check for jackets and race suit made out to BNT to:

Bend Nordic Team- JOs

500 SW Bond Street, Suite 142

Bend, OR 97702

7) Please tell you parents to visit http://www.juniorolympics2010.org/ for lodging and race information. All athletes should also visit this website to become familiar with the week’s schedule and course maps. Also, plan on sending a thank you letter or postcard to the PNSEF Grant Committee, at the above PNSA address. These folks provide funding for your wax/entries and other special grants to keep travel costs down for you. Also, if you have received grants from other organizations (local foundations or clubs, coaches too) send a postcard to them too and thank them for supporting you.

ATHLETE INFORMATION-Please cut and paste the following information in an e mail to: info@bendnordic.org

Last Name:

First Name:

E-Mail:

Cell phone:

Home phone:

Birth Date:

Gender:

USSA Age Class:

USSA Number (Required)

Ski Club:

School/College:

Hometown:

State/Zipcode:

Address:

Food allergies/special needs:

Things you need to do in the next few days:

• Read all of the information on this page
• Send an e mail to info@bendnordic.org with your athlete information.
• Confirm you travel arrangements with your coaches:

Methow (Flash)               stella@methownet.com

Wenatchee (TJ)              stormy.owen@verizon.net

Bend (Ben)                        bhusaby@bendnordic.org

Spokane (George)          selkirkxc@yahoo.com

Very Important! New this year! Teams will need to combine equipment into group bags. The airlines now charge (a lot) for baggage. Athletes must pay for their own duffle bag. Teams (Methow, Wenatchee, Bend, Spokane) will be reimbursed by PNSA for ONLY 3 bags per club to cover skis, poles, and equipment/wax.

REDMOND FLIGHTS:

ROSTER: Darragh Hildreth, Daniel Coil, Gene Fitzsimmons, Reitler Hodgert, Ben Husaby, Pat Madden, Brandon Roadman, Kelly Smallwood, Isabel Smith, Ryan St. Clair, Michael Widmer

Reservation Numbers: UA/X09JPQ, UA/XOZ6QU, UA/XOWB1E

Friday, March 5th

Sunday, March 14th

SEATTLE FLIGHTS:

ROSTER: George Bryant, Torill Owen, Theodore Thorson, Jake Whitten, Max Christman, Elizabeth Pokorny, Kelsey Dickinson, Nina Ekblad, Chris Clark, Sage Abate, Matty Coleman, Evan Turner, Jacqueline O’Keefe, Casey Smith, Andi Zontek

Confirmation Code: Northwest 4NUXP9, Delta CRU5Y4, Delta CRU4D6

Friday, March 5th

Sunday, March 14th

ROSTER: Marc LeDuc, Leanne Thorson

Friday, March 5th

Sunday, March 14th

ROSTER: Kiersten Utsey, Derek Alcorn

Confirmation Code 131153743192

Friday, March 5th

Sunday, March 14th

• Familiarize yourself with the week’s schedule. Know your race days and distances. Visitwww.juniorolympics2010.org to do this. Share this with your parents.  Also, show your parents the address, phone number and website of the hotel where we will be staying

Aroostook Hospitality Inn
23 Langille Road, Washburn, ME‎
800-354-4271 207-455-8567
http://www.aroostookhospitalityinn.com/

• Fill out the JO Medical Release
• Fill out the 2010 PNSA Code of Conduct
• Fill out the Athlete Bio
• Spend some time working on your skis- put your name in bold clear letters somewhere between the binding and the tip- mark your kick zones clearly and perfectly, clean your sidewalls thoroughly- get the gunk off of your bindings- put in a few layers of glide wax working from warm to cool. Put your name on your poles, boots and uniform too- this saves a lot of headaches!
• If you are new to the PNSA team this year, or have not yet renewed your USSA number, fill out the forms and fax them and your payment via credit card to USSA. Make sure you send your new USSA number to info@bendnordic.org
• Write your checks to PNSA and BNT and send it all out by February 23rd to PNSA (trip cost) and BNT(waivers/uniform charges)
• Again, make a plan with your coaches for packing your bags. PNSA will not reimburse athletes for extra baggage fees. Teams need to be creative and remember PNSA will not reimburse your club for more than 3 team gear bags for each team.
• PNSA Team Suit and Jacket- New team members will get theirs once we arrive in Maine.
• Government Issued PHOTO ID
• At least 2 sets of NON-cotton  under layers
• Wind briefs
• Sports bras
• Tops
• Bottoms
• Socks
• Workout hat and post workout hat
• Gloves (a couple pair)
• Dry clothes for after each ski session
• Casual clothes
• Skis – travel waxed. On classic skis have klister and hard wax zones clearly marked.  Many coaches will be working on your skis and you do not want them to have to guess where your zones are. Please be diligent with your kick zone marking. And PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR SKIS! Thank you.
• Poles (with your name clearly marked)
• Boots
• Plastic scraper, groove scraper and a cork
• Spending money
• Phone calling card- leave the cell phone at home
• Watch
• School work
• A carry-on bag or backpack that will double as an equipment bag
• Toiletries
• Duct Tape
• Address book
• I pod  adapter

Click here to view our 2010 Programs.

Prospective families and coaches are invited to join us on Thursday, February 25th at 7pm for an informational meeting at the Bend Endurance Academy office.

Click here for directions.

For those of you outside of Bend, track our progress and read updates here at BendEnduranceAcademy.org And, feel free to join us or our lead sponsor, Cog Wild, for a ride if your travels bring you to Bend!

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting next week!

Let’s ride!

Brenna (Knowles) Warburton
Associate Director
Bend Endurance Academy .org
541-678-3865

• Classic Race: 22 km or 14 km – 9:30/9:35 am start
• Classic Family Tour: 5 km, 10 km, 14 km or 22 km non-timed event.  Start between 9:45 and 10:30 am

The USA sent 3 women, 2 men, a coach and Bill as Wax Tech with hopes that we could break into the medals for individuals and in the overall world cup team rankings. Emma Garrard won the US Championship in Soldier Hollow which was also a World Cup, so she was ranked #1 in the world when we arrived. After skiing, biking and running in training our althetes were feeling well rested and excited for Saturday’s main event.

In wax testing, most teams decided to go with Swix LF6 or Toko HF Blue but Warburton found Holmenkol Green to be running faster in both the very cold shade and open fields. Since skiing is the last leg, it’s very important that the skis be running well for the tired athletes.

Saturday’s race was dominated by Emma and Rebecca Dussault, a former Olympic Skier, until Emma suffered a flat tire on the last lap of the bike. She recovered to finish in 7th place while Rebecca grew her lead over the entire race and won by almost 2 minutes. This is the USA’s first World Championship Title for Winter Triathlon and judging by how well our women did on Saturday and again in the relay on Sunday, it won’t be the last. The women were ahead by 2:15 in the relay where each racer had to complete a lap on each of the courses, then relaxed a bit to win by over 1:15.

Our men had good races and were pleased to do well in such a competitive field. Brian Smith finished 12th while Jay Henry was 17th.

After Saturday’s race, Heather Best, who finished in 13th said, “Those were the fastest skis I’ve ever been on,” while Jay said, “I was reeling in people on the downhills — it was awesome!”

Warburton was happy to have provided some fast skis. “I was really happy with our wax selection so for Rebecca, who came with an arsenal of very fast skis, so we just had to choose the best pair for her based on flex and grind. Our initial thoughts were to use the cold skis, with soft flex and little structure based on what we saw on Wednesday and Thursday, but in the tests on Friday, the warm stiff skis with a bigger grind were the best, then got even better with added hand structure.” Warburton continued, “It was fun for me to test such a variety of skis for a variety of athletes. I know we had better skis than a lot of teams based on their wax choices and our athletes appreciated the help since this sport is so gear-intensive, having someone take some of pressure off for you is really nice.”

Check out video from the race here.

Bill’s photos on USAT’s website

USAT’s Facebook Page with Bill’s photos and recent news

Confirmed Events are shown in RED. Click on BLUE links for more info.

XC Mountain Bike Races:

• Mudslinger, May 2, $20 entry. Blodgett (Corvallis), OR — CONFIRMED
• Chainbreaker, May 9, $11 entry, Bend, OR — CONFIRMED
• Spring Thaw, May 15, $15, Ashland, OR — UNconfirmed, depends on interest
• Sisters Stampede, May 30, Sisters, OR — UNconfirmed, this race might not happen
• Short Track Races: April 14, 21, 28 — Wednesday local race series — CONFIRMED
• Pickett’s Charge, June 27, Bend, OR — State Championship? Same weekend as Road Nats — CONFIRMED, details forthcoming

Road Races: Time Trial, Criterium & Road Race

• Piece of Cake, May 28, $5 entry, Amity (Corvallis), OR — UNconfirmed, a good race, we should go if we have 3
• Central Oregon Race Series: Every Wednesday from April – August, either a time trial, hillclimb or criterium. We will purchase a season pass and do all events. Estimated Cost is less than $60 for the 15+ race series. See the calendar for more details. CONFIRMED
• FreshAirSport TT series, Thursdays in June, these are possibilites but we probably won’t do many.
• NorthWest Crossing Criterium, June 25, same week as Nats, but open to all — CONFIRMED
• Road Nationals, June 24 – 27, expensive event, TT is open but road events have restrictions, this is not a priority race for everyone — CONFIRMED
• High Desert Omnium, July 10 – 11, $15 entry, a Crit, a TT for sure, very good events for us, but maybe not the RR — CONFIRMED
• Vancouver Courthouse Criterium, August 1, $5 entry, Vancouver, WA — CONFIRMED, this is one of the best crits of the year and good prep for states.
• OBRA Road Race, August 7, $10 entry, Trout Lake, WA? — CONFIRMED, State Championships
• OBRA Criterium, August 22, $10 entry, Location TBD — CONFIRMED, Bill will be out of town

Cyclocross Races:

• FreshAirSports CX Series, 3 races Sept – Nov, Bend, OR — CONFIRMED
• Cross Crusade Series, 7 races Oct – Nov, Statewide — CONFIRMED, we will choose several of these events based on interest and location
• US CX Nationals, Dec 9 – 12, Bend, OR — CONFIRMED, this is open to all, not too expensive and the premier race of the year!

Check Out Wally the Wombat! (More videos and tales of their adventures here!)

What you need to know:

• Sign up deadline- Sunday, Februay 14th.   Bring your check for $175 made out to Bend Nordic Team to the office on or before the 14th.
• Print and sign liability release from this link and bring to the office with your check.
• Have your classic skis cleaned (tops, sides and bases).  Please remark your zones with a sharpie!  Please travel wax your classic skis.
• Meet at the office at 8:30 am on Friday, February 19th.
• Leave your skate skis unwaxed- you will be previewing the course on Friday afternoon.
• Lodging information:  Spokane Travelodge 509-623-9727
• Coach contact:  Brenna 541-678-3865

We are really excited to invite all BNT J3s-OJs on this trip,  it will be a blast!  As always, baked goodies and snacks appreciated.