I'm super procrastinating today. I leave tomorrow for Colorado to hang with Whitney at the USASA Nationals and I don't have anything packed yet! I do have some things pulled out, like the ski bag, my ski clothes, and a few other things...emphasis on few. I'll get it together tonight.
My Facebook memories feed the last few days has been filled with pictures and commentary from past trips to Copper. I'm really looking forward to heading out there again. They've gotten a ton of snow this winter and it seems like it's been snowing almost every day recently. And not just an inch or so, more like 5-8" every day. This year it'll be a quick trip, that's what happens when you're a college student. I'm meeting Whitney in Denver, we'll take the shuttle to Copper, have a fun two days there (race day is Sunday), then we'll shuttle back to Denver and head our separate ways to get home.
Here's to a great trip!
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Saturday, March 12, 2016
USCSA Nationals
I just got back from the USCSA Nationals held in Lake Placid, NY. I was so excited to watch Whitney race again. It's been a long time since I had the opportunity to see her race. I'll get another at the beginning of April when we head to Colorado for the USASA Nationals.
USCSA is interesting. They hold Nordic, Alpine, and Snowboard/Free Ski events. Apparently on the East Coast they don't hold any "regular" snowboard competitions, at least not in the Maine area. At UMF, the Nordic team had three skiers who were invited to Nationals based on their competitions during the season. For the snowboarders, the team coach decided who to send since they don't have any regular competitions and he sent Whitney, another snowboarder, and a free skier.
The races were held over the course of the week. Whitney's team went out to NY on Monday, which gave her plenty of time to practice since her race day was Friday. She was pretty excited to be able to board at Whiteface where the 1980 Olympic competitions were held. {I know one of her bucket list items is to visit all the winter Olympic sites.} She thought the bx course there was a good one, technical and challenging. She was having problems with one of the elements and after messaging her coach in VA, got the help she needed to figure it out so she didn't crash into the netting. What the heck is a wu-tang anyway?? I know about rollers, jumps, and table tops, but never heard of a wu-tang before.
I drove up on Thursday. It was a long drive, but not too bad until I hit the fog and rain in the Adirondacks. I checked in to my hotel and had the swankiest room I've ever stayed in. Whitney and I met up in town and found a place to have dinner, which was really nice. We had a good view from our table, through the fog, of Mirror Lake. After dinner since it was raining, we went back to my hotel to talk for a while. Later I dropped her off at the house where they were staying so she could wax her board and get her stuff ready for the morning.
Fortunately race day was sunny and cold although a bit windy. It was similar in some ways to USASA but also very different. The races were actually broadcast on the USCSA channel with announcers and music at the finish. The crowds were a lot smaller than we see in Colorado but still rowdy (hello, college students!). They also alternated the snowboarders and skiers. I found it interesting that most of the ski cross races were a lot closer than the boarder cross races. They also tended to have more drama - one girl lost a glove and a pole, not exactly sure how that happened.
Whitney was feeling confident and finished in 51:04 during time trials. That put her in 10th for seeding (there were 41 signed up, one didn't start). Time trials cut the field to 32 and they set the brackets for racing.
After lunch they started racing. Whitney was the second seed in the seventh bracket while her teammate, Angelica, was part of the sixth bracket. Whitney finished second and moved on to the top 16 racers (the top two move on, the bottom two are out). In her next race she again finished second which moved her on to the top eight. She finished fourth in her top eight bracket which sent her to the small final where she finished third which put her final standing as 7th place. Angelica was also in the small final and finished first, good for 5th place.
Whitney and I went back to the house they were staying at so we could change and she could finish packing her stuff since we both were heading out after the awards ceremony. We went back to town for a quick walk around then went to the convention center for the awards ceremony. There were a lot of awards to give out, many different things were going on Friday, Nordic and alpine races as well as the women's bx and ski cross. For most of the races the top 10 finishers were recognized, for one or two it was the top 15 finishers. The top 10 all got certificates and the top three received medals as well. Besides that finishers 6-10 are second team All-American and the top five are first team All-American. So Whitney is second team All-American and has a nice certificate.
They also give out team awards. I'm not really sure how they figure out the team awards (and Whitney wasn't sure either) but UMF was the third place team for women's snowboard cross. The first place team was Westminster College (Utah) and second was Sierra Nevada College (Nevada, a school that was on Whitney's list when she was looking). Go figure, with two competitors UMF won third place, the only East Coast team on the podium. For that they got a plate to put in the trophy case at school.
All in all it was a good experience. Whitney had a good time and was pleased with how she raced and her final place. Of course she wanted to be in the top five or top three but she was happy. I was really glad I could work it out to go up to watch her. Now it's time to take a short break, then refocus and get ready for USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain at the beginning of April.
USCSA is interesting. They hold Nordic, Alpine, and Snowboard/Free Ski events. Apparently on the East Coast they don't hold any "regular" snowboard competitions, at least not in the Maine area. At UMF, the Nordic team had three skiers who were invited to Nationals based on their competitions during the season. For the snowboarders, the team coach decided who to send since they don't have any regular competitions and he sent Whitney, another snowboarder, and a free skier.
The races were held over the course of the week. Whitney's team went out to NY on Monday, which gave her plenty of time to practice since her race day was Friday. She was pretty excited to be able to board at Whiteface where the 1980 Olympic competitions were held. {I know one of her bucket list items is to visit all the winter Olympic sites.} She thought the bx course there was a good one, technical and challenging. She was having problems with one of the elements and after messaging her coach in VA, got the help she needed to figure it out so she didn't crash into the netting. What the heck is a wu-tang anyway?? I know about rollers, jumps, and table tops, but never heard of a wu-tang before.
I drove up on Thursday. It was a long drive, but not too bad until I hit the fog and rain in the Adirondacks. I checked in to my hotel and had the swankiest room I've ever stayed in. Whitney and I met up in town and found a place to have dinner, which was really nice. We had a good view from our table, through the fog, of Mirror Lake. After dinner since it was raining, we went back to my hotel to talk for a while. Later I dropped her off at the house where they were staying so she could wax her board and get her stuff ready for the morning.
Fortunately race day was sunny and cold although a bit windy. It was similar in some ways to USASA but also very different. The races were actually broadcast on the USCSA channel with announcers and music at the finish. The crowds were a lot smaller than we see in Colorado but still rowdy (hello, college students!). They also alternated the snowboarders and skiers. I found it interesting that most of the ski cross races were a lot closer than the boarder cross races. They also tended to have more drama - one girl lost a glove and a pole, not exactly sure how that happened.
Whitney was feeling confident and finished in 51:04 during time trials. That put her in 10th for seeding (there were 41 signed up, one didn't start). Time trials cut the field to 32 and they set the brackets for racing.
After lunch they started racing. Whitney was the second seed in the seventh bracket while her teammate, Angelica, was part of the sixth bracket. Whitney finished second and moved on to the top 16 racers (the top two move on, the bottom two are out). In her next race she again finished second which moved her on to the top eight. She finished fourth in her top eight bracket which sent her to the small final where she finished third which put her final standing as 7th place. Angelica was also in the small final and finished first, good for 5th place.
Whitney and I went back to the house they were staying at so we could change and she could finish packing her stuff since we both were heading out after the awards ceremony. We went back to town for a quick walk around then went to the convention center for the awards ceremony. There were a lot of awards to give out, many different things were going on Friday, Nordic and alpine races as well as the women's bx and ski cross. For most of the races the top 10 finishers were recognized, for one or two it was the top 15 finishers. The top 10 all got certificates and the top three received medals as well. Besides that finishers 6-10 are second team All-American and the top five are first team All-American. So Whitney is second team All-American and has a nice certificate.
They also give out team awards. I'm not really sure how they figure out the team awards (and Whitney wasn't sure either) but UMF was the third place team for women's snowboard cross. The first place team was Westminster College (Utah) and second was Sierra Nevada College (Nevada, a school that was on Whitney's list when she was looking). Go figure, with two competitors UMF won third place, the only East Coast team on the podium. For that they got a plate to put in the trophy case at school.
All in all it was a good experience. Whitney had a good time and was pleased with how she raced and her final place. Of course she wanted to be in the top five or top three but she was happy. I was really glad I could work it out to go up to watch her. Now it's time to take a short break, then refocus and get ready for USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain at the beginning of April.
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