Last Wednesday was a big step for Whitney, as Chad, her Massanutten coach, said her first "big girl" race. This season she registered not only with USASA but also with USSA, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, and FIS, the international ski federation. USSA holds the next level of racing for boardercross and she was ready to take that step. The race she was in last week was part of the Hole Shot Tour which has races in Maine and Colorado this year. There were two days of races at Sunday River but she only registered for the first day.
It was very stressful for her with timing of the blizzard. She really wanted to get back to Maine to get to the practice day on Tuesday and be more mentally settled for the race on Wednesday especially since it was her first time racing at this level. We were able to get her car from the airport and get to Sunday River in plenty of time for her to relax a bit before the practice started. Her practice day went ok, not great. She didn't get in as many runs as she would have liked but there was a hold on the course for a while. They did extend the practice time but only by 10 minutes and she wasn't able to get through the line again. Overall, she felt ok and her complaints about the course were the same as other riders.
She did feel a bit intimidated by the level of the competition. I had to remind her that this was a mid-level race between USASA and World Cup races; that there were others like her who were just moving up to this level and there were some that were ready to move up to World Cup races. My point was proven when she told me that Seth Wescott was there racing. I think it was actually really good for her to see him there. He came in 9th, I think, on Wednesday and I asked her about it. She said that he made a few mistakes on course and his age/injuries are catching up to him. But it was good for her to see that even someone at his level can make a mistake and have an off day.
After she was done her practice we went our separate ways. She was heading back to school for some clean clothes and sleep while I went to my sister-in-law's for the night. Since they were expecting a lot more snow I didn't want to get stuck in Maine. As much as I wanted to watch Whitney race I don't have the right kind of vehicle to navigate really snowy roads.
Wednesday was race day. From what she told me she was happy with her performance. She always sets goals, for the season, for the bigger races, and she had some for this race. The two I remember her mentioning were to not finish last and to have good starts. I think another one had to do with the jumps. She said the races went pretty well for her. I think after a good night's sleep, while she was still nervous racing at this level, she felt much better about it. She got some help from the CVA coaches and also from Chad via text. She finished 19 out of 20 and said she felt really strong in her starts. She also said that the jumps went well, better than they had at practice.
It was a first good race at the next level. Her next one will actually be at USASA Nationals. The last several years they've held the Open Class race and the NorAm race together. The nice thing about this one will be that she's got one at this level under her belt and she's raced at Copper several times so it should just be regular race nerves, not "I'm doing something new and it's a really big deal" type nerves. If we can get the coaching situation figured out she'll do really well the next few seasons.
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