Comments on: Hamilton Takes Freestyle Sprint Title in Anchorage

By: Mike Trecker

Mike Trecker — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:40:41 +0000

Yeah Simi! Sweet race! Congrats to Garrott for sure as well.

I would like to add a little to the conversation here. There is alot of talk about the Olympics right now for these guys, and that’s fine. However, I just read a fantastic insight to both careers of Beckie Scott and Kikkan Randall. They both have had the experience that once they hit the front with a big win such as a national title, it still took another 10 years of hard work and dedication to become dominant. Andy Newell has displayed this type of commitment and it has taken this long as well. Kris Freeman, same thing. Petra Majdic is dominating right now, but we all saw her at Salt Lake coming on and it has taken this long to get there.

If Garrott and Simi display that same ethic and keep their nose to the grind stone, the payoff will come down the road. Let’s not worry too much about Vancouver for these guys. If they make the trip fine, but it’s only the beginning.

By: Lars

Lars — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:37:52 +0000

As i understand it the US got 8 spots for the olympics and is likely to get more as the bigger skiing nations don`t fill up there quota.

By: nordic_dave

nordic_dave — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:32:40 +0000

Congrats to Simi. He is really doing well as is Kuzzy.
Garrott also impressed upon me in a conversation, the attributes of late blossoming post graduate skiers. Duly noted…..as he is certainly doing very well with CXC and now USST. Meanwhile Hamilton is now with SVSEF and his head coach made his comments very well known about the Pipeline Development as it relates to college skiers at the USSA Coach’s Conference in Minneapolis. Perhaps you missed that part Mr. Mckibben.

By: Jhettenb

Jhettenb — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:48:16 +0000

Tyler Kornfield had a great performance today but to take a shot at the USST development pipeline is ridiculous. The one thing that you have to remember is that he was racing fellow Americans. The goal and main focus of the USST is to be competitive on a World Stage not just national. Considering that rational I’m not sure if it means he is a really fast junior or that the U-23’s and SR’s are not fast enough! As far as Kuzzy and Hamilton making the heats in Vancouver I think that they both would have a chance but they need to make it on the team first. As far as I know the US still only has 7? Spots for Vancouver unless the US is given more spots it seems impossible for both of these guys to make the team. Hopefully the U.S does receive more spots and that won’t be a problem.

By: bill mckibben

bill mckibben — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:44:09 +0000

If anyone is wondering if Simi Hamilton just came flying out of nowhere, of course he didn’t. He had amazing results as a junior, and then after a period of real indecision about whether he wanted to keep ski racing, recommitted himself to the sport at Middlebury and working with Andrew Gardner began a steady climb back to the top reaches of the sport. Yesterday’s crushing performance (qualifying five seconds up on a very legit field) comes as no surprise to many of us who watched him ski last winter on the eastern carnival circuit. That his only real challenger was former Midd skier Kuzzy came as no surprise either–both have the kind of work ethic necessary to get a degree and to ski hard. If I were the combative type, I’d say it’s a pretty good riposte to the notion that you can’t really develop as a skier in college. But as a fan of the USST let me say the real message is clear: Andy Newell’s chances in Vancouver just improved a lot. Anyone think Hamilton and Kuzzy won’t qualify in the sprint there? By my math, that’s two less Norwegians for Newell to worry about come the heats.

By: dougherty_andrew

dougherty_andrew — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:17:20 +0000

No mention of the top junior sprinter Tyler Kornfield finishing an impressive 4th today; it looks like college isn’t such a bad thing for the development pipeline.