Coaches Around the Country: Jason Cork
FasterSkierNovember 26, 2007 in 1995. I raced for a couple of years at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and then moved to Duluth, Minnesota to train with Nikolai Anikin and the Gitchi Gummi Sport Association. I got into GGSA at a time when there were a lot of good racers in the group — John and Bruce Bauer, Brad Nelson, Christa Case, Phil Bowen — so it was really good for me to see how these guys were training. (Also, I trained with an 18-year-old Andrew Gardner — frightening.) I spent a few years there and then raced a semester at Whitman College — I hated it, though Ethan Townsend (now coaching at St. Lawrence) was great; in retrospect, I would have kicked myself off the team a couple of times. After that I just bummed around Duluth for a couple of years, painting houses. In 2003, I got it into my head I should coach, so I moved to Crested Butte, Colorado and got a job as assistant. I got the head coaching job for Durango Nordic in 2004 and am now going into my fourth season here.</p>
<p>I work primarily with the J2 and older group (Smiling Giraffe Posse). Brent Brown and Jeanne Pastore work with the J3/4s (Deadly Assassins), and Kate Greenberg and Sarah Tescher work with the J5/6s (Buckets o' Blood). All ages do certain workouts together — core strength, sprint relays, Speedball…..</p>
<p>I’m glad I lived in Alaska when I was younger and didn’t really understand how unbelievably cold it could be. It should be noted that as I’ve grown older, I’ve progressively moved south. That being said, learning to ski at Birch Hill and Salcha was pretty cool.</p>
<p><I>Can you give us some background on Durango Nordic?</I></p>
<p>Durango Nordic has been a cross-country racing club for something like 52 years now. Dolph Kuss started it back in the day; he worked with Mike Elliott as a junior. Both of those guys are still involved and have kids in the program. We run a racing program, but we let the athletes set their own goals — if they just want to learn how to ski, they’re welcomed. We have a lot of parent involvement — they all kick in with waxing, driving to races, working as course marshals, whatever. This works surprisingly well. I would credit that to the fact the Mike runs a tight ship and that I have very little compunction about telling people what to do or when to step away. In the past three seasons we’ve had an athlete qualify to World Juniors twice, a junior national champion and had six athletes get All-American 27 times at junior nationals.</p>
<p><I>You graduate this December with your bachelor’s degree from Fort Lewis College Relieved? Ready for more? Going to keep with skiing and coaching?</I></p>
<p>Let this be said: The 13-year college plan is not the best path. I’m trying to think of a word that’s more powerful than “relieved†when it comes to my feelings about finishing this thing up. I’d be into getting another degree if I could find a college that would give me credit when I figure things out on my own. Like, “This girl needs to bend her knees when she double-poles†equals two credits.</p>
<p>I’m definitely going to keep working with skiing. The only reason I’m going to Fort Lewis is that I got dissed when I applied for a college coaching job because I didn’t have a degree. I’m not certain I want to coach NCAA, but it’s good to have the option.</p>
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FasterSkierNovember 26, 2007