Today was the U23’s turn to rev it up. New snow and a tough course made it a demanding day. We had solid, but not spectacular results. Everyone gave it their all, but in this competition, you have to be spot on to get top results.br /The fresh snow made kicking a bit tricky. It was important to have a good pair of soft snow skis and to pace yourself on the hilly course. For those of you familiar with Soldier Hollow, think of the last big hill. There is a hill the same size on this course and another just a hair smaller…and… you need to do them both every lap (3 for girls, 4 for boys today). Tough course, you need to ski smooth and strong..the Russians were the best today. But we’re close and we’ll get after it tomorrow!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GyZnr3aFI/AAAAAAAACMg/39QxVjiyizY/s1600-h/IMG_2580.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431818778804971602″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GyZnr3aFI/AAAAAAAACMg/39QxVjiyizY/s400/IMG_2580.JPG” border=”0″ //aFitz hammers over the last hill.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GyDzr5rpI/AAAAAAAACMY/NQUuhbEyfO0/s1600-h/IMG_2582.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431818404069224082″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GyDzr5rpI/AAAAAAAACMY/NQUuhbEyfO0/s400/IMG_2582.JPG” border=”0″ //aRosie looking good. She finished 26th.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2Gx2LUGJMI/AAAAAAAACMQ/9r6NBLfE_ro/s1600-h/IMG_2583.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431818169893659842″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2Gx2LUGJMI/AAAAAAAACMQ/9r6NBLfE_ro/s400/IMG_2583.JPG” border=”0″ //a Ida took it out strong, but didn’t quite have her usual energy and finished in 34th.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxqY7ymgI/AAAAAAAACMI/m2trXvbWh3A/s1600-h/IMG_2586.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431817967391382018″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 350px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxqY7ymgI/AAAAAAAACMI/m2trXvbWh3A/s400/IMG_2586.JPG” border=”0″ //a Becca skied a strong consistent race and came in 24th.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxhFKl0II/AAAAAAAACMA/RGAmnlIE4u4/s1600-h/IMG_2594.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431817807465926786″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxhFKl0II/AAAAAAAACMA/RGAmnlIE4u4/s400/IMG_2594.JPG” border=”0″ //a Noah skied an excellent race and ended up 20th. If he had gone 1 second faster every km., he would have been 12th…yup..it’s tight out there. That was an outstanding effort for “the Hoff”.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxUaDuoeI/AAAAAAAACL4/rzO9vrEfrWI/s1600-h/IMG_2592.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431817589735989730″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxUaDuoeI/AAAAAAAACL4/rzO9vrEfrWI/s400/IMG_2592.JPG” border=”0″ //a Pat started strong, faded, but then held on and fought back for a solid 52nd.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxB0KOzpI/AAAAAAAACLw/SZpaHFcUwSg/s1600-h/IMG_2593.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431817270325071506″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GxB0KOzpI/AAAAAAAACLw/SZpaHFcUwSg/s400/IMG_2593.JPG” border=”0″ //aTad (above) and Simi placed 33,34. Both skied hard and gave it their all.Good skiing boys!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GwjFnsTbI/AAAAAAAACLo/Q2qIoJ38h8c/s1600-h/IMG_2590.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431816742436097458″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GwjFnsTbI/AAAAAAAACLo/Q2qIoJ38h8c/s400/IMG_2590.JPG” border=”0″ //aSimi cresting the last big hill on lap 3. The start intervals were 30 seconds, but with a 3.75 loop skied four times, there was plenty of non stop action.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GwTNBUsMI/AAAAAAAACLg/TyVcYq3C3Ug/s1600-h/IMG_2589.JPG”img id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431816469544743106″ style=”DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/S2GwTNBUsMI/AAAAAAAACLg/TyVcYq3C3Ug/s400/IMG_2589.JPG” border=”0″ //aPat urging Noah on. 2 seconds would have moved him up 3-4 places…he tried!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-530291457542313031?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
