In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 19-year-old Kam Husain, of the Stratton Mountain School, who’s representing the U.S. at his first Junior Worlds. *** “My full name is Kamran...
After making the US Biathlon national team three years in a row, but missing out on qualifying for the 2015/2016 season, Russell Currier is back and ready to race the World Cup. “It was a huge relief,” Currier said of his renomination this November.
After coming back from a devastating combination of injuries from a 2015 crash, former U.S. national team member Casey Smith realized that he was treating biathlon like a job, not like fun. He'll re-enroll at Montana State University this fall and say goodbye to elite skiing.
For many years the Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) was a staple of cultivating domestic biathlon and cross-country talent at the elite level. There's been a name change; MWSC is now OSI, Outdoor Sport Institute, and its focus is on fostering long-term healthy living across the state.
The McCall Winter Sports Club (MWSC is a member club in the Intermountain Division) is looking to fill a Head Nordic coaching position. The MWSC is a combined Nordic, Alpine, and Big Mountain program that is based in the mountains of McCall, Idaho.
This week's workout comes from the eastern edge of the U.S. in Fort Kent, Maine. With plenty of snow ski on, the Maine Winter Sports Center biathlon program completed a head-to-head shooting workout that can be adapted to a non-shooting interval workout for cross-country skiers.
While TSS can stand for a lot of things in a training plan (i.e. Top Secret Strength, Totally Stupid Strength), the bottom line is it's an uphill workout that reinforces good ski technique and power. All you need is a short, steep hill.
After working alongside Will Sweetser last season, 25-year-old Justin Fereshetian now has the experience and confidence to take on head coaching duties of Maine Winter Sports Center's junior skiers, who are coming off one of their best seasons ever.
Russell Currier, Kelsey Dickinson, and Brian Halligan admit that they didn't have great results this season - so they understand why they weren't re-named to U.S. Biathlon Association training groups. But along with Casey Smith, who was also cut from the 'B' team, they have few options to improve their results and get back now that Maine Winter Sports Center is defunding travel and competition for senior athletes.
Earlier this month came the news that Will Sweetser was parting ways with the Maine Winter Sports Center and leaving his post as competitive sports director. Meanwhile, the MWSC is restructuring its Olympic Development Team, which means less money for top-tier athletes and more toward the junior and postgrad programs.
(Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) new life, has given a $2,000,000 gift and an additional $3,000,000 matching gift to kick off MWSC’s $20-million-dollar endowment campaign. Fully matched, Smith’s gift will represent $8 million dollars in endowment contribution. When it was announced in February of 2014 that the MWSC would be losing its funding in April of that year, the future of the organization was in serious doubt. The MWSC immediately launched a campaign intended to...
Last year, Casey Smith transitioned away from school at Montana State University and into full-time training at the Maine Winter Sports Center. His first season as a senior biathlete reaped big rewards: an appearance at Olympic Trials, podiums at the Czech Cup, and a top-30 finish at Open European Championships. As recognition, Smith earned a "B" team nomination.
This interview with 19-year-old Austin Huneck gives a glimpse of what it's like to be a postgraduate skier and make the transition to full-time training and racing after high school. Huneck liked it so much, he's onboard with the MWSC for the second-straight year.
It was quite the shock when the Maine Winter Sport Center lost its biggest sponsor, the Libra Foundation, this past February. Now the MWSC is racing to secure funding that they hope will keep the Center alive for years to come.
In his third season of skiing, Omar Bermejo is striving for the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. The 31-year-old U.S. Paralympics Development Team member joined the Maine Winter Sports Center this summer in an effort to make that happen and trained with teammates like Kris Freeman in Italy.
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin got off to a strong start this weekend, winning two of three opening FIS races in Muonio, Finland. Americans Kris Freeman and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess made it into the top-30s, and several other North Americans competed.
Noah Hoffman didn't check the elevation on the Stelvio Pass glacier in the Italian Alps while packing for a two week training camp with Kris Freeman and the Maine Winter Sports Center Olympic Development Team. It turned out to be just shy of 11,000 feet, the highest Hoffman and Freeman have ever lived and trained.
With nearly two dozen athletes, the MWSC in northeastern Maine is shaping up to be a national powerhouse in both cross-country and biathlon. "From my perspective as director, this group is more of a team than we've ever had," says director Will Sweetser. "There is no doubt that our program will have one of the best men's distance teams in U.S. XC."
This is the final piece of a four-part series on female nordic coaches in the U.S. Part IV gathers input from women who work with the little guys, the future of skiing, in thriving youth programs across the country. “It’s all about fun for the younger skiers," says Tamarack Gliders coach Marie French. "If we catch their interest year after year, even if it’s with a ride on the groomer or rolling around in the powder, they will love cross-country skiing and come back for more."
After announcing Wednesday that the Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) is closing Black Mountain Ski Resort in Rumford, Maine, six-time host of the U.S. Cross Country Nationals, President/CEO Andy Shepard is hoping a buyer will step forward soon.