Three Headed Monsters clash on the Tug Hill

This past weekend marked the first race of the 2010-2011 season that did not involve pouring rain, epic conditions and howling winds and therefore saw the first race coverage from HRT News Team and the first real test for many of HURTs finest. New acquisitions from Western and Central NY came out to clash with a massive field of from the Tug area and points west. While there were a number of stories from the day (including domination of the Men's M8 field by Roger Henry and the Women's M9 field by Joan Henry...it was never even close) and the multiple first place age group victories by HURT teammates (the pies never had a chance) the story of the day has to be the impending clash between the two three headed monsters that polarize NYS.

On one side (The East) you have the trio-of-terror Brian Halligan, Austin Huneck and Adam Luban who RIPPED up the J2 field in a way seldom seen in HS racing. The boys went 1-2-4 and was only missed the trifecta by a slim 15 second margin. Western skiers were thankful by the young Douglas boy who was able to "jack himself up" to the base of J2 podium preventing the HURT sweep.

The West saw (yet again) the SR men flex their nordic muscle. The powerhouse trio of Hettenbaugh, Day and Maynard took all three spots on the SR podium and it was only with a well timed boot slide that HURT's Kvam was able to share the 3rd spot with the mighty Maynard. The SR men's race looks to be a drama filled arena as places 3-5 were separated by a mere 3 seconds. As the conditions improve, the race season gets further along and the field gets deeper (including the absent but never-out-of-mind Evil Empire) look for more of this drama to unfold.

Check out HRT Newsroom coverage here

2011 HURTathon

Team HURT is pleased to announce this year's HURTathon race! The team Director has a love for unique race formats and after the success of last year's "classic-sprint-prologue-followed-by-a-skate-race" he has decided to run a "mass-start-continuous-pursuit" event on the wonderful trail system used by the Lake George Ski Team. The trail system features a wide variety of terrain and the race hopes to be one of the highlights of the NYSSRA race schedule.

This years race has been moved from the February date used last year to the new date of January 9th. Many of NYSSRA's finest will be in the area on the 8th for the High School/JOQ/ESG/Masters race at Crandall Park and HURT would like to encourage those competitors to stay and challenge themselves in the HURTathon. Prize money will be awarded to the Top 3 male and female racers. ($50, $30, $20)

Register TODAY!!

http://www.skireg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=3185

NYSSRA Season Opener

The Director declares, "LET THE SEASON OF HURT BEGIN!"

A smaller than normal HURT contingent braved the crazy weather on Sunday for the NYSSRA Season Opener at MVH. Early birds were greeted to great conditions and heavy falling snow, that quickly turned into sleet, then heavy rain with the occasional 30 mph wind gust thrown in. Yarsevich remarked "My skis were super fast after some last minute tuning by the director/overlord, but by the 2nd lap the mud, sticks, and occasional fallen tree were really slowing them down."

While the boys in green were outnumbered by Peru's Dark Army, they still scored big points especially in the junior ranks. HURT had 3 of the 8 skiers in the J2 Race, with Brian Halligan and Austin Huneck placing 1st and 2nd Overall. The Director himself made his 2010-2011 racing debut, by battling with the older kids, giving away a foot in height, but giving away nothing in tactics and motivation.

Tim Huneck and Chris Yarsevich had solid races, placing 3rd and 2nd in their age groups respectively. It was also the first appearance of newly acquired HURT mega stud Eric Hamilton grabbing massive points in the M8 category! HURT welcomes Eric and looks forward to all the experience he brings with him.

The Odd Odd-makers Odds

WILL THEY REPEAT????

Just one day before the start of the 2010-2011 NYSSRA ski race season and the Vegas odds-makers have released their final "favorites" report on HURT skiers going into this year's campaign...

Enjoy.

Chris Yarsevich: This is an interesting pick for this season. Nobody has a more calculated and focused training plan this this HURT stud. The big wrinkle....Baby Anna. Will sleep depravation impact race performance? or will the fact that while he is feeding her late at night he is doing a wall sit make him an odds on favorite for the Championship?

Vegas Odds: take 3:1 that Baby Anna's size and weight will be the same size as prince Haakon Haakonsson and Chris will consider skiing the 50K classic Loppet with cargo in tow.

Tim Huneck: A real Father's Father, Man's Man and lover of NYSSRA points. Dad Huneck will continue to be pushed by the speed of the up and coming young Huneck talent. Will the training skis with speedster sons make Dad Huenck faster or cause a performance peak on December 26th?

Vegas Odds: Take 5:1 that Tim Huenck, together with sons, will travel at least 10,000 miles and compete in 17 ski races this winter.

Justin Tetlow: He's in D.C.....Is he done?

Vegas Odds: Considering the weird weather pattern of the last few years take 4:1 odds that Justin will have more snow in D.C. than us in upstate NY. He'll find a way to race 11 times, win 3 and score 0 NYSSRA points.

David Kvam: He likes to find a away to finish just off the podium. With more 4th place race finishes and more 2nd place age group standings than anyone in NYSSRA history can Kvam finally get it together? Will his job as Lake George Ski coach make him a better skier or will he pick up the bad habits of his modified racers? In his last year as a Senior competitor, he plans to throw everything he has at this season. Despite making the choice to start his season in Osceloa instead of the opener he looks to capitalize on a focused plan and a high level of fitness. New S-Labs can't hurt either, can they?

Vegas Odds: 2:1 he finds a way to finish 2nd again.

MDH and Ed Luban: The high powered lawyer pair of "Donnelly, Heg and Luban" have been graced with copius amounts of early season snow. Will the extra K's boost their performance or will snow much snow in the Syracuse area mean they have spent all their energy shoveling off their decks?

Vegas Odds: 6:1 that their cars get stuck at least twice with all the sky above Syracuse will dump.

Brian Halligan, Austin Huneck, Adam Luban: Few nordic teams post a junior punch as hard as team HURT. This three headed monster has grown a total of 17 inches since last winter and 9 shoes sizes. Massive speed in the junior ranks and look for it on the ski trails this year.

Vegas Odds: 2:1 that they will grow another 3 shoes sizes before March.

Dan Schwenk: With HURT absorbing Team KNEWHCS from years past, Dan has new motivation to add some more speed to his race weaponry. Look for big results in Western NY masters races.

Vegas Odds: 15:1 that the new green and white suit will take 2 minutes off his Loppet time alone.

Sherry and Richard Dixon: They love to ski and they love to teach.

Vegas Odds: Take 10:1 that they stop mid-race to correct a fellow competitors technique.

Kathy Schwenk, Elyse Sara, Jill Kozoil, and Gabriella Frittelli: The HURT female pain-train. Few NYSSRA clubs have a women's team as deep and accomplished as Team HURT.

Vegas Odds: Take 5:1 that they ski 15K in a 10K race simply because they are tough as nails. And they eat them for breakfast.

Bob Underwood: He eats babies before a classic race. He is still a monster. and there is nothing you can do about it.

Vegas Odds: 1:1 you will wet your speed suit if you line up against him in a classic race.

Matt Tornianen: The last news from Matt T was that he was still rollerskiing up mountains on rollerskis with square wheels. This guy is tough and will make a lot of noise this year.

Vegas Odds: Take 16:1 that he will win a freestyle race on snow on said rollerskis.

Andy Farry: The man likes to rollerski. Boom.

Vegas Odds: Take 13:2 He'll finish 2nd in previous mentioned race, on rollerskis, with an Ipod in his ears.

Matti Tornianen, Alec Davis, Rene Clark, Dave Burt and Eric Hamilton: Their combined race experience is too big for Vegas odd machines to calculate.

Vegas Odds: ??

Jim South: The PIttsburgh dynamo should be back for a few races this season. Look for big improvements from our PA brother.

Vegas Odds: 6:1 he will be skiing in a Penguins hat.

The Director: All will fear him.

Vegas Odds: All will fear him.


ENJOY THE SEASON! See you at the HURTathon!!!