2011 NYSSRA Championships

The last few days brought some wild weather to Mt Van Hoevenberg, bringing a lot of question marks to Saturday's Classical Championship race. But don't worry, The Director brought his game face!


Friday night brought cold enough temps to firm up the rain saturated snow pack and the groomers did a great job moving the course to the XC side and putting on a great race. There was a small amount of fresh snow over the glazed tracks and temps just below freezing. Covered klister was the wax of the day.

HURT came up big with many age groups wins and some great overall results.

Two of the four NYSSRA Champions Cups went to HURT skiers, congratulations Heidi Underwood and Brian Halligan to your overall wins!

Heidi won the race even after skiing half a lap with a broken pole and then another full lap with a pole WAY too big for her. This was all after showing up to the race with her husbands skis, that were about 4 sizes too big! Another fabulous result came from Carol Fisher placing 2nd overall! 1-2 for HURT in the women's championships! Kathy Schwenk and Jill Kozial rounded out the massive HURT point extravaganza in the woman's race.

Showing off that Underwood Technique!


In the men's race, HURT's Chris Yarsevich came tantalizing close to the overall win, skiing with the leaders through 3 laps, but could not hold onto John Santor's vicious acceleration "that kid is a double poling machine, maybe I should take up canoe racing too!" Yarsevich ended up 3rd overall (Gold in M1). Dave Kvam had a really strong first lap, then had to pull over to loose his lunch due to some potential poisoning by a rival club (cough, cough, Peru we're looking at you). Matt Torniainen put the hammer down when it counted to best a large pack at the end taking M2 Gold. Tim Huneck and Ed Luban also had good results, taking home Silver in M5 and Gold in M6. Matti Torniainen and Eric Hamilton scored huge points in the M8 division, locking up that division.

In the Junior Race, Brian Halligan walked away with the NYSSRA Championship cup, taking a commanding win. The Director also showed his stuff with a solid 3rd place, taking home the bronze.

Tomorrow are the sprint relays and the inevitable crowing of HURT as the supreme NYSSRA team of the entire universe! The Champions Banner will be coming home for the second consecutive year.

The Start


Chris, Matt, and Dave


Chris and John battling


The Pack


Tim and Eddie Hammering!




The Hamilton's bringing the HURT!


HURT Juniors, the future is here!