Out of the muck and mire of NY's December rose the original HURT-three-headed behemoth of Halligan-Luban-and-Huneck. A.Luban, in his first Sprint contest of the year took the top spot and a few days later Halligan and Huneck went 1-3 in section 2's first 6k of the year.
Visual Approximation of the performance by HURT's three-headed monster.
Top 10 finishes were also turned in by Seth Mares (9th VB) and the Director himself, who went 7th in the JVB race. HURT added some big rookie talent in the off-season and the Sisters-Duclos (Sarah and Amy) went 9-11 respectively in the VG race and John Ferrone added a 2nd place finish to his already impressive JVB resume. Rookies Ethan Katz and Brian Charzan also added solid results in 42nd and 37th respectively in the VB race.
Full Junior results can now be found at New York's first comprehensive database for High School Nordic Racing. You can find this source at http://www.nyssranordic.com/NYShighschoolbeat.html. Be sure you stay up to date on the progress of HURT junior development.
HRT news reporter Maudry Angen caught up with the Director after his 7th place finish to ask him how he has been able to prepare his junior squad to make such a fast start.
MA: so what has been the strategy up until this point? Has it just been a lot of rollerskiing?
D: "This winter has been so bad we've had to dig real deep to get our skiers on snow. I sent B. Halligan all the way to Alaska to get him some on snow time. Everyone else has been forced to tape ice cubes to their shoes. Unfortunately, Halligan's trip to compete at the Junior Worlds Team Trial Biathlon Championships has used up our entire race travel budget for the whole year. But as you can see he is at least ready. Thanks to some refinancing and some austerity measures, (and leaving a smaller Senior team than in years past.....Chris L......holding down the decade!!) HURT should still be able to field a strong team at the new NYSSRA TourNADO! and the NYSSRA Championships. This season may just come down to those two weekends!
Check out the pics of Halligan's 8th place finish in the youth division! Sporting the new 2011-12 HURT gear!
MA: What about the Sr and Master team? Are they as ready?
D: "Well...It is hard to say...I have Andy F. and Chris Y. on a very strict child-rearing interval regimen that his them going to and fro in a semi-exhausted, sleep deprived state. This type of body and mind fatigue should have them ready to tackle the new challenges of the NYSSRA TourNADO. Dave PK seems to be amped up and fit, but he too is incorporating controversial interval sessions that involve dunking holiday cookies in milk, but he has been focused on keeping his hands high. We'll see if it pays off."
MA: Well....there you have it. Bring on the late winter!
Don't forget to register for the ESG TourNADO and Loppet weekend on Feb 3-5. Let's see if we can get all of NYS skiers there!!!
The "Odd Odd-Makers Odds" on the Loppet and Tournado weekend will be coming soon. Stay tuned.
