News From H.U.R.T. Skiers: My Favorite Race

We here at the HRT newsroom have been asked in the past what is our favorite race to cover or ski at. Is it the small community club race with local flavor? A high profile NY weekend like the Loppet? or the packed speed-fest of a Super Tour/Carnival/Eastern Cup? In fact....it is none of these. Hands down, it is the local nordic high school sectional races.

Really.

Why? (so happy you asked, otherwise this would be our lamest post ever, and that is saying something)

The four regular readers of this blog know that we have many athletes from many different high schools who race on the weekends under HURT colors. They train at summer camp together, act as teammates and friends, and share a part in building our nordic ski community. It doesn't matter if they are from Queensbury, Shenendehowa, Johnsburg, Saratoga or Scotia....they work together to improve as individuals and to help their respective high schools become more competitive and their section become more competitive. Then comes sectionals! As a spectator you see all the kids on their best form, after a year of work, putting it all on the line to grab one of the 12 coveted spots on the State Team and to bring the Sectional crown to their high school. In my almost 20 years of being around sectional skiing, I have never seen a more unpredictable and exciting race. You may think you can predict the day after studying a season of results, but there just is no way to do it. Someone always gives a big surprise. And it is even more exciting when mere seconds divide the places and single points can bring the title from one team to another.

These past few years it is even more exciting because it becomes so clear that a path to excellence in skiing can be found with a healthy relationship between high school skiing and club participation. The old model of "high school only" or "club sports only" is old fashioned and unproductive. And you don't need to have a trust fund to go to a ski academy either. With coaches working together, and athletes learning to set goals and communicate effectively, athletes can get themselves some speedy speed and be darn-good at this sport. Some stats to prove the point...

-Top 6 boys at Section 2 Sectionals - all HURT skiers
-8 of the 12 boys on the Section 2 State Team - HURT skiers
-9 of the top 15 boys went to 2015 HURT camp
-5 of the top 12 girls at Section 2 Sectionals - all HURT skiers
-Section 2 girls champ - Eliza Blood (HURT)
-Section 2 boys champ - Owen Putman (HURT)

All of us at the HRT newsroom and in the HURT community want to congratulate all of our HURT juniors who skied so hard this year. It was not an easy year to be a nordic ski racer and you all deserve a lot of credit. And thanks to all the coaches in section 2 who work so hard for their kids. They work tirelessly to make so many great opportunities happen. Congrats to Coach Salls of Shenendehowa on his first sectional win. I have a special place in my heart for this current Shen team and the close battles with Queensbury these past few years. Coach Allison and the Queensbury team continue to keep the bar sky-high for section 2 and they will have many more championships ahead of them.

Looking forward to seeing you in Lake Placid.

Here are some of our favorite shots from sectionals (editors note....yes, these photos were pirated from our great moms' pages on facebook and yes, we did neglect some of our professional duties because we were glued to Coach Underwood's live timing feed from Underdog Racing. We wish we could have been there.)