Good Morning Ski Race Fans: We have four races remaining on our schedule before Section Championships. Attached is a roster of athletes with race intentions for the Hyland races on Feb 12, 19, and 26. Please open this document and determine whether or not you have stated your intentions for the last three Hyland races. If you have not done so, please complete your race intentions for these final three races at Hyland. Here is a link to state your race intentions: https://www.mplsalpineski.org/race-day-sign-up.html Parents: please sign up to volunteer for the races. https://www.mplsalpineski.org/volunteer.html Thank you. Mark
Good Afternoon MAST Athletes and Fans: What a wonderful morning of racing. The cold temps created a perfect track for a race AND kept any crowds from forming. We had some much appreciated competition from Edina who pushed our athletes to perform at the highest level. What a close three way race. Both the SW and Washburn boys edged out the Edina boys by identical scores of 28-27. And SW took top honors over Washburn 29-26. For the girls, Washburn and SW both earned victories over Edina and the Washburn girls defeated SW. Kate Moore from Washburn won her first varsity race with a smokin' fast second run. Teammate Gabby Harritt placed third, Quinn Jurek fourth, and Nahlah Mkaouri fifth. Chloe Bitney had another solid day placing sixth with two very clean runs. A terrific performance by our girls. Erik Arnold landed on the podium AGAIN with his second place finish. Andreas Drekonja was right behind in third and Eli Showalter-Loch finished in fourth. Two ninth grade rising starts placed in the top ten--Jack Bajek landing in eighth place and Beckett Wedren finishing ninth. In the JV Race, Amelia Moertel took top honors for the girls with teammates Maddie Graff and Ramie George not far behind in third and fifth. Braeden Dahmes was victorious in the Boys JV race, winning by five seconds over the rest of the boys' field. Congratulations Braeden. Seventh graders Sam Moore and Will Cherveny finished second and third. Thank you PARENTS and COACHES. We filled every race day volunteer position for both races. Our athletes work really hard in practice and it please me greatly when we can all come together on race day and give the athletes the best opportunity possible to perform at their best. The gate judges did a fantastic job recording faults. The course crews kept the track smooth through the entire race. Everyone pitched in to set up and take down fencing and gates. We distributed and collected bibs. We announced times. We organized the start arena, shot video and photos, and cheered the athletes. Well done everyone. We say good-bye to Ryan Arnold and Ben Anderson who will be returning to college at St. Olaf this week. Thank you for help coaching over your break. We hope you return next year. Rest up and stay warm and tune your skis. Mark Conway 612-275-8392
MAST Update 21 Friday, February 5, 2021 Dear MAST Athletes, Coaches and Families: The Updates are coming fast and furious now. You are so lucky. I am happy to report that a small group of Edina racers will be joining us tomorrow. Seven boys and five girls from the Edina Hornets will race in the varsity race and eight girls will race in the JV race. This will raise the competition level a bit since Edina is a perennial state qualifying team. Please welcome our Edina neighbors. Thank you to all of you who signed up to work the race. We could still use a few gate judges for the JV race. Attached is the race plan and run orders for Saturday. It will be cold so we will move through this as quickly as possible. Introducing Abbey Showalter-Loch, our MAST Race Day Concierge. I am pleased to announce the promotion of Abbey Showalter-Loch to the esteemed and coveted position of Race Day Concierge. A photo of Abbey is attached so you can identify her more easily on race day. Remember the eyes. For those coaches and parents who will be working the races, Abbey is the person you will see to get a lift ticket, learn where and when to report to fulfill your role, and receive any additional race day information. Abbey will typically be stationed somewhere near the timing building when racing at Hyland or just outside the finish arena/netting when racing elsewhere. I have had the honor of knowing Abbey since she was a young teenage lass. There may not be a nicer person walking the earth. Once you meet her, you will surely agree. In fact, you will want to volunteer just to have the opportunity to check in with Abbey at races. That is how nice she is. Ski Tuning Instruction On Sprongo Daniel and Joel made a three-part SKI TUNING INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO. All three videos appear in the Sprongo Playlist titled—get this—SKI TUNING. Look for it. Watch it over and over. Then tune your skis. I wish we could have held in-person tuning clinics as we have in the past, but that would have been imprudent this year. So, if you do not know how to tune your skis, PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO. Tuning equipment is expensive, but so are your skis. If you take care of your skis by sharpening the edges and waxing the bases regularly, your skis will not only perform better, they will last longer. Also, attached is the MAST Guide To Ski Tuning. The video and the tuning guide should help you get started. If you have questions about tuning, please reach out to an experienced MAST family or your lead coach. If you want to take a deeper dive into the world of tuning, there are many online resources available. The more sources you consult, the more confident you will be when taking a file, stone or hot iron to your skis. PS.... never, ever use your family’s good iron to wax your skis. Your parents might get really mad! Welch Race Update--VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW UP. Attached is a list of athletes who have been selected to race at Welch Village on Wednesday, February 10. I am sorry we cannot bring every athlete who indicated a desire to race. We had a strong sign up of Washburn athletes, more than we can enter in the race. So, if your name is not listed, please do not be disappointed. Both Washburn teams are filled with strong skiers. I wish we could bring everyone, but we have to limit our numbers this season due to Covid. We selected the top 12 skiers per team from training and racing results. Spots remain unfilled for the SW boys’ and girls’ teams, however. If you ski for SW and you would like to race on Wednesday at Welch Village, please email me directly today. markrobertconway58@gmail.com. Welch Village Race Agreement and Release of Liability: A reminder that ALL COACHES, RACE VOLUNTEERS, AND ATHLETES need to complete and sign the Welch Village Race Agreement and Release of Liability Waiver. This needs to be done online. Please do this today. If you are signing for your minor athlete, be sure to indicate this in the form. Apparently, some parents miss this detail only to have Welch withhold a lift ticket until a new waiver is completed. Scroll to the bottom of this update to see a list of parents/athletes who have signed the waiver as of this morning. Race workers are needed, particularly gates judges and course crew. Gates judges can access their gate stations in snow boots by walking up the hill. I suggest bringing ski poles to hike the hill. It has some pitch, and the snow might be icy. Even gate judges in snow boots need to complete the waiver. COACHES: PLEASE SIGN THIS AS WELL EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT CERTAIN YOU WILL BE ATTENDING THIS RACE. To sign up to work the Welch race: Welch Race Worker Sign UP. To complete the Welch Liability Release: MAST High School Race Team Speaking of racing, we had a special race on Wednesday at the early practice. The results are attached. As for our race with Hill-Murray on Jan. 29, much improved results. Both the SW and Washburn boys were victorious over the Hill-Murray boys and the Washburn girls closed the scoring gap from their first match-up with the HM girls. Additional focused training will make for an exciting Section IV Championship. In the boys’ race, MAST skiers placed 17 in the top 20. Erik Arnold placed first and Owen Hemer third. Excellent results boys. The girls showed strong improvement as well. Gabby Harritt moved from placing 6th on Jan 18 to 4th on Jan 29. Quinn moved from 10th to 7th; Kate Moore from 14th to 8th; Vada Arbeiter from 12th to 9th; Elli George from 21st to 13th; Meghan Abel from 16th to 9th; Eleanor Vap from 23rd to 15th. In three short weeks you made big improvements. Keep up the hard work. Sections is approaching and HM is worried. Just keep focusing on the fundamentals and having fun attacking the course. Cold temps tonight. We will shorten practices a bit tonight to leave time for you to tune your skis and warm up before tomorrow morning. See you soon. Mark Conway 612-275-8392 Estimated Attendees: 50 Number of Signed Waivers: 19 Name of the Waiver: Winter Race Release – 2020-21 Names of Attendees who signed 1. * Maraya Bitney - Chloe Bitney (m) 2. * Aaron Cherveny - Finnegan Cherveny (m) 3. * Aaron Cherveny - William Cherveny (m) 4. Mark Conway 5. * Karin George - Elli George (m) 6. * Melissa Harritt - Gabrielle Harritt (m) 7. * Racquel Kuehn - Reese Kuehn (m) 8. * Jean Hutchinson Legler - Elise Legler (m) 9. * KRISTA MARGOLIS - Bret Margolis (m) 10. * Matt McConville - Anne McConville (m) 11. * Matt McConville - Frankie McConville (m) 12. Wendy Moore - Jaxson (Jack) Moore (m) 13. Wendy Moore - Katherine Moore (m) 14. Wendy Moore - Samuel Moore (m) 15. * Abbey Showalter-Loch - Simon Showalter-Loch (m) 16. Eli Showalter-Loch 17. Charles Smith - Charles Smith II (m) 18. * Brien Spanier - Josie Spanier (m) 19. * Anne Trockman - Hayley Trockman (m) 20. * Alicia Vap - Eleanor Vap (m) 21. fritz westphal - Julia Westphal (m) 22. * Hope White - Callum White (m)
MAST Update 20 Thursday, February 4, 2021 Dear MAST Athletes, Coaches and Families: The weather is about to turn very cold. Without the ability to use the chalet to warm up, it is imperative that you dress with multiple layers. Bring more clothing than you think you need. You can always shed if you get too warm. The good news is that we will be on the rope tow tonight and tomorrow night so be sure to bring your rope tow mittens and then plan to use the rope tow. It will help keep you warm. February 10 Race at Welch Village vs Mahtomedi Part I: State Your Race Intentions Attached is a spreadsheet listed the athletes who have stated their race intentions for our race against Mahtomedi at Welch Village on Wednesday, February 10. Please arrive by 3:30 PM and boot up in parking lot. Warm up starts at 3:45, inspection at 4:15, and race starts at 5:00. IF YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THE LIST, PLEASE STATE YOUR RACE INTENTIONS TODAY. JV ATHLETES SHOULD DO THIS AS WELL. DEADLINE TO STATE YOUR INTENTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 10: MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. Again, parents will need to provide transportation. Spectators are allowed. But the chalet is not open for warming up. Fortunately, the parking lot is free and close to the race hill. Part II: Complete the Welch Village Online RACE EVENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY. Welch Village requires every COACH, RACE WORKER, AND ATHLETE (and parent if the athlete is a minor) to complete an online Race Event Agreement and Release of Liability Waiver for our competition on at Welch Village on Wednesday, February 10. PLEASE DO THIS NOW. Welch Village staff will be tracking everyone who signs this and will not give out a lift tickets to anyone who has not signed it. Welch Village wants this completed long in advance of the competition. So please do it NOW if your stated intention to race on Wednesday was or is YES. Here is a link. If you have any problems or questions, CALL ME: 612-275-8392. MAST High School Race Team Part III: Welch Race Workers Needed We do need 4-8 gate judges and 2-4 course workers for our race at Welch. You can walk the hill in snow boots if you are gate judging. In fact, I recommend this as it will be cold. If we get four gate judges, we will need you to work both runs. If we get eight, you will only need to work one run. Sign up is not quite ready yet but will be soon HERE: Welch Race Worker Sign UP. Hyland Race on Saturday, February 6 Before we race Mahtomedi, we are racing at Hyland on Saturday. We will have a heated competition between our three teams. Varsity runs first with an 8:45am start and JV will follow at 10:30 or even sooner if possible. JV athletes should meet at 9:30am on Center Chair. Varsity athletes should arrive at 7:45 for warm-ups. Hyland has asked us to refrain from hiking the hill at 7:45. I would ask you to warm up along the base of the hill in front of the race lanes. Skate from the chairlift to the rope tow on lane 8—three loops—loop one: skate with poles; loop two: skate with legs only; loop three: skate with poles. After that: 10 squats, 10 forward lunges, 10 side lunges, 10 push-ups, 20 high knees running in place, 10 sit ups, 10 leg swings each leg forward and back and 10 leg swings each leg sideways; and 10 lateral bounds. If grooming equipment is on the hill, be sure to stay out if its way. Attached is a race plan and run orders for our race on Saturday. Note that Boys and Girls and Varsity and Junior Varsity are on separate tabs. Please look to see that your name is on the run order if you plan to race. If you are not listed, send me an email at markrobertconway58@gmail.com if you would like to race. We still need volunteers for both the varsity and jv races—especially needed are gate judges and course workers. Sign up HERE: Feb 6 Hyland Race Workers. We are in the middle of Week Five and I want to say THANK YOU to all the athletes, coaches and parents. Attendance is very strong. Work ethic is impressive. Improvement is progressing at a fast clip. Parents have filled race worker positions and done a fantastic job. Coaches-- you are the hardest working staff on any race hill in the country. Thank you ALL for your commitment to MAST. See you tonight. Mark
Good Morning: Attached is a roster of athletes who have stated their race intentions for our race on Saturday, Feb. 6. We still have 27 athletes who need to state their intentions please. Deadline is midnight tonight. https://www.mplsalpineski.org/race-day-sign-up.html Race workers needed. Please sign up. https://www.mplsalpineski.org/volunteer.html WEEK FIVE schedule is posted on the home page of the website: www.mplsalpineski.org. Thanks Mark
THIS JUST IN... A varsity away race has been added to the race calendar.
Wednesday, February 10 Mpls vs Mahtomedi Welch Village Ski Area 5PM First Run Start We will enter 24 boys and 24 girls. All MAST athletes should state your intentions for this race even thought we have a limited field size for this race. I know that we will need to sign waivers so watch for a follow up email with instructions. Again, parents will need to drive athletes. The first run will commence at 5PM. Please arrive no later than 3:30 to allow time to warm up before a 4:15 inspection. You will need to boot up in the parking lot. Rest room use only in the chalet. Welch is a one hour drive SE of MPLS so you will want to leave between 2:15 and 2:25. I believe Welch is allowing spectators but I need to confirm this. We will still need race workers. I'll get back to you with more information soon. For now, please STATE YOUR RACE INTENTIONS for Wednesday, February 10 at Welch Village HERE. Thanks Mark Conway 612-275-8392 |
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