Welch Race Results... Hopefully you can open them this time

Good Morning:

I understand that some of you might have had trouble getting the results to open last night. I am sending the results again, hopefully in a format you can open if you couldn't open the previous ones.

Congratulations to the Washburn girls for their team win last night. The SW girls also proved they are ready to compete with their second place finish. Congratulations to Reese Kuehn who finished second overall and to Kate Moore who was close behind in the third spot. Rounding out the top ten were Lucy Renz in fourth, Eva Voyakin in fifth, Gabby Harritt in sixth, and Violet Mueller in ninth. The boys placed four in the top ten against a very much improved St Thomas Academy squad and the always tough Hastings boys. Congratulations to our top male competitor, Parker Hunt, who finished in fourth place even after putting on the brakes at the bottom of the pitch on the second run. Finishing in sixth was Finn Cherveny. Beckett Wedren and Jack Bajek skied very well to place eighth and ninth.

Overall, our athletes skied well, especially considering the fact that you had very little time to warm up with the transportation snafu. We had a number of disqualifications that could have been avoided had the athlete hiked back one more gate to correct the fault. Three other takeaways:
1.  Ruts developed on the second run. In many turns, the ruts were in the wrong place so that if you tried to use the rut to help you make your turn (which you should do if it is in the correct spot) you will end up late for the next turn. The key in those situations is to try to hit the rise line higher and cut inside the rut. You won't be able to ski as tight a line as you like but your skis will continue to carve more cleanly and you will not lose all your speed when you have to put on the brakes to make the next gate.
2. Pole plants are NECESSARY. At Hyland, you can get away with not having a pole plant. There is no other race venue in Minnesota where you do not need a pole plant to put down a fast run. So.... we will be doing 50 hop turns everyday at the start and end of practice until everyone on this team can pole plant in their sleep.
3. Outside ski....as your skis hit the fall line in the turn, your shoulders must be square, your skis must be high on edge, your outside hip needs to be aligned fully over your outside ski, your shin needs to be crushing the boot cuff to create ankle flexion, and all your weight needs to be on your outside ski. You need to maintain that position over the outside ski until your skis have fully made the direction change you need to stay on your line for the next gate. Then you pole plant and release the outside ski from its service.

Next race is Monday followed by a race at Afton on Wednesday. Make sure you have stated your intentions for both races. We will be limiting the number of athletes who race at Afton. Look for an announcement over the weekend regarding team selections for the Afton race. We may or may not have bussing for Afton. Parents: we may need you to drive on Wednesday.

We have awesome lanes at Hyland today and Saturday morning. Do not miss practice. Plus, we will be timing.   
See you soon. 
Mark