2007 California/Nevada State Championship Nordic Races
by Jim King, February 17th, 2007
Mammoth High School has a new Varsity State Champion Nordic Skier! Bishop High School has a new Junior Varsity State Champion! Several other local high school and middle school skiers placed very high in the standings at the CNISSF State Championship Cross Country Ski Races, held on February 16 and 17 at the Auburn Ski Club near Donner Summit. Schools from the Eastern Sierra, Tahoe area, and the west side of the Sierra all competed. This final school race weekend culminated a somewhat short and strange XC season due to lack of snow. After visiting the Tahoe area during the last two months of racing, this coach is convinced that the best overall skiing conditions in the Sierra Nevada this winter (alpine or Nordic) have been at our own Tamarack Cross Country Ski Center. We are lucky.
The high school state championship was a two race, pursuit format again this year, with a 5 km. freestyle or skating leg held Friday, Feb. 16. This gave the racers a time seeding for their start Saturday morning on the 5 km classic, or diagonal stride race. Both races were held on the same hilly course, in relatively warm, spring-like conditions. An interesting note for you track skiing fans out there; the top two high school girls posted faster classic race times than their skating times on the identical course. This rarely happens, but it reflects the difference in snow conditions between the skate race on Friday afternoon (slushy, warm and slow), and the cooler, faster snow conditions for the striding on Saturday morning. You can bet these girls had the best waxers in the business prepping their skis for each race, too.
The two ladies we are speaking of are Dayna Stimson from Crowley Lake and Bernie Nelson of Truckee. These two athletes have been duking it out on the Nordic racing scene for five years, and Dayna finally beat Bernie (soundly I might add) in both the skate and classic race formats. Dayna is the 2007 California and Nevada Girls Varsity High School Nordic Champion.
Mammoth’s sole varsity skier Matt Picken had an outstanding performance in the boys varsity races, finishing 6th place overall. The Bishop Varsity boy’s team had four incredible finishes also, with Andrew Armstrong placing 3rd, Bryce Tiernan 10th, Brad Johnston-Cox 13th, and Heith Jones in 16th place. The Bishop athletes, due to their snow-challenged location, get mostly dryland training throughout the season, so their amazing show at these races against the powerhouse Tahoe and Truckee skiers is indicative of their intense drive, natural talent, and great coaches Pat Armstrong and Katie Quinlan.
In the girl’s junior varsity division, Bishop’s Veronica Holmes dominated the field to be crowned the JV State Champion! Veronica’s combined time for the two 5 kilometer races was almost a minute and a half faster than the second place finisher from Truckee. Not far behind in the JV girls was Mammoth’s own Nordic veteran Ingrid Humes in 7th place. Bishop skiers Christine McKee (11th), Joy Hecht (15th), Olivia Giguere (23rd), Sorrel Nielson (28th), Ashley Biehl (30th), and Chloe Boucher (32nd) rounded out the strong local showing.
In the boys junior varsity races, Mammoth’s Elliott Rodriguez, no stranger to the tough Auburn Ski Club trails, finished in a solid 8th place. Strong finishes were made also by Bishop skiers Gabe Montes (16th), Alex Montes (19th), and Orion Boucher (23rd).
The Mammoth Middle School Nordic Team was down to half its number of racers at States, mainly due to families being gone (to warmer climes) for the Presidents Week break. All eight of the local athletes that showed up to race medaled however, most of them skiing the best race of their careers. The middle schoolers raced on Saturday immediately after the high schools, on a 4 kilometer, two lap striding course slightly modified from the high school course, but just as challenging, and very exciting at the finish line.
Mammoth Middle School eighth grader Kristin King skied consistently and hung tough for a second place finish in the girl’s middle school contest, less than a minute behind Truckee’s champion Annika Taylor. The Annika/Kristin duel has been similar to the Bernie/Dayna contest in all the races for the past two years. You’ll get her next year, Kristin. Seventh grader Joelle Romo had the race of her life, crossing the line in 6th place, within a tight bunch of racers all breathing down each others’ necks. Joelle must promise to bring her mom and dad and sister to all the races next year.
Two new MMS team members and sixth graders, (but by no means new to the sport, as their parents have had them on skinny skis since they could barely walk), are Maren Hauter and Laurel Fiddler. Keep an eye on these two. Maren and Laurel were in that tight bunch for the final couple of hundred meters. In a shocking World Cup-style photo finish, Maren shoved her foot across the line beside Laurel, beating her by six tenths of a second. Maren Hauter 9th place, Laurel Fiddler 10th. It’s a good thing they are lifelong friends. Laurel had just hopped off a plane in Reno the day before, after a week at sea level, and was hurting pretty bad, gasping for oxygen during the second lap. Laurel’s mom Nancy, a former Olympic racer and Mammoth coach, was overheard muttering “We’re not doing that again….”
Round Valley seventh grader Jessi O’Dell raced on a sprained ankle and a last minute pair of skis swapped-out due to wax issues, but still made an outstanding 15th place finish for the local girls. Dan, you’ve got to buy that girl her own pair of skis next year! Jessi is the epitome of this coach’s ongoing conviction that you could never be around a nicer bunch of adolescent and teenage kids than cross country ski racers, and you will never see that same age group suffer so much in any athletic endeavor.
Last but not least were the three local middle school boys to come to the states race. All three Mammoth Middle School racers spanked the Tahoe/Truckee contingent, with top six finishes. Finishing only 11 seconds behind Truckee’s middle school boys champion Justin Ondry was eighth grade vet and classic expert Will Stimson, breezing into 2nd place. Paolo Humes, after leading the pack on the first lap of the race, finished 4th a few seconds later. Paolo would’ve been third if he had looked behind himself on the last straightaway into the Auburn Ski Club stadium to see a North Tahoe skier sneaking up on him during a frantic double pole sprint. A few seconds after that Alex Picken crossed the line in 6th place, mirroring older brother Matt’s strength and technique. The top seven boys were in a fairly tight pack for the entire race.
The Mammoth Middle School team finished the season in second place in league standings. We are proud of our athletes, due to our team only having 16 skiers this year, as opposed to Truckee’s middle school roster of 70 skiers. We thank all of the parent volunteers who helped throughout the season, and thanks again to Tamarack Cross Country Ski Center for providing an excellent facility for training.
This season is far from over for 7 of the local high school racers from Mammoth and Bishop. All seven have qualified in other Nordic races this winter to represent the Far West division at the 2007 Junior Olympics. These are the national championships held the second week in March for the fastest teenage skiers in the USA. This ain’t no CIF tournament. The fastest skiers in the JOs are courted by college Nordic teams from around the country, and some are even being eyed by the US Ski Team coaches. The Junior Olympics will be held at Soldier Hollow, Utah, site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Nordic events, from March 3rd through the 11th. Congratulations to Bishop Skiers Veronica Holmes, Andrew Armstrong, Bryce Tiernan, Brad Johnston-Cox, and Heath Jones; and Mammoth’s Dayna Stimson and Matt Picken for earning the honor of racing with the nation’s best. We’ll be cheering for you!