Mt. Itasca.. BRRR

Boy was this weekend a chilly one.  Grand Rapids, MN is usually known by our team as the coldest place on the planet, and the races this weekend definitely solidified that idea. This race weekend was definitely a tumultuous one, with lots of highs and lows.  It was also unique because the travel team was joined by some of our juniors who raced in the JNQ sprints on Sunday.

Friday, the college teams raced a 5k/10k interval start classic race. It was around mid 20s, snowy, and windy.  The boys raced first, and Jake Brown posted the top place for the men's team in 17th, with Evan Kendall in 23rd.  Paige Schember was 6th in the women's race, 14 seconds back. Nora Gilbertson was 17th.  Both St. Olaf teams took 4th place.

Saturday we awoke to sunshine and absolutely frigid temperatures, with a -30 degree windchill. However, the races were still on.  The girls raced a 5k skate first, with Paige taking 6th again and Nora placing in placing in 20th. Kelsey Cork was 32rd and Josephine Brekke rounded out the top four in 35th. Congratulations to Mikki, Allie, and Josephine for their first collegiate qualifying race!  The boys raced a 10k in the early afternoon, and Jake leading the Oles again in 4th. Liam John placed 23rd, and Evan was 29th. Nels Thompson rounded out the top four in 43rd.

The seniors headed home to escape the cold and beat the snow, but the juniors stayed behind to race another chilly day of classic sprints. Both Evan and Nora made it to the finals, Nora placed 5th overall and Evan placed 12th. Congratulations to Sam Logenbach and Josephine for qualifying in their first weekend of JNQ racing!

This race weekend gave us a chance to learn about focusing on process goals rather than results.  While results do matter, you first have to focus on what you need to do to reach the results you want. Each race can be used as a way to expand on goals such as mastering V1 technique, learning how to go out hard, or simply finding the right mindset for racing. If you reach all your process goals, the results will come naturally.

RESULTS

5/10k Classic Results
5/10k Skate Results
Junior Classic Sprint Results

Up next we get a break as interim comes to an end. This upcoming weekend is a rest one, and many of us will be heading home before conference on the 8th and 9th of February.

Also, special shoutout to DJ Tengdin's family for providing us with amazing new Podiumwear race suits. Finally our team can eliminate our lovely "bumblebee" suits and everyone can look the same. :)

Nora, Paige, Kelsey, and Gretchen in the new suits
Pretty sweet looking huh? Thank you Tengdin family.

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