Senior Waffle Night (and summer Adieu to Aubrey)

             It was Norwegian waffles on Sunday night at the Fisher-Kourajian household, Barb cooking up two heaping platters of the heart-shaped treats in celebration of the past 4 years of hard work and dedication that these seniors have given to the team.
             It was fun to  look at old photo books from their freshman year and remember stories and the general goofiness of their first years on the team. 
          It is a huge graduating class this year, with EIGHT seniors leaving the team, and their presence, leadership, and dedication will be missed SO much.
         I am off to Alaska for the summer, so it was a very bittersweet evening for me as I waved the seniors goodbye and already started missing them like crazy.

Bud Fisher, Mark Johnson, Robby Cuthbert, Sarah Tory, Kirsten Johnson, Caleb Lucy, Keith Kantack, Maddy Wendt, Evan Dethier, Aubrey Smith

 This is one awesome and talented group.  Bud and I wish them all the best and are hoping to hear from them on their future journeys!
  

"Spring" sports

A bunch of the nordic contingent was on the shore of Lake Onota on Saturday morning to watch the Williams crew races, of which our lovely sophomore from Alaska, Christina Knapp, is a part.
It was quite a cold morning -  a freak snowfall overnight left an inch or two of snow on the ground and then turned to rain.  Just lovely. So we broke out our winter gear again and drank hot cocoa and hot coffee from the tailgate tent while we watched Williams win nearly every race.
Knapster raced in the 3V boat, and her crew crushed the competition!  Way to go, Christina!

Meanwhile, Sarah Tory was competing in the Little Threes for Track and field. She ran the 1500 in just under 5 minutes on a windy, cold day to place 6th.  Yeah, Torinator!!!

A bit of snow on the shore of Lake Onota

Cheer squad: Kalle, Mark, Alex Taylor ('10), Maddy, Holly, me, and Hannah

Hannah and Holly watch Christina's boat cross the line in first.

You Scream,

I Scream,

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!

Yesterday we took a run through the hills and woods and afterward treated ourselves to some Lickety Split creations.  A bit chilly for an outdoor ice cream social, but we were not to be deterred.  It is spring.

Last weekend of grooming at Prospect: Spring is Here!!

There is still plenty of snow at Prospect, but after this weekend Steve Whitham is packing the Paana in the barn for the summer. . . . so I guess spring is *almost* official.
  I've seen a lot of the team out running  and biking on the back roads and trails.  This morning Maddy and I joined two dozen other students on the outdoor club weekly sunrise hike up Pine Cobble. It was still only 35 degrees, but what a gorgeous morning! 
   In other spring happenings: Coach Fisher just completed building a ski rack for waxing purposes at carnivals. Its a beauty! 

Maddy and I on the Pine Cobble Sunrise Hike this morning

Coach Fisher's spring project: foldaway traveling ski racks!!

Happy Birthday Aubrey!

Minnesotan Spring

As the dirty snow banks in Williamstown continued to melt last weekend, the MidWest contingent of the team slogged through 6 inches of fresh new powder for a truly Minnesotan spring break adventure.

Thursday morning, Maddy Wendt ’11 made the trek up North from the suburbs to Grand Rapids, MN, home of Mark Johnson ’11 and family. Over the next three days, the pair proceeded to fulfill several North Woods stereotypes: maple sugaring, beer brewing, elongating vowels, pronouncing the word bag bayg, and skiing across frozen lakes and over trails covered with the tracks of deer and wolves.

Mark starts the ascent at Sugar Hills in Grand Rapids, Maddy and Mark's biathlon coach Vladimir in the background

Not actually the Johnsons' sugarbush, but not too far off.

Saturday morning, Mark and Maddy headed back down to the Wendt homestead in Marine on St. Croix, where they managed to get in a great workout double poling with skate equipment on an ungroomed, crusty, and very uneven state park trail. The evening concluded with what was possibly the best homemade pesto pizza ever. Sunday included a walk to downtown Marine, the weekend’s second batch of Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes (ask Mark for the ridiculously delicious recipe), and a trip to the airport because Mark had to return to his thesis back at Williams.

The unbelievable cupcakes.

Dimitri Luthi Races Swiss National Championships

Dimitri (left, red suit) starts the 50k with Cologna (right, #61)

Dimitri and Dario Cologna

"I guess staying with Dario for the first 15km was a bad idea."

Nobody that is familiar with Dimitri's style of racing will be surprised that he started out too fast in the 50km race at the Swiss National Championships. Though he admits he didn't know if he'd be able to finish, with the help of several liters of coke downed over the last 10k, he was able to make it across the finish line, and in a very respectable 20th place!

"Probably the most I ever suffered, but still a lot of fun."

The 50k was the second race in the Swiss National Championships, the first race held were skate sprints.  Out of 70 men, Dimitri qualified in 24th and moved up to 17th place.

All in One Week: 87.5kms of Racing, Four Races, and Three 2nd Place Finishes

Without any specific training for marathon distance racing or biathlon marksmanship in quite some time, I somehow managed, somewhat unintelligently, to fit both types of events into a single week. It started with Team Domination at the Bretton Woods Marathon in New Hampshire (see previous post) and finished with a series of three races at US Biathlon Nationals at home in Minnesota. With no expectations I charged into the week and ended placing 2nd in three of the four races: the Bretton Woods classic marathon, the 12.5km biathlon pursuit, and the 15km biathlon mass start.

My shooting was the key to achieving good results at the US Biathlon Nationals given how exhausted I was by the end of the week. With only picking up my rifle four days within the past year I managed to improve from hitting 50% (bad) in the 10km sprint, to 75% (mediocre) in the 12.5km pursuit, and then to 90% (superb) in the 15km mass start. The cherry on top was finishing in front of all three athletes who have qualified for the World Cup. Booya!

Racing in Altenberg, Germany (2009)

Happy Birthday, Holly!!

Christina and the Birthday Girl

Mark Johnson takes 2nd place at US Biathlon Nationals!!

(photo by Topher Sabot)

From a second place marathon last Saturday to taking second place at the US Biathlon National Championships this Saturday:  Mojo only missed 5 shots to post the best shot record and finish only 8.6 seconds back from first place, USBA's Wynn Roberts, in the 12.5km pursuit..  Congratulations Mark!!
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