Nordic State Meet, Part I (written by Fred Griffin, coach)

It was a very good day for Fairfax Nordic skiers in the first part of their State Meet. This meet has two parts; in the morning both boys and girls have a classical race. In the afternoon, they again race in classical style, only in 4 member team relays . Going in, I felt in my heart that if we could pull a 3rd for girls and somewhere around 5th for the guys we would have pretty well maximized our talent. After all, we graduated ten of our top twelve skiers from last year's teams. But they have been over-achievers all season-- a spirited group that goes out and hammers every race and then smiles all the way home. Today was no different. On a day where we saw rain, snow, and ice pellets, sometimes at the same time, and when even the best wax didn't work well on all parts of the course, these kids attacked every inch of the track.

Our girls were led by second year skier Allie Minor, who added to her string of strong classical performances this year with a 9th place finish. Fellow junior Mattie Hayes skied what was probably her best race of the year to take 10th. Julia Snyder wasn't happy with her race but her 12th pace was important to us. Margaret Ftizgerald was caught on course during a rain shower and her kick disappeared but she fought through it to take 18th and finish our scoring. We finished seconds behind U-32 in the individual race and couldn't quite catch them in the relay. Heading into the Freestyle event on Thursday we trail U-32 by only 12 points. We're happy to be third but have our eyes on second.

Our boy's team come out of nowhere to latch onto third place. I'm pretty sure we surprised quite a few people. Two of our top four skiers never skied before December. We've improved every race. We're led by junior Eric Newbury, who took 7th. Eric lost the month of February to pneumonia, and while he is still recovering, this was a gratifying effort for him and our team. The day belonged to first year skier Andrew Barden, however, who shocked us all with his 9th place (29th overall D-1, D-2). Andrew is a multi-sport star athlete and he is just now coming into his own. We regret he is a senior. Junior Eli Philips, also a first year skier, landed in the 14th spot. There is no question in my mind that Eli will be a player on the statewide scene next year. Ethan Farmer, a junior, struggled today but was a strong 4th for us at 18. These guys took third in the relay and we move to Rutland on Thursday as a longshot to advance to 2nd.
Thursday's race is done in skate style.

A special thank you to Shelly Pottala for the hot soup, and to Priscilla Snyder and Sue Bosland for the additional goodies that helped make the day!