Duluth East High School Nordic Ski Team

Hello Skiers and Parents

Congratulations to all of our skiers who have worked hard and raced well all season. You all need to take pride in the part you played in pushing your teammates to ski faster.

Be proud of yourself and celebrate your Teammates

Following are those who will ski for East at the Section 7 Championship on Wednesday, March 2nd.

Girls
Rowan Bixler
Lily Brown
Leah Coleman
Lucia Haggenmiller
Anna-Britta Helmer
Jenna Johnson
Thea Kramer

Alternates
Liesl Cope-Schaffer
Lydia Kraker

Boys
Torstein Derauf
Simon Long
Oliver Miatke
Carl Morse
Ian Morse
Paavo Rova
Colin Wiiemsen

Alternates
Aren Carlson
Aiden Fitzpatrick

Please confirm with your Coaches tomorrow that you chose to accept your place on the Section Team. For those who chose to ski in the Korte/Birke, we wish you good luck and great skiing but will put another skier in your place on the East Section Team.

Looking forward to Section…

Bonnie

Hello Skiers and Parents,
I hope you are all staying warm and staying active, skiing when possible.

In my 25+ years of coaching High School Nordic Skiing, I have never cancelled practice for as many days as I have this season. Without having the Chalet for skiers to go into to warm up or to wait for their rides, I don’t think it’s safe to have our big team meet for practice. The likelihood of having someone get cold or frostbit is too great.

Unfortunately, this cold snap is going to include Monday, February 15th so… No practice Monday, February 15th. We will see you at the skate race at Pine Valley Ski Area in Cloquet on Tuesday. Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the cold weather. You must wear a hat – no headbands. Be sure to include warm clothes to put on after the race.

Make sure you have your Travel Release form at the Cloquet Race. It must be given to me, Bonnie, before you can start the race. Parents must drive the skiers to the race. It is a District 709 rule that no students can drive to a race outside of Duluth.

As we look toward to the end of our ski season, I am very happy to say that we will have a Section Race at Giants Ridge on Wednesday, March 3rd and a State Meet at Giants Ridge on Friday, March 12th. (This can change but I’m hopeful it won’t.

The format will be different than in past years. The boys will have a 30 second individual start classic race that will be followed about 45 minutes after the last finisher with an individual start skate race. This will be repeated later in the day for the girls. Each race will be about 3.5 to 4.0 km in length. The winner will be the person with the fastest combined time. According to the information I have now, the 1st place team and 4 individual skiers at Sections will qualify for the State Meet.

The race we host on Tuesday, February 23rd will follow this format. Due to the new format and shorter races, we will need every skier who wants to be considered for the East Section Team to ski in our race.

I strongly believe that both our boys and girls teams have a good chance to win the Section 7 race and go to State. But it is certainly not a given that our teams will win. I know that the Cloquet boys are working hard to beat us.

I understand that the timing of races this season is not what everyone expected. The Kortie/Birkie is not placed well for participation in that race and then skiing up to one’s potential at the Section Meet. I hope that all East skiers who want to be considered for the Section Team will put their team and teammates first and forgo skiing the Kortie/Birkie.

So, to be very clear, If you want to be considered for the Section Team:
1. You must ski in our race at Snowflake on Tuesday, February 23rd.
2. You must not ski in the Kortie/Birkie race.

I look forward to fun skiing and great races in the last part of our ski season,

Bonnie

Hello Skiers,
It is going to be a very cold week and since the Snowflake Chalet is not available, we believe that it would be best for skiers to ski on their own time at trails of their choice. Make sure you talk with your parent and they agree that you will be safe when and where you ski. The following workouts are listed in order of importance due to the timing of the upcoming section and state races.

Workout #1
Black 8 × 3 minutes hard with 3 minutes rest between
Grey 6 × 3 minutes hard with 3 minutes rest between
Red 4 × 3 minutes hard with 3 minutes rest between

Workout #2
Black 12 × 1 minute hard with 2 minutes rest between
Grey 9 × 1 minute hard with 2 minutes rest between
Red 6 × 1 minute hard with 2 minutes rest between

Try to get these two workouts in but they should not be back-to-back. The other days should be an easy ski of 30 to 45 minutes.

Dress warmly, try to cover all exposed skin, ski with a buddy, and check each other for frostbite. If possible, ski trails that keep you close to your car.

We look forward to seeing you back at Snowflake next week.

Have a good week.

Bonnie

Need a buff? We have plenty available for $15 each. Just bring your check payable to DE Nordic to Coach Bonnie who has a supply.

Duluth East Skiers: Sign up online or by email (dwkask@gmail.com) by NOON on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd.
Parents must drive skiers to the meet. Please give Bonnie your “Travel Release” form Wednesday or at the meet
Spectators: Limit 2 spectators per skier/family.

Race Information

CEC Nordic Tri
Pine Valley 2 Olympic Drive
Cloquet, MN 55720

Date: Thursday, February 4th, 2021
Start Time: 11:00AM
Technique: Classic

Distances:

Varsity Girls/Boys- ~3.5K 4-person Classic Relay
Each school allowed up to three relay teams.
JV Girls/Boys- ~5.5K Classic
JH Girls/Boys- ~2.5K Classic

Race Approximate Schedule:
11:05 – Boys Varsity 4 X 3.5K Classic Relay
11:10 – Girls Varsity 4 × 3.5K Classic Relay
12:30 – Girls JV 5.5K Classic
1:00 – Boy JV 5.5K Classic
1:45 – Girls JH 2.5K Classic
2:00 – Boys JH 2.5K Classic
(These times are estimates and will depend upon the duration of the preceding races.)