From 80th to 1st in 2 Years: Annie Hart’s Story

In two years, how did Annie Hart go from 80th place (2007) to 1st (2009) at the Minnesota State High School Girls Nordic Meet?

By Renee Schaefer with Kevin Brochman

Annie’s Story

2009 Minnesota State Champion and St. Paul Academy Junior Annie Hart has been excelling in cross country and track since she began competing in 6th grade. She had limited nordic experience as a young child and as a 6th grader on the SPA team, but her freshman year (2006-2007) was her first real year of nordic skiing. Her running experience, combined with natural ability and coaching, helped her qualify for the State Meet in 2007, where she finished 80th. Qualifying for the State Meet certainly isn’t easy, especially as a first year skier, but an 80th place finish won’t get anyone a headline on Skinny Ski or in the newspaper.

So how did Annie go from a talented runner who skis to state champion in just two years? What makes Annie different from all the other accomplished runners who ski with top Minnesota high school programs? Annie will be the first to say she wouldn’t have achieved such great success without Kevin Brochman and the Minneapolis Ski Club.

Double Poling 101

Here are a couple of photo’s by US Ski Team’s coach Pete Vordenburg with top athletes double poling.

Notice heels off the ground, bent legs and high elbows as important parts of good technique in both skiers

World Cup winner and National Champion Kikkan Randall

US National Champion, NCAA Champion and former MSC athlete Lindsay Williams

MSC Gear

UPDATE: Order form linked below.

The first items available from the MSC collection are performance, moisture-wicking t-shirts by Sporttec. The bright gold color was chosen for visibility while roller skiing, biking or running and, of course, style. Annie Hart is pictured wearing a Women’s small and Jack Sloan is pictured wearing a Men’s small. Cost is $20 each.

Front

Back

How to Order

We would like to get a first order in as soon as possible so people doing the summer training program can wear them beginning with the first session.

To order, mail a check for $20 to Holly Hart (made payable to Holly Hart) at 9727 Primrose Ave N, Stillwater, MN 55082. You should be able to gauge sizing from Annie or Jack, however Holly also has a Women’s Medium that could be tried on; Kevin has a Men’s Medium which just fits him — he may ultimately prefer a Men’s Large.

Coming soon…
Final designs for the new MSC spandex, jackets, hats and jog bras. These items will be a very cool Cyan blue incorporating the various elements of the MSC tree and ski track logo in a beautiful design.

Download order form

MSC Jay Cooke State Park Ski Camp

When: Camp begins on Friday, July 31st-August 2nd, 2009.
Where: Jay Cooke State Park
Who: Any skier or coach who wishes may attend this camp. Camp is limited to 17 athletes so sign up early!
Why: The emphasis will be on technique with large volume.
Cost: $145 before July 1st, $165 after July 1st.

Download sign-up sheet and full information here.

May Training Program

The objectives for May include: writing down your training, setting goals, taking your morning pulse a few times during the month. You should set a monthly goal for hours, this could be anywhere from 30-50 depending upon your goals.

Download full article pdf here.

2009 Summer Training Programs

Download East Side Info

Download West Side Info

Joe Dubay Journal: 30 K Finnish Jr. Championship Skate

Last Sunday I competed in a 30 kilometer mass start Finnish Jr. Championship skate race in Ylitornio. The conditions were great, around -10 Celsius and sunny too. In Ylitornio there are big hills that are so perfect for skiing, one of the climbs being a little under 3.5k in the 10k loop.

Joe Dubay and teammate

I started 40th of the over 80 man field. I was a little bit worried about starting in the middle but the pace at the beginning was not so fast which allowed me to move up quickly and get in a good position to just sit in the pack for a while.

All the best Finnish Jr. Skiers were competing in this race and I was really excited to be racing right next to them. A large majority of the field stayed together up the first 3.5k of climbing and stayed together through the next big climb and the rest of the loop, which was rolling hills. I was getting feeds every 5k by the school coach here and my sister who is visiting me. My teammate and I skied next to each other for more than half of the race and we both helped each other out by giving room for feeds.

Jack Sloan: Hard Work Pays Off

In the spring of 2007, a parent called me to ask about the Minneapolis Ski Club Summer Program. She was interested in having her son do the advanced night sessions. I asked what school he went to and she told me Mounds Park Academy. I was fairly sure there were no skiers from MPA training well and I basically told her “the evening program is very hard and he will have trouble staying with people”. Her son was Jack Sloan and he began the program in mid June.

Annie Hart 2009 State Champion

**Coming soon, articles on how she went from 81st in 07 to first in 09.**

She’s pictured here with MSC coach Kevin Brochman.

Annie Hart 2009 MN State Champ and coach Kevin Brochman

2009 Results

World Junior Championships

• Ingrid Leask competes

MSC Junior National Tryout class winners

• Dylan Mcgarthwrite – 10
• Kasey Bacso – 4
• Joe Dubay – 2
• Jackie Pribyl – 2
• Annie Hart – 3

MSC skiers won a total of 21 class races at Junior National Tryouts. This is waaaay more than any other club.