Winter in review:   At the Junior Olympics 13 skiers competed and 7 placed in the top 12 overall.  Competing skiers:  Annie Hart, Dartmouth College; Alice Flanders and Marissa Yovetich, Michigan Tech University; Jordyn Ross, Northern Michigan University; Paige Schember, St. Olaf College; Scott Johanik, St. Scholastica; Rachel Mason, Michigan Tech; Calvin Merhohf, Coon Rapids High School; Kyle Marshall, Roseville Area High School; Dylan McGarthwaite, Hayward High School; Alayna Sonnesyn, Wayzata High School; and Nora Gilbertson, Stillwater Area High School.

The Midwest Division placed 3^rd overall their best in 8 years.  Next years Junior Olympics will take place the second week of March in Soldier Hollow, where the 2002 Olympics were held just 45 minutes from Salt Lake City, Utah.

At the Minnesota and Wisconsin State Meets there were over 40 athletes competing; several top 25 finishes were recorded with almost one-third of the girls top 45 having been coached by Kevin in the past year.  The good news is most will be back next year for another great year of high school results.

Sign up before April first and save $50.  We will have 2 information meetings, one this Sunday at 4:00 at Gear West and on Monday the 28^th at Finn Sisu at 6:30PM.  Bring your ski friends and get signed up for the spring and summer.

See you there, Kevin

Other notable MSC member results:  Annie Hart (Dartmouth College) made her first appearance in a Senior Women’s sprint heat after she placed 27th overall in the morning qualifier; Annie’s final overall classic sprint placement was 19th; also Annie took an overall 28th place finish in the Women’s 10K classic on Jan. 5; and she was named a second alternate to the World Juniors team. Alice Flanders (Michigan Tech) placed 12th in the Junior freestyle 5K on Jan. 6.

On Saturday, October 2, coaches from both clubs are offering a training session for the junior athletes, followed by lunch and then a meeting with parents to discuss the upcoming Junior Olympics qualifying and competition season.  There is no cost for this.  The schedule for the day is set forth below.  If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Brochman.  Hope to see you there!

>> What: Meeting about Junior Olympics qualifying and race support

>> Where: Battle Creek Rec Center (Winthrop St.), St. Paul

(map here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&view=map&msa=0&msid=113198991277113514490.000463e76da225ad14734&ll=45.048785,-93.001328&spn=0.345404,0.523911&z=11 )

>> When: Saturday October 2, 12:30-2pm

>> Topics to discuss:

1)      Meeting for any kids/families interested in help with waxing/travel/planning for JO weekends

2)      Schedule of races:  Ironwood, Dec 11-12;  Wausau, Dec 18-19;  Minneapolis, Jan 22-23.

3)      Discuss:  Travel, costs/pricing, waxing, supervision, housing, coaching, suits, later fundraising mechanism for those that qualify.

4)      Also: What JO’s is about, including how does it work for new familes that don’t know where to start.

>>Schedule of the day’s events (come for just the meeting, or come workout first – either is fine).

8-11 OD (over distance) hike/run/bounding

11:15-12:15 Lunch for the kids after the workout

12:30-2:00 Meeting for all kids and families to talk about above topics