Mike Wynn: NYSSRA’s Ski King!!!

Mike Wynn of Queensbury, skiing for Peru Nordic, won the overall NYSSRA points title.  Mike had a wonderful season, competing in 12 sanctioned events.  Mike has been a great supporter of NYSSRA and has made sure to participate at the highest level in our events.  Mike has inspired many racers to attend NYSSRA events, and leads a family full of ski racers who absolutely love our sport!  Mike truly deserves the honor of being NYSSRA’s Ski King for 2008!

Honorable mentions go to Tim Huneck of Rexford, skiing for Shenendehowa, Dan Schwenk of Corfu, skiing for Rochester XC, Eddie Luban of Syracuse, skiing for Sunnycrest and Tyra Wynn and Carly Wynn of Queensbury, skiing for Saratoga Biathlon.  Tim Huneck skied in an impressive 15 NYSSRA sanctioned events.  Tim won the M4M points series.  Dan Schwenk let it be known that he was out to win the M5M title.  Dan travelled from just outside Buffalo to many events in eastern NY and demonstrated an incredible commitment to the NYSSRA series. Eddie Luban also chased the points series in earnest.  Eddie travelled all over the state from Syracuse with one goal in mind: “the quest for the vest!”  Carly Wynn dominated the J2F class and routinely beat girls and women much older than she.  She often entered events in the open class, all the while competing in High School races.  Carly is currently in Alaska representing NYSSRA for the Mid-A Junior Olympic Team.  Carly’s sister, Tyra, skiing in the J5 class, often eschewed Bill Koch League events to compete “with the big kids” in J2 races.  Rarely has someone so young been so hell bent on skiing hard.  Tyra won the J5F points series and was inspirational to all racers this season.  

 Thanks to Mike Wynn, Tim Huneck, Dan Schwenk, Eddie Luban, Carly Wynn and Tyra Wynn for being exemplary of what NYSSRA Nordic, Inc. is all about.

NYSSRA Champions Cup race… EVEN MORE EPIC!!!!

whoa… Ice covered roads, combined with cold temperatures and frigid winds made the Champions Cup race one for the ages!  I read in the NYSSRA manual that Lake Placid was good for spring conditions in March.  Well, spring is really hard in LP!  The Champions Cup race was well attended despite the less than favorable weather.  Some heavy hitters challenged the field in what has become truly the New York State Championship.  Robert Duncan Douglas won his first Champions Cup with an impressive 1:06:06 time on the greuling course.  He outpaced defending champ, Paul Allison and bronze medalist, Kevin Sprague.  In the Women’s race, Kathy Schwenk of Corfu, NY won her first Champions Cup.   Kathy beat out Saranac Lake’s Peggy Wiltberger and Lake Placid’s Karen Delaney for the New York State title.  In the Junior race, Austin Hunek, Alyssa Lilkly and Langton Douglas finished 1-2-3.  High Peaks Cyclery: Nordic Specalists sponsored the race and gave out over $3000 worth of prizes, including Madshus race skis and Leki racing poles.  NYSSRA Nordic, Inc. thanks all who braved the questionable road conditions to race in our feature event.  Ski racing is tough and our NYSSRA ski racers are a tough bunch!!!

NYSSRA Championships Day One: EPIC!!

Freezing rain, sleet and more rain challenged skiers on day one of the NYSSRA Champions Cup Weekend.  In the short course 1 km time-trial, four skiers managed to break the 3 minute barrier.  Mike Wynn won the sprint with a time of 2:45.  He was followed by Eric Seyse 2:50 and Jim Kobak 2:51.   Wynn will win the M3M category and the overall points title.  He is in excellent position to battle in tomorrow’s race for the NYSSRA Championship.

 In the Club Championship Relay, Peru Nordic High Peaks Racing swept the mens relay podium.  The “Fight Fire with Fire” team of Mike Wynn and  Chris Rose skied away with the gold, they were followed by “Creeping Death” (Jim Kobak and Stan Hatch) and “Ride the Lightning” (Bob Maswick, Joe Korzenecki and David Hunter).  Peru Nordic all but sewed up their second consecutive title with this effort.  In the mixed team relay, Cayuga Nordic II (Audrey Balander and Tom Chappell) won the gold, while Saratoga Biathlon’s Wynnstar team (Star Cook and Tyra Wynn) captured the ladies’ gold medal.

Champions Cup Weekend is here!

The NYSSRA Champions Cup weekend has finally arrived.  It looks like some heavy wet snow is coming in overnight on Friday, which should make for interesting waxing.  And, snow should continue on Saturday with a blast of cold air, which may slow things down for Sunday’s race.  As of this writing,  Van Hoevenberg has good coverage, but the courses have been changed because of icy conditions in the biathlon stadium.  The short course and relay will share a 1.2 km course that runs down the horseshow loop and pumphouse road before finising with the end of Brookside.  The 25 km race will head down three trails loop, continue on perimeter, double back on beech hill and the gullies then return via the dog bone and three trails loop (about 7.25 km).  If the snow conditions permit, the courses will be moved back to their original configurations.  There will be day-of-race registration available.

Clarification: Weekend Points

As stated in the NYSSRA Competition manual, this weekend’s races will offer the following points opportunities:

1.  Short Course Championship race: Skiers will score NYSSRA points in this race.  Points scored in this race WILL NOT count towards the Club Series.  Medals will be awarded to the TOP 3 overall finishers only.

2.  Club Relay Championship:  Each relay team may have 2 or 3 skiers.  Skiers will alternate over six laps of the 2 km course.  Skiers’ ages will be averaged to determine age classification for the relay team.  Relay teams will score points for their clubs in the usual manner.  There will be a mens relay, womens relay and mixed team relay…  Medals will be awarded to the top 3 teams in each relay.

3.  Champions Cup Race: On Sunday, the Champions Cup race will be worth DOUBLE POINTS.  This is the final race in the series AND you must complete this race in order to be eligible for end-of-season awards.   The NYSSRA Champions cup will be awarded to the top male finisher and the top female finisher, medals will be awarded to the top 3 finishers in each category. End of the season NYSSRA clothing awards will be given to the top points earners in each age class.  Second through fourth place in each age class will recieve prizes courtesy of High Peaks Cyclery.  The Club Championship banner will also be awarded to the top club.  The awards ceremony will be in the biathlon building at 1 PM.

NYSSRA Champions Cup Weekend… looking good for Saturday and Sunday

Well, I just got back in from McCall, ID and the Masters World Cup. Let me tell you, it was AWESOME. The event was very well run and extremely competitive. I had a great time and ran into a few NYSSRA Nordic members out there, including Dave Burt, Rene Clarke, Darwin Roosa, David Hunter and Dan Karig. There were other NYers there too.