NYSSRA Points Series

Below are the official NYSSRA Nordic Points Scoring Rules for the 2009-10 ski season:

All skiers will score NYSSRA-Nordic points for each race of the NYSSRA-Nordic Series that they complete. Designated events are listed in the cross-country race schedule at www.nyssranordic.com . Earned points will be awarded using the formula and tables below, and will accumulate over the course of a given season.

NYSSRA-Nordic points = participation points + age class placing + overall placing

Participation: NYSSRA-Nordic members will receive 10 points for each sanctioned race completed. (Non-members are not issued participation points)

Age class placing: Each racer is awarded points based on placing within their respective age class.

Overall Placing: Racers will be awarded points for finishing in the top 10 of a given event

NOTE: All points are doubled for the NYSSRA Champions Cup Race

NYSSRA-NORDIC Cross Country Point Series

To encourage participation by individuals in NYSSRA-Nordic sanctioned events, NYSSRA Nordic sponsors a season-long points series. Racers of all age classes will score points during sanctioned races, with those accumulating the most points in each age group over the course of the season will win points series awards, and be officially recognized as NYSSRA-Nordic’s New York State Nordic skiing points series champions.

Racers’ points are totaled after each race, and accumulate during the season. All races in which points are scored count towards a racer’s season total.

Points standings will be maintained and updated by the Masters Committee Chairman and posted on the NYSSRA-Nordic website www.nyssranordic.com

Awards in each age class (male and female J2, J1, OJ, Senior, M1, M2…M12) will be presented following the NYSSRA-Nordic Champions Cup race. Awards will be based on total accumulated points throughout the current NYSSRA-Nordic racing season.

To be eligible for NYSSRA Points Series awards, racers must complete two NYSSRA sanctioned races. In addition, racers must enter and complete the NYSSRA Champions Cup 25 k race.

All racers are scored based on finish. (non-nyssra members do not score participation points). Racers must be members prior to the start of the race in order to score participation points during that race. Racers who join NYSSRA after the race will be able to count their race points, but will not be awarded participation points.

For more information on the NYSSRA-Nordic Points Series contact Jim Kobak, PO Box 413, Peru, NY 12972; (518)-643-0821; kobak1791w@yahoo.com

NYSSRA-NORDIC POINTS SERIES: FAQs

How do racers score points? – Any racer who completes a NYSSRA-Nordic sanctioned race scores points for that race.

Do you get points for finishing the race? – Yes. NYSSRA-Nordic awards 10 points to each NYSSRA member who finishes a sanctioned race.

Do you get points for doing well in your age group? – Yes. NYSSRA-Nordic will also award age-group points, 20 pts for first, 16 for 2nd, etc…

Do you get points for doing well overall? – Yes. NYSSRA-Nordic will award overall place points (10 for 1st overall, 9 for 2nd, … 1 for 10th overall). So, you score points three ways in each race.

What about Bill Koch events?- Any skier competing in a Bill Koch event held in conjunction with a NYSSRA sanctioned race scores 10 points just for competing. There are no place points awarded for Bill Koch events.  If a Bill Koch skier races in a non-Bill Koch, J3 or higher race, he will score points based on his placing in this race as a “J3,” regardless of his actual age classification.

What about the Empire State Games? – No NYSSRA-Nordic points will be awarded during the ESG events. These races are NOT part of the NYSSRA-Nordic series

What about the NYSSRA-Nordic Champions Cup Race? – NYSSRA-Nordic will award double points for this race. It is also a mandatory event to finish for anyone who wishes to be eligible for the season-ending age group awards.

When are Points Series awards given? – The season-long points series awards will be presented after the completion of the Champions Cup race. Racers must finish that race in order to be eligible for awards.

Club Series Scoring

NYSSRA-Nordic Club Championship Series

The NYSSRA-Nordic Club series uses the same set of races as the NYSSRA Points Series to be counted toward the season-long Club Championship. The series culminates with the NYSSRA-Nordic Champions Cup weekend; with the club accumulating the most points from these events will be crowned, “current season” NYSSRA-Nordic Club Champions”, and will be awarded the Club Championship banner. Designated NYSSRA Series events are identified in the Cross Country schedule.

To be eligible to participate in the Club Championship Series:

The participating club must be NYSSRA-Nordic affiliated prior to scoring points in any event. Points scored before the affiliation process is completed will not be counted toward the clubs overall total.

Club members participating in an event must have a current NYSSRA-Nordic membership. And may only earn points for the club that they designated on their NYSSRA-Nordic membership form. In the absence of designation on the membership form, a skier will earn points only for the first club they represent during club series events

Club members must designate club affiliation on their race registration prior to the start of the event.

Points will be scored using the NYSSRA-Nordic points system. Club championship standings will be maintained and updated on the NYSSRA-nordic website www.nyssranordic.com.

We encourage New York State ski clubs & organizations to send members to these and other NYSSRA-Nordic sanctioned events. Clubs should have their members designate club affiliations on the NYSSRA-Nordic membership form, as well as on race registration materials.

NYSSRA CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: FAQs

Can any club/team/group be involved? – Yes, as long as that group has officially been sanctioned by NYSSRA.

How do clubs score points? – Each member of a club who finishes a NYSSRA series race scores points for his/her club. The points scored are equal to his/her NYSSRA series points scored for that race. Clubs accumulate points over the course of the season.

What is a NYSSRA club series race? – All races designated as NYSSRA series races. Clubs score points for these races only.

What are this season’s club races? – All races listed in the cross country schedule as NYSSRA Series Races The final two club events are held during the NYSSRA Champions Cup weekend. There is a Club Championship Relay on Saturday, and the NYSSRA Champions Cup race on Sunday.

Who can I have on my club/team? – Anyone who is a NYSSRA member can count for your club. Skiers may only ski for one club during a season. Just make sure your club members designate their affiliation on their race entry form in order to be counted as part of your club.

So, I can have Virpi Kuitenen and Pettr Northug race for my club? – Yes, as long as they join NYSSRA and write their club affiliation on their race entry forms.

When are the awards Presented? – A single NYSSRA-Nordic Club Champion designated each season. This award will be given at the conclusion of the NYSSRA Champions Cup race. The winning club will be awarded the official NYSSRA-Nordic Club Championship Banner.

Next Up… NYSSRA Champions Cup Weekend

The Saratoga Biathlon Club is hosting the annual NYSSRA Champions Cup Weekend from Friday 2/27 to Sunday 3/1.   High Peaks Cyclery: Nordic Specialists has joined on as the main sponsor, and will have lots of prizes to give away at the banquet.  The weekend is full of events in XC, Biathlon and Ski-O.  Check out www.saratogabiathlon.com for details and to register.

Remember, to be eligible fo end-of-season points series awards, skiers must have skied in at least one NYSSRA XC event prior, and must also finish the 21 km Champions Cup Race on Saturday. All awards will be presented at the awards banquet on Saturday evening.

The Club Championship Banner will be presented at the Saturday awards banquet.  Friday’s Club Relays AND Saturday’s Championship Cup 21 km Race count towards the Club Series.

Green Mansion Race Recap

The Green Mansion Golf Course in Chestertown hosted its first NYSSRA Nordic race on Saturday, December 27. 

Green Mansion Golf Course

Peru Nordic’s Mike Wynn won the mens 10 km race, beating teammate Chris Rose by almost two minutes.  Southern Adirondack’s Eric Seyse captured third overall.   In the women’s 10 k race, Saratoga Biathlon’s Carly Wynn out sprinted Anna Crawford for the win.  Ann Seyse captured the bronze. 

In the junior 5 km races, Andrew Nevins paced the boys, finishing ahead of Adam Swayze and Austin Huneck.   Ashley Forshey won the junior girls’ race.  Matthew Forshey outdueled Aaron Huneck in the boy’s 2.5 km race.

The 2.5 km course was undulating with mostly quick rolling climbs, but was highlighted by the signature climb and descent of “Rene’s Run”  (Rene’s Run is named in honor of Veteran NYSSRA master, Rene Clarke, who unfortunately had to sit out today’s race with a broken arm).    The conditions were wet but relatively fast, and flouros ruled the day.  The race was run out of the Green Mansion Golf Clubhouse, which had a full service bar and grill… a great way to end a race. 

Dave Burt captures the big prize!

 The highlight of the post race awards ceremony was the raffling off of a new pair of Swenor Rollerskis.  This was won by Southern Adirondack’s Dave Burt.   Kudos to Doug Diehl and the crew at Green Mansion for putting on an outstanding event.  A great time was had by all, and  NYSSRA hopes that Green Mansion becomes a permanent stop on the NYSSRA calendar.

Full Results

Boy’s 2.5 km

Forshey	Matthew	5105	Scotia Glenville	J4M	M	0:14:19
Huneck	Aaron	4173	Shenendehowa	J4M	M	0:15:39

Boy’s 5 km

Nevins	Andrew	4778		OJM	M	0:18:26
Swayze	Adam	4978	RNR	J1M	M	0:18:52
Huneck	Austin	4172	Shenendehowa	J3M	M	0:20:14
Trainor	Mac	4850		J1M	M	0:22:02
Tomko	Corey	4925	Saratoga Biathlon	J2M	M	0:23:49
Trainor	Jake	4944		J3M	M	0:28:54

Girl’s 5 km

Forshey

Ashley

4996

Scotia Glenville

J2F

F

0:25:55

Men’s 10 km

Wynn	Michael	3413	Peru Nordic Masters	M3M	M	0:34:37
Rose	Chris	3789	Peru Nordic Masters	M2M	M	0:36:27
Seyse	Eric	2961	Southern Adirondack	SRM	M	0:37:00
Diehl	Doug	1310	www.adirondacknordic.com	M5M	M	0:37:12
Donnelly-Heg	Martin	3380		M2M	M	0:37:17
Kobak	Jim	3186	Peru Nordic Masters	M2M	M	0:37:27
Kvam	David	2751	Peru Nordic Masters	SRM	M	0:38:14
Ruoff	Mark	1319	Shawangunk	M2M	M	0:38:39
Hatch	Stan	3574	Peru Nordic Masters	M4M	M	0:39:01
Huneck	Tim	2973	Shenendehowa	M4M	M	0:39:57
Maswick	Bob	4012	Peru Nordic Masters	M5M	M	0:42:02
Farry	Andy	1032	Team NJS	M2M	M	0:42:42
Bailey	Steve	4741	Peru Nordic Masters	M4M	M	0:44:32
Burt	Dave	4502	Southern Adirondack	M6M	M	0:46:51
Stegen	Art	185		M7M	M	0:47:45
Swift	Dan	5208		SRM	M	0:52:22
Dixon	Richard	1580	Southern Adirondack	M7M	M	0:54:10
Hamilton	Eric	1231	Shenendehowa	M7M	M	1:02:54

Women’s 10 km

Wynn	Carly	3976	Saratoga Biathlon	J1F	F	0:37:05
Crawford	Anna	3603		SRF	F	0:37:06
Seyse	Ann	3756	Southern Adirondack	SRF	F	0:49:31
Dixon	Sherry	1581	Southern Adirondack	M7F	F	0:58:45
Huneck	Gina	4408	Shenendehowa	M4F	F	1:09:38

How Competitive was your race?

NYSSRA races are fun, but we all know that ski racers are a competitive bunch.  They are always looking to ski faster and do better with each race.  And, they are always scanning the results sheet to see how they did compared to the rest of the field.  It is easy to look at overall place or age-group placing to evaluate your race.  But, is finishing 3rd in the Reindeer Roundup require the same effort as finishing 3rd in the NYSEF Season Opener?  Skiers know that some races are tougher than others.  What makes one race more competitive than the other?   If a race has lots of  fast skiers that all finish within seconds of each other, then that is a tough field to compete against!

One way to determine the quality of the race field is to look at how fast the skiers were.  Simply put, if the skiers are fast, then the race was competitive.  To determine the “relative competitiveness” of NYSSRA races, look at how the top seven skiers did in the race.  This group of skiers includes all of the medal winners and represents the pace of the head of the field.  Chances are good that these skiers were in the lead for the majority of the race, and set the pace for the pack to follow.  Using the average speed of  the top 7 skiers as a measure, the first NYSSRA races of the year stack up as follows:

NYSEF_opener_10M		00:02:48
NYSEF_opener_5M		00:03:22
NYSEF_opener_10F		00:03:23
Rochester1_10M		00:04:05
Reindeer_Roundup_10M		00:04:13
NYSEF_opener_5F		00:04:17
Osceola_Xmas_5M		00:04:21
Rochester1_5M		00:04:48
Rochester1_10F		00:05:06
Osceola_Xmas_5F		00:05:15
Reindeer_Roundup_10F		00:05:47

Using this measure, the NYSEF 10 km men’s race was the fastest.  The problem with using this to evaluate competitiveness is that ski race speeds are notoriously influenced by snow and weather conditions.   The Reindeer Roundup took place during a massive snowstorm.  And, typically, top male skiers are faster than top female skiers. The NYSEF women skied the exact same course and distance as the men.  To eliminate this gender and weather variable, evaluate the %back of the top racers.  The %back statistic does a good job of eliminating variables like distance, course difficulty and weather.  If you analyze this season’s races using the average % back of the top 7 finishers it looks like this.

NYSEF_opener_10F		3.75%
NYSEF_opener_10M		3.96%
Rochester1_10M		5.21%
Osceola_Xmas_5M		5.91%
Reindeer_Roundup_10M		6.62%
Rochester1_10F		10.35%
Osceola_Xmas_5F		13.81%
Rochester1_5M		14.21%
NYSEF_opener_5F		16.69%
NYSEF_opener_5M		17.65%
Reindeer_Roundup_10F		33.69%

Now, the NYSEF women’s 10 k is the most competitive.  The top 7 skiers in the field were very close to one another at the finish.  The skiers were fast, and the top skiers were equally fast.  However, the field size was much smaller in the NYSEF women’s race, there were half as many skiers as there were in the men’s race.  If a race field is bigger, then a skier is more likely to be skiing against tough competition, especially to place in the top half of the field.  If you look at the average number of skiers that the top 7 had to beat to be better than the middle of the pack, it looks like this:

NYSEF_opener_10M		18.5
Osceola_Xmas_5M		18
Osceola_Xmas_5F		8.5
NYSEF_opener_10F		8
Reindeer_Roundup_10M		5.5
Rochester1_10M		3.5
NYSEF_opener_5M		1.5
Reindeer_Roundup_10F		0.5
Rochester1_5M		-0.5
Rochester1_10F		-0.5
NYSEF_opener_5F		-0.5

The top 7 skiers in the Osceola Xmas Mens 5 km race and the NYSEF opener mens 10 km race  had to beat an average of  18 other good skiers just to be in the top half of the field.  Typically, in a NYSSRA race, more skiers means more traffic and tougher race conditions.  However, just beating alot of skiers does not automatically make it a challenging race.

 To get a full picture of the “competitive nature” of a NYSSRA race, you need to look at a composite of the speed of the race, the % back of the race and the size of the field.  Of these values, %back should carry the highest weight. 

So I have devised the competitive index value for NYSSRA races.  For each racer, subtract the %back from 110 (the winners would have given 110%!) Then add the number of skiers that he/she beat to be in the top half of the field.  Finally, subtract the number of minutes per km.  Find the average competitive index for the top 7 skiers and you have a number that describes how competitive the race field was.  Our first set of NYSSRA races looks like this:

Race		Average of competitive_index_value
NYSEF_opener_10M		115.17
Osceola_Xmas_5M		112.91
NYSEF_opener_10F		110.11
Rochester1_10M		106.37
Reindeer_Roundup_10M		103.49
Osceola_Xmas_5F		100.22
Rochester1_10F		99.19
Rochester1_5M		95.34
NYSEF_opener_5M		92.96
NYSEF_opener_5F		92.88
Reindeer_Roundup_10F		76.32

So, the NYSEF 10 km mens race has been the most competitive of the season.  This was thanks in large part to the St. Lawrence University ski team who really “upped the ante” for this race.  Of course, you can use this stat to evaluate an individual’s race performance which takes into account %back, size of field and speed.  Using our race data, our top performing NYSSRA skiers have been as follows:

Day, Chad 2929	Osceola_Xmas_5M	120.33
	Rochester1_10M	113.09
Izzo, Elizabeth 3421	Osceola_Xmas_5F	115.56
Bencze, Charlie 3383	Osceola_Xmas_5M	118.61
	NYSEF_opener_5M	112.13
Johnson, Carl 2587	Osceola_Xmas_5M	114.21
Stevens, Dan 3482	Reindeer_Roundup_10M	114.09
Wynn, Michael 3413	Reindeer_Roundup_10M	111.85
Wynn, Carly 3976	Reindeer_Roundup_10F	111.57
Sapp, Maile 3715	NYSEF_opener_5F	110.35
Swayze, Adam 4978	Rochester1_5M	110.07

This is just another way for competitive NYSSRA skiers to evaluate their races and to see how they really stack up against the competition.

SLU Skiers Dominate Season Opener

12/14/2008-  The St. Lawrence University Skiing Saints stormed into Mt. Van Hoevenberg and captured the top three places in both the mens and womens 10 k races. Caroline Carpenter won the women’s race in a time of 0:32:35, while Steve Vargo outsprinted Zach Weatherell to win the men’s race. St. Lawrence coach, Ethan Townsend won the men’s masters division, outpacing defending points series champ, Mike Wynn. While Peru Nordic’s Janet Findlay captured the masters women race.

In the 5 km junior races, NYSEF Skiers dominated. Charlie Bencze, Joe Izzo and Nathan Capone finished 1-2-3 in the boy’s race, while Malie Sapp, Anna Izzo and Shenendehowa’s Becky Christoffel topped the girls’ field.

This was the first NYSSRA points race of the season, as well as the first ESG qualifier.  To clarify how scoring works, each event on the scedule potentally has multiple races, based on distance.  For example, in the season opener, there were actually four scored races, the junior boys 5 k, the junior girls 5k, the mens 10 k and the womens 10 k.  In each race, skiers are awarded points based on how they finished in thier respective age classes, and based on how they finished overall.  They also recieve bonus points for being NYSSRA members.  For ESG scoring, racers are scored using the world cup points system based on place in one of the two ESG divisions, scholastic (age 12-17) and open/masters (age 18+).

The top point scorers from the season opener are as follows:

name_adj	Club	Total
Sapp, Maile 3715	NYSEF	40
Bencze, Charlie 3383	NYSEF	40
Izzo, Elizabeth 3421	NYSEF	37
Izzo, Joseph 3420	NYSEF	35
Izzo, Anna 3839	NYSEF	35
Wynn, Mike 3413	Peru Nordic	31
Christoffel, Becky 4145	Shenendehowa	31

Notice, none of our 10 k race winnners have more than 30 points.  This is because the mens and womens winners maxed out at 30 points 10 points for 1st overall and 20 points for finishing 1st in their class.  They were not NYSSRA members, so they did not recieve the NYSSRA membership bonus.  Our womens masters winner did not finish in the top 10 of the field, so she recieved 10 membership bonus points, 20 points for winning her age category, but did not recieve any overall placing bonus points.

This was also the first ESG qualifier.  The top ESG points earners are as follows:

name_adj	ESG_status	Total
Sapp, Maile 3715	scholastic	110
Bencze, Charlie 3383	scholastic	110
Izzo, Joseph 3420	scholastic	90
Izzo, Anna 3839	scholastic	90
Christoffel, Becky 4145	scholastic	70
Izzo, Elizabeth 3421	scholastic	60
Halligan, Brian 3858	scholastic	60
Pepper, Bryan 3064	open/master	55
Huneck, Austin 4172	scholastic	55

Remember, for ESG scoring, racers are sorted into Scholastic and Open/Masters categories.  Skiers must be active NYSSRA members, so our mens and women’s race winners recieved zero ESG points because they are not members of NYSSRA.  However, they do displace skiers in the overall standings, so our highest scoring open/master skier (Brian Pepper) recieved points for being a NYSSRA member, and for finishing 5th overall in the open/master category.

The New Look NYSSRA Website is now up!

NYSSRA Nordic, Inc. has launched its new-look website at www.nyssranordic.com .  This website should serve as a hub for the nordic disciplines and a central location for NYSSRA’s member clubs to convey information.   Our second VP, Dave Kvam has teamed up with XC Committee Chair, Larry Wilkinson to manage the website, and they are always looking for ideas on how to best serve the membership while still keeping the site streamlined.   One feature of the new site is a commitment to blogging as a way to get timely news to our membership.  Currently there are blogs maintained by XC, Ski-O, Biathlon, the Points Series and by some of our members and member clubs.  NYSSRA wants you to contribute.  If you are a club leader, use our site to get your information out to our entire membership.  If you are a ski racer with an interesting story, share it with us.  Set up a blog and contact me (perunordic@yahoo.com).  Or contact me and I will help you set one up.  Be a part  of the NYSSRA story.

Jim Kobak (President, NYSSRA Nordic)

NYSSRA Champ Checks In

Defending New York State Champion and long-time NYSSRA member, Duncan Douglas offers NYSSRA Nordic his online training journal.  Check out http://jackedupoldman.blogspot.com

2008 – 2009 Ski Season Age Groups

USSA/FIS/NENSA/NYSSRA

Age Group: Age (as of 12/31/08) Birth Year

Bill Koch League/BKL

Lollipopper: 0-7                         2001-2009
Junior 5/J5: 8-9                         1999-2000
Junior 4/J4: 10-11                     1997-1998
Junior 3/J3: 12-13                     1995-1996

Juniors

Junior 2/J2: 14-15                     1993-1994
Junior 1/J1: 16-17                     1991-1992
Older Junior/OJ: 18-19             1989-1990

Seniors

Under age 23/U23: 20-22         1986-1988
Senior/SR: 20-29                      1979-19885

Masters

Master 1/M1: 30-34                 1974-1978
Master 2/M2: 35-39                 1969-1973
Master 3/M3, 40-44                 1964-1968
Master 4/M4, 45-49                 1959-1963
Master 5/M5, 50-54                 1954-1958
Master 6/M6, 55-59                 1949-1953
Master 7/M7, 60-64                 1944-1948
Master 8/M8, 65-69                 1939-1943
Master 9/M9, 70-74                 1934-1938
Master 10/M10,75-100+          1933 or earlier
(thanks to NENSA.net for this list)

Byrncliff and Art Roscoe… last points until the Champions Cup Weekend

Byrncliff and Art Roscoe Loppet have reported results. 

As we head into ESG weekend, many of the points races are very tight.  Remember that the Champions Cup Weekend will