Glennallen Nordic Team Goes to State Championships
Mass start of boys 10km freestyle race. Photo by Kari Rogers
March 9, 2023
Bruce Rogers - Coach
The 2022-23 ASAA Nordic Ski State Championships held at Kincaid Park in Anchorage were a great experience for our young Glennallen Nordic ski team. Exhilarating and humbling at the same time. We came away from our experience with the following lasting impressions:
1.) Nordic skiing at this level is fast. It requires great physical conditioning and a high degree of technical skill. The first-place boys athlete in the 10km freestyle race skied at a rate of 2 minutes and 29 seconds per kilometer or 4 minutes per mile! You can find all of the individual results of all athletes from this year’s competition on the ASAA website. Their abilities and their results are truly impressive.
2.) Andrew Severs raced a strong 10km freestyle race in 40 minutes total, which is a personal best record and a remarkable 34 seconds per kilometer improvement over his Region VI results. Overall, Andrew placed 95th out of 105 skiers in the 10km freestyle race.
3.) Grace Rogers also skied a personal best in the 7.5km freestyle race at 33 minutes and 15 seconds. This is an improvement of 1 minute and 3 seconds per kilometer over her Region VI freestyle race. Overall, Grace placed 92nd out of 100 skiers.
4.) Not to make excuses, but other schools participating in this state-level championship meet included Kenai, West Valley, South Dimond, Eagle River, Chugiak, Colony, East, Service, Palmer, Homer, Seward, Soldotna, Lathrop, Bartlett, Valdez, Grace Christian, Monroe Catholic, North Pole, and Sleetmute.
The combined Glennallen and Valdez High School Nordic ski teams and coaches. Photo by Betsy Carruthers
Here in Alaska, there is no school size classification in Nordic skiing, so Glennallen competes with the big schools. We are truly in a David versus Goliath scenario. In high school basketball and volleyball, Glennallen competes as a Class 2A school. We are the only Class 2A school in Nordic skiing, and we’re competing pretty well with Class 3 schools such as Valdez, North Pole, Monroe, and Hutchinson. In summary, Goliath knocked us back this year, but we plan to return with a better slingshot next year.
5.) Thanks again to our Nordic ski friends on the Valdez ski team! Glennallen skiers compete well with their skiers. These young athletes push each other to do better but also support each other on and off the racecourse. Coach Beck and Coach Good are continuously beneficial to us with their stream of pertinent advice, readiness to respond to our endless questions, and through their ceaseless encouragement. Thank you all!
6.) Thanks to ASAA for organizing such a remarkable athletic event. All the race staff, paid and unpaid, were most supportive and encouraging.
7.) We’re already planning for next year and thinking of ways to enable our Glennallen skiers to excel. These young athletes have demonstrated their willingness to work hard, and we hope to recruit even more committed athletes to join our high school team for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
8.) An unexpected but sincerely awesome opportunity came our way while at the State Nordic Ski Championship, when we were able to meet our Alaska Nordic ski hero and USA Olympian Kikkan Randall! Kikkan is a member of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage Board of Directors and attended Friday and Saturday’s races to encourage the high school athletes to reach for their Nordic skiing dreams.
Grace enters the stadium with competitors. Photo by Jason Severs