Skiers of the Week - Utah Invite

We totally forgot to get this up last week but better late than never!

As you know, if you've been reading this blog, the Utah race was very difficult. Retrospect and an analysis of times and % points shows that it actually went fairly well for an early season race, despite the feelings of the day. Both men & women were about where they have been in the past and Gwynn tied her best race of last year so things went better than we thought. The only downside was the fact that only two men finished the race on Saturday, John & Dan.

The Men's Skier of the Week is John

John had a really solid weekend with his skate race besting all but one of last year's points! He skied well and smart. With just one slight bobble when Zhenya quit with one lap to go. He pulled it back together though and caught a CU racer in the last 5km!

He struggled a little with rough wax and new skis in the classic race but still pulled off a respectable 254 points, which puts him just about where he started in the first Div-I race last year.

Most importantly, on a weekend of difficult conditions, tough waxing and emotionally difficult trails John was positive, realistic and gave his all to the race.

Great job John!
You'll see John on the first lap at about 1:10

The Women's Skier of the Week is Gwynn.

Gwynn is always a great skier to have on the team, she always works hard, doesn't complain, tries her best and even when she's skiing on too stiff, slow, waxless skis she has a smile on her face.

For the women's race we ended up throwing Gwynn on a pair of waxless skis that were too stiff for her. Despite this she worked hard and managed a decent race under horrific conditions. When asked how it went she said, "Alright." Not a glowing recommendation but considering the skis, wind, lack of track, etc. it is truly amazing!

The skate race went much better with Gwynn fighting from the start and spending most of the race picking people off. She skied the last 2 laps with two racers from CU and MSU. No matter what she tried, they wouldn't take the lead, they just hung on her butt hoping to beat her in the end. That's what they did, just at the finish, but Gwynn made a valiant effort to break them before then and skied hard to hold them off. The % points for that race were better than any of the Elite Team Skate races from last year, not a bad start!

Great job Gwynn, your attitude and toughness is an inspiration!