Hey folks, we are getting ready to close out our season. A lot of the big workouts are done. The hay is almost in the barn. Now, we will try to fix any technique things that we can, speed things up, and for beginners, get some longer skiing in. The next few weeks are busy, but so fun! We get into the long races and we get to celebrate all your hard work with some fast races and hopefully some great finishes. If you have questions, please always reach out. We want to make sure we are communicating the best we can and we do not know if there is confusion unless you tell us. Here are a few things coming up that you can all plan for.
1. The big race dates are set.
– Monday Jan 27 is the conference meet for varsity only (top 10 boys and top 10 girls) – others can come and watch but it is during the school day so they would need to have parents excuse them from school.
– Wednesday Jan 29- JV conference – you get to decide if you are going to skate or classic – pick your favorite
– Wednesday Feb 5 – Section race (varsity only top 7 boys and top 7 girls race with 2 alternates) . Others can come watch again but that needs to be decided and excused by parents, not coaches.
– Monday 2/10 – JV fun meet – this is a dress up in costumes and have a good time race.
– Feb 12 and 13 – state meet – hopefully we have a bunch of people qualify and head up.
2. The practice schedule this week is set. We have a similar week to last week and it is similar to what I would expect next week to look like too.
3. Wax room – we expect all varsity conference skiers to come and wax on Friday. We will do a bunch of it together on that day, then coach Heaton will finish them off for you. We hope that you have a separate pair of skis that you can ski on when we have them to finish the waxing. If you could borrow a pair, ski on an old pair, or we can find a rental for you.
4. Varsity skiers (top ten – we will announce the team as soon as we can so you can plan). If you ever have questions about why we chose who we did, please always ask. There are a lot of variables that we need to consider for these races. We need to think about sprints, 5ks, who is racing well now, who could potentially score for us, etc. Please know we do not make these decisions without considering as much as we can, but if you are still wondering, please ask. We want to make sure everyone knows we value them and their opinions.
5. The race this week – we will be 5k skating. I am going to update the conference schedule and the race for this week later tonight. We will have the final race teams figured out tomorrow.
6. Picture day is tomorrow. We will meet in Heaton’s room and stage there as much as possible. Middle schoolers, we will have someone meet you and bring you down to Heaton’s room. It will be cold, so make sure you dress appropriately. We would like you in crimson gear if possible, but do what you can.

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Giff
giffordm@district279.org