MN Nordic Skiing College Championships

Wicked cold and blowing wind. That is what greeted the CSS ski team as we disembarked the bus in St. Cloud for the Minnesota College Nordic skiing championships. The temperature at the time of the men’s start was just 4 degrees with winds of 20 miles an hour. But we are Nordic skiers, and we are tough.
The race was a relay format, with each team submitting 2 person teams. Each member of the team would skate and then classic with a rolling time format. That means that as soon as the first leg skier tagged off to their teammate they had better change into their classic equipment quick to be ready for their next leg of the relay.
I started off as my team’s first skier. It was a short start zone, with only some 600 to 700m before the trail narrowed to a single skier width. Never the less I managed to keep a good pace and move up through the field. The legs of the relay were only 5k long, so to me – a long distance racer – it seemed to be over way to fast, but I held my own against more short distance specialists in the field. I finished the leg within about 25 seconds of the peloton, which was lead by my fellow CSS skier Jason K. I felt really good about this performance.
After tagging off to my teammate Matt Nistler I hustled over to the bus to change into my classic boots. After grabbing my skis and poles I ran back to the exchange zone where I waited for the appearance of my teammate. Matt also had a good race and came into the stadium area with a strong sprint. After tagging off to me, I was off to ski my 5k classic leg. The leg was also a strong performance for me and I felt strong for the duration of the race.
My race, and especially the skate leg of the relay, gave me a lot of confidence going into the college regional race this coming weekend. It was fun for the entire CSS team to do a relay format race, and just have an admittedly low key race with a little less pressure.

Bellow are some race photos taken by my teammate Alex Wall (AKA: Awall)