JHSC Skiers Hit Western REG
Earlier in July, four JHSC Nordic athletes attended the US Ski Team's Western Regional Elite Group camp in Bozeman, MT. Nordic Comp Team Head Coach Luna Wasson also attended as an invited coach to the camp, which is a collaboration between western clubs and the US Ski Team for the best U18 and U20 athletes in the region. Aurora Stiles, Peter Warner, Lucas Wilmot, and Lena Poduska all qualified based on their fantastic results this winter.
The camp lasted for a week and included all sorts of fantastic training opportunities including an uphill running time trial, distance rollerskis in the farm roads around Bozeman, presentations by US Ski Team staff about development and training, and a classic rollerski sprint simulation. The athletes all had fun and put in some strong performances in the time trials, with JHSC athletes right in the mix with everyone from around the country!
However, results this early in the training season don't matter as much as the hours and strong work that people are putting in this time of year. The most important thing is for the athletes to have fun with Nordic friends from throughout the region and lay down some solid training with other fast skiers, not to perform in the time trials. This is one of the main development camp opportunities run through the US Ski Team, and JHSC has athletes at every level.
Next week many JHSC athletes will attend another elite US Ski Team camp, this time at the U16 age group. National U16 Camp will be in Lake Placid, NY and we have three athletes attending; Abby Murphy, Sam Hutchinson, and Nate Streubel. This is the first opportunity for athletes to atttend a US Ski Team camp and it is great to have so many skiers among the best in the country! They will be gone from July 31st to August 6th, and they are going to train with the best and compete in rollerski and running time trials. Hopefully they will come away from the camp with a wealth of knowledge and make some new friends along the way!
Summer Training Heats Up
Meanwhile in Jackson Hole...the Nordic Program has been absolutely hammering some solid summer training with athletes from middle school to collegiate ages all working to be the best they can be! We have over 50 athletes signed up for summer training including 24 Prep/Comp athletes, 16 summer collegiate skiers, and 11 middle school Juniors! This is by far the most people we have had at practice all summer and we are so stoked to have so much good Nordic energy every day at training!
Our weekly mountain adventures continue to be a highlight for summer training, and we have summitted peaks all around Jackson Hole including Glory, Jackson Peak, Cream Puff Peak, and Rendezvous Peak (TWICE)! We have also gone on long mountain runs up Death Canyon, around Phelps, and up Granite Canyon! In addition to the mountain adventures, athletes have been putting in the work on rollerskis doing speed work, intervals, technique training, and agility at locations throughout the valley. We also lead two focused strength sessions per week at the JHSC Club's gym at Snow King. One particular highlight has been utilizing the new pathway on the Idaho side for rollerski transition work. The path from Mike Harris to Stateline is a great resource that is essentially a rollerski track for our personal use, with lots of big uphills, transitions, and steep grades where athletes can click through the gears. This is in addition to the wealth of bike paths we already have available, including Teton Pass, where the team just did a big set of intervals!
Luna Wasson becomes Comp Team Head Coach
Luna Wasson has become the Head Coach of the JHSC Comp Team! Luna has been the assistant coach for the Comp Team for the last three years, and has raised the level of the program with her dedication and professionalism. Luna will be leading the Comp Team and will be primarily responsible for designing and leading daily training, Comp Team parent and athlete communication, and leading and planning travel. Luna has been coaching for the Club for four years, the last three with the Prep/Comp Team as the Assistant Coach. She is a JHSC Nordic alum and has been a huge asset to the program over the past three years. Luna's new position will help us take the Nordic Program to the next level and she is the best combination of Nordic expertise, local understanding, and hard work to make things happen!
I am not going anywhere, I will remain as the Nordic Program Director and coach the Comp Team year-round! I will still be at every practice and race, and will continue collaborating with Comp coaches in designing our training plans. Coaching the Comp Team will still be a big part of my role moving forward. We have already transitioned into these new roles and it has been working out great. I am using the time saved by Luna's promotion to work on enhancing the Nordic program as a whole. We think that this move will benefit everybody on the Comp Team and better utilize the time and talent of our staff.
