High Schools

The Midwest Junior National Team has been finalizing travel arrangements and refining their training in preparation for the US Junior National Championships in Anchorage, Alaska March 8-16, 2008.

The Midwest Team is presenting one of its' largest and strongest contingencies in recent years. "All of our age groups are very deep and strong and some very good results have been posted all year" states Karen Cook Midwest Team Head Coach. "Two of our returning athletes are defending National Champions in Jessie Diggins of Afton, MN and Kyle Fredrickson of Hayward, WI. Also, Joe Dubay of Coon Rapids, MN is skiing for the Midwest after having gained some excellent international race experience this season while representing the US in Estonia at the Scandinavian Cup Races."

The Midwest Team is made up of 52 athletes, 10 coaches, and 2 support staff. The Team will arrive in Anchorage on March 7th and have two training days prior to their first race on Monday the 10th. The first race is a 1.3K Individual Classic Sprint. Other individual races will be a Classic Mass Start 5/10/15K race on Wednesday and a Freestyle Interval Start 5/10K race on Friday. Saturday's races will consist of 3x5K Freestyle Team Relays.

Whether you make it to Alaska or not, you can follow the schedule and results at www.anchoragenordicski.com/jo2008/index.html.

Watch Cross Country Skiing- Real 07:17
Watch Cross Country Skiing- Windows 07:17

WI State HS Team Sprint Championships (Madison)

February 2^nd and 3^rd found many of the high school skiers in Madison for the HS State Sprint Championships. It’s a great weekend for the kids racing in front of our State Capitol building. The sprints bring a lot of excitement as spectators can see the whole event and watch leads change right in front of them. The relay consists of 3 people who race in qualifying heats and then a final heat for the top three podium spots. It was a very exciting time for our Wausau Teams. Saturday was the team relays using the skate technique. Waukesha West boys were 1^st, Hayward 2^nd, and Wausau West was 3^rd , after a well fought battle with Newman-Marawood which took 4^th (this was out of 8 teams). Wausau West girls were 2^nd after Hayward which was 1^st, Lakeland 3^rd, and Wausau East girls were 5^th out of 8 teams. On Sunday were the individual classic sprints. Finals for those skiers in the 17-32^nd places coming out of the qualifiers were Mark Punzenberger from East in 6^th, Megan Marshall in 2^nd from West, and Laura Maguire from East in 5^th (these were out of the top 8). The finals for the 1^st-16^th individual qualifiers were equally exciting for Wausau. Chris Bowler from Newman-Marawood was 1^st, and Ben Hugus from West was 2^nd out of the top 8. Eileen Burke and Brittany Drengler from West were 3^rd & 4^th out of the top 8. The event in Madison, now called Winter-Fest, includes other skiing events with Super Tour athletes as well as disabled athletes. It is a full weekend of music, ice and snow sculpture, and of course plenty of good places to eat. Everyone came home very tired, but also very happy with their results. People all around the Capitol Square commented on all the "Wausau" athletes in attendance. Our name is certainly out there as a hot bed for high school cross-country skiing!

You are invited to view John's photo album: Rhinelander Ski Race

Rhinelander Ski Race

Rhinelander, WI - Northwoods Country Club -

Jan 6, 2008
by John

HS ski race held at Northwood Country Club in Rhinelander on January 6, 2008.

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Past Wausau High School Cross-country skiers at the Senior Nationals in Houghton, MI (Tech University Trails) January 1st-6^th were Bill Bowler Jr. (Newman) and Matt Rowe (Wausau East).

Current high school skiers that participated this year at Senior Nationals were Eileen Burke (West), Ben Hugus (West), and Chris Bowler (Newman).

Why go to ski camp? Because it’s fun, you learn a lot, you meet skiers from other places and ski and race with them, you eat pasties, you have a chance to be coached by other coaches besides your own, you get to ski on pristine trails at Swede Town, race on a course used by the Senior Nationals the Michigan Tech Trails, and you get to visit “Snow Country”! This year on the way up we stopped at the After Glow in Phelps and had a great ski in an unbelievable snowy wonderland. If you are a parent who skis and joins us at camp (someone has to drive) you get to ski on the same trails the kids are on and join other adults for a couple evenings of dining and conversation. Anyone from the club is invited to share the great motel rates with the group for a few days, but it doesn’t seem to have caught on yet. I can tell you that you haven’t seen PERFECT Grooming until you have been there. Talk with anyone who has gone and you’ll be convinced to give it a try. Our measure of success is that people who go once continue to make it a part of their holiday week plans. Parents and kids leave already talking about “Next Year’s” ski camp.

Being a leap year we will probably change the dates to the 29^th,30^th and 31^st , so watch for the info in the first newsletter next fall when we reserve the rooms. Give Ski Camp a try, you won’t regret it!!!

Kristen Yeager from West who received the Van Ert Scholarship and will be attending UW-Eau Claire majoring in education.

Matt Doede from the Wausau Newman-Marawood team who received a club scholarship and will be attending UW-Stevens Point.

Both were very deserving athletes and scholars who we hope will continue to make cross-country skiing a part of their life.

Midwest Team Makes Final Preparations For US Junior Nationals

Does X-Country Running Make Better Skiers OR Does X-Country Skiing Make for Better Runners?

2007 Scholarship Recipients