Results:
     Rider     14 Laps
     Erin      11
     Tom       10
     Sam       10
     Marta     10
     Emily D.   9
     Karen      9
     Mikaela    9
     Don        9 (classical)

2002 Olympic XC skiing!
















We were treated to a thrilling Olympics by athletes striving for excellence. It is always exciting to see people stretching themselves to their limits and a little beyond.

The Americans had their best Olympics in 25 years. Fifth in the Men's relay, Minnesotan John Bauer's 12th in 15 km classical, Nina Kemppel's 17th in 30 km classical and Canada's Beckie Scott Silver medal in the classical/skating pursuit (first medal by a North American since 1976!).

But when athletes cheat to reach higher limits, it makes us all sick. Why must they take something as simple and pure as sports and make it immoral? It's sad and it makes a wonderful, healthy sport look dirty.



Russian cheater Larissa Lazutina waves off the cameras.
She had to return her Gold and Silver medals and will likely be banned from competition for 2 years (why not for life?).

Once again the media makes XC skiing looks like a sport for druggies. (Mostly,... it's not.) Ever since it was discovered that more red blood cells carry more oxygen, people have been looking for way to boost their hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. It can be done naturally by living at higher altitudes. But it can also be done with drugs. The one used this time was Darbepoetin and it was released to the public only last June for treating kidney transplant patients with anemia. The cheaters they caught claimed it was OK because it wasn't on the illegal drug list (even though it does the same things the banned drugs do). They didn't even have the guts to admit they were WRONG. Very immature and immoral.

It's all about knowing the difference between Right & Wrong. It's not that hard.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, a former surgeon who has an extensive knowledge of drugs in sport, said: "Technically you can be an Olympic champion. But morally is a totally different issue", he stated on Sunday. "Competitors who fail drug tests lose their moral status as Olympic champions even if they cannot be stripped of all their medals because of legal reasons."

Swedish cross-country skier Per Elofsson, who finished 18th behind Muehlegg in the 50km race on Saturday, was equally unforgiving to the 31-year-old. "How can you stand there on the podium and receive people's cheers when you know you're a cheater?"




Canada's Beckie Scott (in photo at left) would have won the Gold (rather than Silver) if the Russian cheaters had been discovered sooner. But like a true champion, she still says she was happy to get a medal - any color.
BRAVO to the first North American Olympic XC medal winner in 26 years!






T
Want to read 2 cool stories about improving young skiers from Minnesota?
Go to http://www.skinnyski.com/notices/archives/skinnyski-2.html to read about the winners in a Minnesota High School Most Improved Skier contest. **************
T
Ben finally wrote an article about his January 2002 trip to Norway.
Read it before it comes out in the March adult ski club newsletter by clicking on "Articles and Stories" on the blue bar on the left of the main page.
T Great Weekend for All MadNorSkis

and
Ben Won!

Ben won the high school race in Minocqua last weekend (against Rhinelander, Wausau West, Wausau Newman, Ashwaubenon, Lakeland and Waukesha West), Hans place highly and Marta, Emily, Rider, Amanda, Mikaela, John, Karen, Ansel and Emily R. were in the thick of it.

In Wheaton, Illinois, at the Northern Illinois Nordic Race, Amanda, Kristin, Paul, Tom, Nicole, Nicole, Michelle, Nathan and Martha had fun and brought back lots of hardware.
Results can be found at http://www.chicagoaa.com/results/NINresults2002.html

T Ben Won! - again
Cut it out Ben, this is getting boring. -----------Just kidding.
At the season's final CXC selection races for Junior Olympics, Ben was the overall winner in the sprint competition for boys aged 16-19 (Ben's 17). He had to win four 1.0 kilometer heats against the best in the Midwest including some very good college skiers. He also place 6th in that group in the 15 km. classical race on Sunday. Although Ben was pre-selected prior to this weekend, he will be one of 50 athletes from Minnesota and Wisconsin to compete for the Midwest team at the Junior Olympics in McCall, Idaho the first week of March.
Good Luck, Ben! We'll be rootin' for ya!

T Stump Farm race report: Three of your teammates raced in Green Bay this weekend. Nicole S. & Ansel raced in the 4 km middle school race (Ansel won!). Then Ansel went on to ski in the 10 km race and Louise skied the 20 km race as training for the upcoming 23 km Kortelopet. Way to go gang!

Coach Don skied the 10 km Book Across the Bay race from Ashland to Washburn (across the snow-covered ice of Chequamegon Bay) and was 41st overall & 3rd in his age class. The race is started at sundown and the course is illuminated by 500 blocks of ice with candles in them - very pretty. The finish has a bonfire, fireworks, a big tent, free food, a good band and a place to dance! Would anyone like to organize this as a team trip next year?


T
Ben Cline
Wisconsin High School
CHAMPION

--- and "Skimeister" of both techniques ---
In what was one whale of a race, Madison West's own Ben Cline and Hayward's Donvan Dums battled for the boys overall pursuit title at the 21st Annual Wisconsin High School Nordic Ski Championships held Feb 9 & 10 in Rib Lake, WI. In the freestyle race, Ben edged Donovan by 1 second, and then bumped up that lead with a 6 second victory in the classical race.

(Flashback: two years ago, Ben Cline was the first receipt of the Most Improved High School Skier of the Year by the skiinyski.com web page. You can read the funny story about his freshman year High School Championships experience [where he placed 47th and 58th] by going to: http://www.madnorski.org/benmoimp.html)

The Madison West boys team tied for 4th in the pursuit and were and exciting 2nd in the team classical results (for which no awards are given -Dang!).

The up & coming Madison Memorial girls team placed a strong 6th among the 14 participating girls teams, showing what they could be capable of next year with a strong focus on some year-round ski training.

Maria Stuber of Waukeska West won the individual girls' overall title. Team titles went out to the Haywards boys, and Lakeland Girls -- both teams winning by wide margins.

Our Madison area teams had 21 of our team members competing this weekend. Congratulations to each and every one of you for a fine showing. Time to start dreaming BIG for next year!

Full results are available at http://www.itiming.com/
Note:BE PATIENT! Checking results requires that you have the free Adobe Acrobat software loaded on your computer AND downloading all the data may take several minutes. CHILL!

Want to see some photos from the weekend?
Click on the word "Photos" in the blue column on the left of this page.


There is also a new addition to THE LIST section. Click on it in the blue column on the left.

Cool bell, eh? This is a traditional cheering bell for XC skiing made in Norway; the birthplace of XC. Three of your teammates won one of these as age class awards last weekend in the
23 kilometer Noquemanon Ski Race
held in Marquette, Michigan!
Kristin Gallagher was First in the 16-17 year old age class in 1:38:42

Marta Drew was Third in the 15 and under age class in 1:39:35

Erin McMahon was Third in the 18-19 year old age class in 1:47:309

All three finishing times will be good enough to move these girls up to the 5th starting Wave for the Kortelopet/Birkebeiner Ski Race at the end of February.
Way to go gals!

BTW, Coach Don was 2nd in his age class and 7th overall in the 23 kilometer Classical style version of the same race. :^) Not bad after breaking a pole.
And Coach Willi Van Haren was 3rd in his age class in the 40 kilometer classical race

Results can be found at:
http://www.itiming.com



We kicked butt at the Fridtjof Nansen race January 26, 2002!!!
(in Eau Claire)

Memorial Girls team 1st
Madison West Boys team 4th - (lost 3rd by tie breaker)

Kristin Gallagher - 1st in age class
Amanda Durkin - 2nd in age class
Louise Jones - 2nd in age class
Tom Richner - 3rd in age class

Way to go EVERYONE! You had some GREAT races !!!
We placed 10 of our girls in the Top 20 and we were racing against team who all have had more snow than we have. See........roller skiing may not be the most fun, but it pays off!

Official race results can be found....
( You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download these results & it is available at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html )

By overall place at:
http://www.itiming.com/media/fridtjof02/fridtjof_div.pdf
By age class at:
http://www.itiming.com/media/fridtjof02/fridtjof_age.pdf
And by team placing at:
http://www.itiming.com/media/fridtjof02/fridtjof_t.pdf



Marta Drew kickin' some tail at the Eau Claire Fridtjof Nansen 5 km. freestyle race Jnauary 20, 2002.

Want to see your photo from the race? The check out this site http://www.midwestphotos.com/cgi-bin/store/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Cross-Country_Skiing/01-20-02_Fridtjof_Nansen_Magic_Crust_Classic


T Some interesting news:
The U.S. Olympic cross-country squad has just been named and it includes Lindsey Weir, a 17 year-old high school student from Minnesota who Ben Cline knows and has trained with. She is the first high school student to ever make the U.S. squad. Lindsey has had a phenominal early season this year. She does not expect to really do well until the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy. Read more at: http://www.xcskiworld.com/news/index.html
Click on "January 2002 Updates" and go to Jan. 21.

Minnestoa high school student Lindsey Weir chosen for Olympic team.


--- End of Old News ---