College Race at Spirit Mountain

This weekend our team competed at the MCSA race at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, MN. A special thanks to the Ryan family for housing our team once again this year. The food was delicious, the beds very comfortable, the pingpong matches intense, and the hosts were amazing! We can't thank them enough.

The game: This weekend marked the first annual Intersquad Match. Teams were created by master-architect Jeff Stamp and much was put at stake. In this weekend's competition, each racer was matched with a racer of their same gender for a match. For example, Laurie Taschler raced Genette Sekse. If Taschler won, she got a point for her team, and vise versa. As there are an odd number of guy and girl racers, Kathleen Stefely and Gordon Finnegan were scored based on their place. The teams looked like the following... (the 1's from each team competed, 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3, etc.)
Team A
1. Max Lund
2. Nate Hansen
3. Connor Johnson
4. Laurie Taschler
5. Kayla Johnson
6. Kathleen Stefely
Team B
1. Nick Stang
2. Jeff Stamp
3. Joe Masciopinto
4. Genette Sekse
5. Alex Anderson
6. Gordon Finnegan

The stakes: the LOSING team will cook dinner for everyone the first night in Colorado (our entire team is traveling to Summit County next week for interim break to train and race). The winning team is entitled to any kind of ridicule, teasing, and downright child-like behavior while the losing team cooks.

The race: Saturday's GS competition was stiff. At the end of the day, Team A and Team B were tied. It was an exciting day for Olaf, as two freshmen won the race; Nate Hansen on the men's side, and Alex Anderson for the women. We all knew that Sunday's slalom competition was very important for the outcome of this intersquad match.

We all raced fiercely as each team fought for the victory. It was a close competition with 4 of 5 girls in the top 5, and 2 of 5 boys. Not only was it a good performance within this intersquad competition, but it was an outstanding performance for Olaf amongst the other college teams.

I know you are probably sitting at the edge of your chair, shaking with anticipation, wondering, waiting to hear which team won the first ever Intersquad Mens and Womens Combined Competition. But the truth is...after both days...the two teams were tied. Jeff Stamp's impeccable team making ability caused the teams to be so evenly matched that we went home unsettled with no real victor. We've decided that the fairest way of deciphering the winner is to flip a coin. I volunteered to flip a coin in the privacy of my home, but knew that the losing team would probably pull some rabel-rousing move and try to sabatoge me...slashing my skis or scratching my goggles. The winner of this weekend's intersquad competition will be posted this afternoon after practice. Stay tuned...

As for the MCSA Governor's Cup Title, Olaf took home the gold on both the men's and women's side. The overall results were as follows:
Men's GS:
1 Nate Hansen
5 Max Lund
7 Nick Stang
22 Jeff Stamp
27 Joe Masciopinto
50 Gordon Finnegan
81 Connor Johnson
Women's GS:
1 Alex Anderson
2 Genette Sekse
6 Laurie Taschler
7 Kayla Johnson
21 Kathleen Stefely
Men's Slalom:
2 Jeff Stamp
3 Nate Hansen
6 Max Lund
10 Joe Masciopinto
18 Gordon Finnegan
Women's Slalom:
1 Genette Sekse
2 Kayla Johnson
3 Laurie Taschler
5 Kathleen Stefely

More results at www.live-timing.com.

Thanks again to all of the parents who came up and watched us this weekend. We all appreciate your support!

Thanks also for continuing to send the blog link to friends, teammates, coaches, fans, strangers!