This past Sunday was the 15km classic mass start race at Wirth.  CXC men and women had another great day.  Brian Gregg finished 1st, winning his first individual SuperTour and Rebecca won for the women!  I finished in 5th, my best SuperTour mass start classic finish ever.  I’ve attached a few pics from the men’s race.  Thanks to Bruce Adelsman, John Swain and Mark Lahtinen for taking some awesome pictures.  Also, thank you to all the volunteers, race officials and spectators who made this a great weekend of racing in Minneapolis.

Different warmup routines… stretch, swing, thinking about the beach

Cook and I leading the train

CXC boys in front

Good day for CXC, we had rocket skis!  Felt good and had the home crowd support.  Thank you to all my family and friends who came out to cheer.

http://blogs.fasterskier.com/continentalcup/2010/01/23/cxc-dominates-minnesota-supertour/

This past Tuesday the U.S announced their 2010 Winter Olympic Team. The team includes: Morgan Arritola, Caitlin Compton, Kris Freeman, Torin Koos, Andy Newell, Kikkan Randall, James Southam, and Liz Stephen. I want to congratulate these eight athletes on making the team and wish them nothing but the best as they head for Vancouver!

This past year FIS made a rule change to the Olympic Quota System which, at the moment, has only given the U.S.  8 start spots for men and women combined.  The U.S. brought 18 athletes, 11 men and 7 women to the Olympics 4 years ago under the old rules.

Once I saw the U.S. only had 8 Olympic start spots I knew it would be difficult to make the team. I want everyone to know I never gave up hope and tried my very best. In the process, I had my best start to a ski season ever… even racing fast at altitude.

I have a full racing schedule ahead of me for the rest of the year, including a very important World Cup race in Canmore and the American Birkie!

I want to thank CXC, Bryan Fish, my teammates and ALL my wonderful sponsors! I have had so much support, it is truly amazing! I also want to thank my family and friends. Most importantly I want to thank Marybeth, she is the glue that holds everything together.

I have no regrets; God has truly blessed me and our family over the past 4 years.

This is going to be great.  Home field advantage for me this weekend.  Sleeping in my own bed, eating my own food and driving around in my own car… sweet!

Come out and watch some of the races if you can. 

http://www.jo2011.com/joq/