Lynch Reaches the A-Final at Soldier Hollow Schutzenski Festival
GRP's skiers tested their hard-won rollerski fitness at the Schutzenski XC Festival at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah, on October 16–17: a 10 km classic interval-start rollerski race on Friday and a skate sprint on Saturday, against a field that included the U.S. Ski Team, Nordiq Canada and the University of Utah.
Joe Lynch qualified 13th in the skate sprint, then advanced from his quarterfinal (2nd) and semifinal (4th) into the A-final. He finished sixth in 2:55.09, 0.88 seconds behind winner Gus Schumacher (2:54.21).
Lynch said the race's best benefit is "the opportunity to pull a good, hard, sprint qualifier against some very skilled competition." After qualifying, he wanted "to ski tactically well in the heats and work on the long sprint finish that this course provides." The (not so) secret on the Soldier Hollow sprint course, he said, is "don't be in the lead at the top of the downhill into the finish. I executed that in all my heats, but wasn't able to draft my way into a good position in the final. Those guys are too good to chase down over 100 meter drag race!"
Brian Bushey was sixth in Friday's 10 km classic in 22:59.1, 53.0 seconds behind Schumacher and ahead of national-team skiers including Zach Jayne (8th) and Michael Earnhart (9th).
Jack Young was 16th in the 10 km (23:49.1) and 11th in the sprint, where he qualified seventh and won his way out of his quarterfinal, then went down in his semifinal. Jack Christner, 22nd in the 10 km (24:12.3), qualified sixth in the sprint, took third in his quarterfinal and finished 14th. Quincy Massey-Bierman qualified 11th in the women's sprint and finished 21st.
Young said the weekend was a good start to the season: "I had a good qualifier (historically, I have qualified quite poorly at this event), and I used the draft to my advantage taking second in my quarter. I was coming around to make a similar move in my semifinal when I clipped the bolts of my rollerskis together and faceplanted going 50 kph. Luckily I came out with only some minor road rash!"
He treated the distance race as a workout more than a race effort. "The 18 days I spent at altitude in Utah was my last high volume block of training before the gradual taper into the competition season starts, and I'm happy with where my aerobic fitness is," he said. "These races make me optimistic about the coming season not because of the result on its own but because of the result compared to Schutzenski results in the past and my training at altitude before the races. ... I trained hard in Utah, had two acceptable results, and I'm really excited to spend the next month in Craftsbury getting fast."
Coach Annika Martell called it a "super fun weekend of roller ski racing," adding: "It was rewarding to see the athletes show up with composure and execute some great performances in such a stacked field." Of Joe and Brian, she said they "carried themselves with confidence and poise. I am truly impressed with all the athletes' approach to the racing and all of their results show progress."
The focus now, Martell said, is to "keep it rolling! Get some good quality intensity, drop the volume down a bit and build our confidence" before the first races on snow.