The Fighting Marmot: Savannah Blide

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Team Nordic Flexes Muscles Before Nationals

SBA Team Nordic has ambitions beyond Saturday's state championships, to be sure. Fulfilling the pre-season team goal of qualifying every SBA racer for Junior Nationals, the entire team will be departing Friday for Fairbanks, Alaska, to race against the very best in the country.

Saturday, though, was a chance to make a team statement versus its peers in the state, and - after a season of some health adversity for a number of SBA Nordic racers - it still turned out to be a blue-and-white day yesterday at Auburn Ski Club. Please enjoy the photo below, then scroll down for the full story of marmot muscle flexing.

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Statement: delivered!
Katrin Larusson took top-of-the-podium honors with impressive first-place finishes in both the classic and skate races, and the girls' team again garnered enough season points to repeat as Nordic League Varsity Women champions. The results sheet appeared to be printed in Sugar Bowl blue and white, with SBA's Danielle Nivinski third, Camille Hartley fifth, Bria Riggs sixth, Elise Hardy eleventh and Savannah Blide twelfth.

Sam Zabell had the strongest showing for the boys' team, racing to a third-place overall finish with a particularly strong skate race. Peter Carroll placed sixth, Casey Jobe eleventh, and Skyler Mullings thirteenth. The boys finished second on the season among Nordic League Varsity Men.

The Fighting Marmot congratulates both the boys and girls Nordic ski racers and wishes them - along with the entire Far West team - the very best against the very best in Alaska.

Nordic Marmots Strong on "Home Snow"

For a full photo essay of our home race, please click HERE

Sugar Bowl played host to a high school Nordic ski race Friday, with some impressive results for SBA racers both at our well-attended and spirited "home snow" race as well as on Sunday at Tahoe City Cross Country's Junior Nationals Qualifier.

Head Nordic Coach Jeff Schloss was kind enough to offer the following summary of season highlights thus far. Thank you, Jeff, and congratulations to team Nordic on a very strong start to the season!

"The 2012/2013 Nordic race season is still in the early stages, with races running all the way until the middle of April, but things are off to a great start for the Fighting Marmots' Nordic squad. In the CNISSF school league, SBA captured first place for women and second place for men in the opening race, the Kirkwood relay. The SBA team of Danielle Nivinski, Elise Hardy, and Katrin Larusson dominated the race with a win by over a minute, and the young J2 boys with Peter Carroll, Skyler Mullings, and Sam Zabell skied to a strong second place. In the SBA home CNISSF race on January 11th, all SBA athletes who raced placed in the varsity top ten, including Katrin Larusson in first, Camille Hartley in ninth, Savannah Blide in tenth, Sam Zabell in fourth, Peter Carroll in sixth, Skyler Mullings in ninth, and Casey Jobe in tenth. In Far West racing, SBA athletes have been very strong in the Junior National qualifying races, with age-group wins from Katrin, Sam, and Danielle, as well as strong qualifying races from almost the entire team. On the National front, the older girls of Katrin, Danielle, Elise, and Bria have been racing at the U.S. Super Tour races in West Yellowstone, Montana, the Bozeman Super Tour (Katrin) and U.S. Nationals in Soldier Hollow, Utah (Katrin, Danielle, and Elise). The biggest highlights of these races have come with Katrin winning the J1 girls classic race in Bozeman and coming in fourth for J1 girls in the skate sprint at U.S. Nationals. Some goals for the team this year include trying to qualify the entire team for the Junior National Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska, putting an SBA athlete on the podium at Junior Nationals, winning the CNISSF league for women, and coming in top two for men. Finally, we would like to see every SBA athlete feel that they have improved significantly from last year. The season is young, but we feel we are on the way to achieving our ambitious goals!"

Steeling Themselves for The Hike Ahead

Our inaugural, experiential-learning Trips program (click HERE if you missed that post) isn't until late April, but SBA student-athletes are already prepping for their various field experiences. Recently, each of the five trips groups met to detail the curriculum that trip leaders have developed to enhance the learning experience. The Lost Coast of Northern California group will be backpacking 24.6 miles along one of the nation's only coastal wilderness areas. To prepare themselves for this experience, the group is reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

Learning Hands-On in Blackwood Canyon

A focal point of SBA teaching and learning is, increasingly, engaging all the senses through hands-on experience.

With the addition this year of our trips program (click HERE if you missed my previous post on the subject) and field experiences such as the recent Tahoe Basin Watershed Education Summit, experiential learning is emerging as a hallmark of the SBA academic experience.

Seven SBA student-athletes camped three nights at Blackwood Canyon from Oct. 3rd-6th, conducting an extensive watershed assessment in support of the US Forest Service's efforts to restore this sensitive and important ecosystem.

Thank you to SBA tenth-grader Sam Zabell for the following report of his experience in Blackwood Canyon!

Sam Zabell in his TBWES tee-shirt

"The Tahoe Basin Watershed Education Summit was a great experience. It provided us with the opportunity to talk with experts in the fields of hydrology, geology, ornithology, as well as scientists from the Tahoe-Baikal Institute. We were able to use high-tech, professional instruments to take measurements of real data through streambed cross sections and do engaging fieldwork. By participating in this summit, I was exposed to a wide array of sciences and jobs in the field... It has left me with a greater understanding of water sciences and how watersheds function."

Biology teacher Andy Giordano offered the following retrospective of the experience: "Our students had an awesome time, learned a bunch and impressed the other adults that were there. I think we made some very positive connections to the Basin educational and environmental communities and showed some folks just how incredible our students can be."

Click HERE to learn more about the TBWES and HERE to view Andy Giordano's slide show from the field.

Marmots Go Retro at South Lake

The following report of Fighting Marmots running wild comes from Head Nordic/XC Coach Jeff Schloss:

We had a super fun day at the South Tahoe Retro Relays. Our Varsity girls' team of Savannah, Lauren, Elise, and Danielle medaled in fifth place out of a strong field, and our young boys' team of Sam, Sklyer, Casey, and Peter were fifth in the JV boys' race. Overall there were about 80 teams, and many were decked out in costumes. SBA looked sharp and even fielded a coaches' team with Ambrose, Martin, Jeff, and Cassidy’s Dad, Doug, joining us. We weren't the fastest coaches' team but we looked the best!

June Snow!

SBA Goes Big, Then Home at Pole Peddle Paddle

Congratulations, again, to Nordic Coaches Schloss and Tuscano for their fantastic finish at the Pole Peddle Paddle last weekend in Bend, Oregon!

Coach Schloss submitted the following highlights. You will notice that each of the SBA student-athlete teams that participated in the event finished first in its division!

"Bend, Oregon’s Pole Pedal Paddle is a six-leg relay race that includes alpine skiing/snowboarding, xc skiing, biking, running, canoe/kayaking, and a sprint to the finish for a total distance of about 34 miles. This year, 2,922 racers competed in the 882 individual/team entries. Olympian and US Nordic Ski Team member Kris Freeman won the men’s elite division and XC Oregon’s Stephanie Howe won her third straight title in the women’s elite race. Six SBA teams represented Far West Nordic. All SBA teams came in first in their division with the exception of coaches Ambrose Tuscano and Jeff Schloss who were second in their age group but seventeenth overall. Ambrose alpine skied, biked, and paddled while Jeff nordic skied, ran and sprinted.

Team SBA: Skyler Mullings and Casey Jobe - WINNERS of pairs age 17 and under.

Team Gangstar Ninjas: Cassidy Cichowicz and Scott Cooper - WINNERS of coed pairs age 18-24.

Team PB: Bria Riggs and Peter Carroll - WINNERS of coed pairs under 17.

Team Victorious Secret (males): Joe Piercy and Austin Meng - WINNERS of male pairs 18-24.

Team Victorious Secret (females): Savannah Blide and Erika Klenk - WINNERS of female pairs under 17."

Left to Right: Casey Jobe, Jeff Schloss, Skyler Mullings, Peter Carroll,
Austin Meng, Scott Cooper

Keeping Our Campus Clean!

Sugar Bowl Academy faculty and student-athletes worked together during advisory today to collect garbage from the campus grounds and around the West Bay parking area of Sugar Bowl Resort. You will notice an SBA Suburban packed for the Pole, Peddle, Paddle in Bend, OR. Go Fighting, Garbage-Collecting, Poling, Peddling, Paddling Marmots!

Student Art on Display

SBA Nordic Team Dominant in First Junior Nationals Qualifier

The following report of Marmot mastery of snow and skis comes courtesy of Nordic Coaches Schloss and Tuscano...

Bria Riggs (photo by Mark Nadell)

"The snow was only 4 inches deep on the trails of Auburn Ski Club on December 28 for the first Junior National Qualifier (JNQ) race of the 2011-2012 season, but this did not stop the SBA Nordic team from turning in some remarkable performances in the classic sprint race.

"Every SBA J1 and J2 had a qualifying time in the 1.2K preliminary round. There are three more JN qualifiers and these athletes who qualified in this first race only need to qualify in one more of the qualifiers to make the Far West Team for the 2012 Junior National Championships which will be held in Soldier Hollow Utah, March 5-12th.

"The format for the JNQ race included a 1.2-kilometer preliminary loop with each athlete racing against the clock. Next, athletes were ranked by their preliminary race times and the top 20 women and the top 20 men raced in 4-person head to head heats. The top 2 from each heat advanced to a semifinal heat of six racers and then the top two from each semifinal advanced to the final.

"Junior National qualifying was based on the preliminary round only and the Fighting Marmots came out fast. Bria Riggs had the fastest time of all the women followed closely by Katrin Larusson, Cassidy Cichowicz, Laurel Fiddler, Joelle Romo, Savannah Blide, Danielle Nivinski, and Camille Hartley for an SBA sweep of the top 8 places! SBA senior Kelly Habibi qualified in 11th place and J3 racer Olivia Jeffrey was outside the qualifying cut off but skied strong in 19th place.

"In the men’s qualifying round, Joe Piercy had a breakout race with the 8th fastest overall and second fastest junior time. Joe was followed by Sam Zabell in 13th with the fastest J2 time and by Peter Carroll in 20th; all three of these guys easily made the JN qualifying standard. J3s Skyler Mullings and Trent Hommeyer raced strong against the field of older racers placing 28th and 37th respectively.

"In the women’s heats it was again SBA dominating the field again, with the overall win going to Katrin Larusson, with Laurel Fiddler in second, and Cassidy Cichowicz in third. Bria Riggs finished 4th and was the top J2 while Joelle Romo, Danielle Nivinski, and Camille Hartley swept the top spots of the “B” final for places 7-9.

"The men’s heats were highly competitive with several strong college racers and a member of the US ski team and the Canadian Development team on hand to mix it up with the Far West juniors. SBA graduate Austin Meng had one of the best sprint races of his life, taking 3rd while Sam Zabell placed 9th and Joe Piercy 11th.

"All in all it was an extremely strong day for SBA and sets the stage for what looks to be an awesome year for the Nordic squad. Now if it would just start snowing…

The Fighting Marmot

Who's in the Burrow?