January 13, 2013 (Chittenden, VT) – “Anything can happen in a sprint race,” said Alex Jospe of Cambridge Sports Union, and one of today’s surprises was the number of coaches donning bibs and jumping in the sprint race. Young athletes competing in today’s sprints had no shortage of inspiration.

Alex Jospe from Cambridge Sports Union © MichaelSibilia.com

Many were chasing their coaches, and everyone was assisted at the start line by local Olympian and former U.S. Ski Team Head Coach, Mike Gallagher. Many of the younger athletes may not have know the gentleman chipping ice from their boots was of one of our sport’s best. Gallagher didn’t jump in the race, but several other coaches did.

Margaret Maher and Jason Hettenbaugh from NYSEF and Rochester Nordic Racing, Cam McKlugler of Frost Mountain Nordic, Shane MacDowell of BNS Acceleration Project, and Alex Jospe from Cambridge Sports Union all waxed, tested and prepped skis for their athletes before toeing the start line themselves.

Fabian Stocek, Holderness © MichaelSibilia.com

NENSA caught up with Frost Mountain Nordic coach Cam MacKlugler as he was preparing one of his J2 athletes for her heats. He took the edge off his young athlete’s nerves with his tongue in cheek response to what inspired him to race today: “I didn’t feel my athletes were respecting me in the way that they should. I put the bib on to hopefully coerce them back into respecting me, but I don’t think it worked.” To which he added, “luckily I beat them, but they’re a good ten years younger than me. I might have earned a little bit of respect there.”

“I love racing and I can’t quit,” said Alex Jospe of Cambridge Sports Union. “I have the best training partners in the country right now, that’s one of the reasons I keep racing.” Those training partners certainly help. Jospe was one of two coaches to advance into the heats, along with Shane MacDowell of BNS Acceleration Project who finished 20th. Spurred on by an energized cheering squad of her CSU athletes, Jospe skied onto the podium in third overall. “We have enough coaches and an awesome wax team, so there is always the opportunity to race,” said Jospe. “This is one of my favorite things about coaching here.”

For all these coaches, their athletes are the top priority. Of course, as Alex Jospe affirms, “the athlete comes first off the trail, but when we’re racing head to head, I’m a racer!”

For NYSEF coach Margaret Maher, “I do one Eastern Cup a year as my rule of coaching. It’s just fun to put a bib on and go out there and go through what the kids go through.” And Mountain Top? Maher says, “This is my home venue, its where I grew up skiing, so I had to do it.”

About New England Nordic Ski Association:
New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) is the Community Olympic Development Program for cross-country skiing in New England as well as the umbrella for most organized Nordic skiing events in the region. NENSA hosts events skiers, coaches and the Nordic community across the Northeast. Cross-country skiing, as practiced by our youth skiers and families, is a lifetime activity firmly rooted in New England tradition. Cross-country ski racing, as performed in the NENSA Eastern Cup series, and at our Championship Events, is a fast, explosive, and visually dynamic sport. It is NENSA’s mission to sustain a vital and active skiing community in New England.