The high school cross country ski team has been able to get some early kilometers (k’s) in on the Pincushion Mountain trails as they get ready for the upcoming Nordic schedule of high school races. Once again CCHS is combining with Two Harbors to form one team.
With snow blanketing the local forests the high school Nordic ski team has cut back on their dry land training and switched over to cross country skiing, said head coaches David and Becky Bartol.
The husband-wife duo is coaching for the second year in a row, and is in the process of reestablishing a once-proud program at CCHS.
But, just like last year, the CCHS team is partnering with the Two Harbors squad in a cooperative agreement like the one used in cross country running between the two programs.
This year’s CCHS team is smaller than last year’s squad, said Becky. There are more boys competing than girls, and there is room for kids to join if they wish to do so.
“Kurt Farchmin is a mentor, teaching technique to the team,” said Becky. “The first event we will participate in is a meet at Ely December 13 and it is a skate race. The team has been scrambling to find venues with enough early season snow this year that host meets.”
Because of the distance between the two teams it’s not easy to get together and train with each other. That won’t be the case over the Christmas break, however.
A grant from the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation allowed the Cook County High School Nordic team to purchase some gear to help with dry land training. Here, Lance Bartol and Cecelia Chemlik use bands to help build muscles they will use in their quest to get faster at the two disciplines of cross country skiing they will perform when they race at meets. Today the kids race classic and skate styles with the two times added up to see where they place. The kids’ first race of the season is this coming weekend in Ely. Plans are to have a race at Pincushion Mountain in January. More to come. Photo courtesy of Dave/Becky Bartol
“We will host a ski camp over the holiday break with Two Harbors, since we have snow at Pincushion. Other than the ski camp the two teams in the cooperative practice independently,” said Becky.
So far training has gone well, added Dave Bartol.
“Practices so far have included dry land training, when there was not enough snow to ski, classic ski training and now this week skate ski training,” he said. “We’ve been skiing about an hour at each practice now, after warm-ups which last between 15 and 20 minutes each day. We follow that up with stretching after each practice for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
“There is a range in the abilities of the Cook County half of the team, but they work together well. We do specific drills together as a team such as skiing on one ski to develop balance and they encourage and challenge each other. As we get more snow, we’ll also do some agility training on skis that we first started during dry land training,” Dave said.
Local kids competing include the coaches’ son, Lance, who is a CCHS captain this year.
“As a senior and second year racer, we expect Lance (Bartol) to improve his per kilometer pace at races this season,” said his father. “Danny (Berka) is also a second-year racer and we expect his technique and strength to improve.
“Cecelia (Chmelik) has been cross country running for years but is new to Nordic ski racing and she is developing the needed skiing skills. Even though this a rebuilding year we expect to have some good race results as many skiers (Cook County and Two Harbors) are building on their race experience and technical ski ability from last season.
“Three of the Two Harbors students spent Thanksgiving week at the annual Yellowstone camp and ski festival,” said David.
Birkie Foundation grant
The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation gave the ski team a grant for $1,800; money the team has put to good use.
“The Cook County students have been able to use the Birkie Foundation grant for some ski equipment and daily training supplies that we use to enhance their strength and range of motion for ski-specific exercises,” said Becky. “As they spend more time on snow skiing either classic or freestyle technique, their skills will increase as well as their ability to ski faster.”
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