April 23, 2018 at 1:12 p.m.
RHS Nordic coach Reis gains experience through NENSA trip
RHS Nordic coach Reis gains experience through NENSA trip
She had a plane to catch, as part of a contingent of eight skiers and four coaches from the Midwest who were invited to take part in the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) U16 championships held at Gore Mountain in North Creek, N.Y.
During the week out East, Reis and the contingent experienced some strong competition, some brutal weather and came away with the realization that, in Rhinelander, skiers have only begun to scratch the surface of what they are capable of accomplishing.
"They can ski a lot faster than they think they can," Reis said. "Our kids can ski a lot faster than they think they can go. I've seen it."
How it started
Reis said another one of the coaches in the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League encouraged her to apply for the trip, which was led by Rice Lake coaches Kristin and Bjorn Hanson.
"He knows I have a more flexible schedule anyway and thought I may enjoy it," she said. "I went ahead and applied, which was fortuitous because they thought they needed more representation from Wisconsin because they knew there would be some athletes selected from Wisconsin, so there would be a good mix of Minnesotans and Wisconsinites."
There were three Wisconsinites on the eight-person roster - which Reis said was quite noteworthy given how participation in the sport at the high school level in Wisconsin pales in comparison to Minnesota. The team included another local tie, with Lakeland's Jake Van Hefty making the trip.
The competition
The event featured hundreds of accomplished skiers from the Northeast and a handful of invitees from elsewhere across the country through the United States Ski Association's junior program.
"This pipeline is very directed and meant to encourage athletes who are really focusing on one sport to make it to the higher levels - that could mean from a high school perspective you're trying to get into college and get a scholarship," Reis said. "From there, you're trying to get noticed at senior nationals and from there, you're hoping to make a national team, another cup team, or perhaps even an Olympic team."
The Central Cross Country Ski Association (CXC) is the Midwest's equivalent group to NENSA. Through a series of Junior National Qualifiers the best of the best from the Midwest were selected to take part Junior Nationals. A handful of skiers who just missed the cut were invited out East to ski with NENSA.
Four events were held over the three-day weekend - 5-kilometer races in both the freestyle and classic disciplines, a 1.25-kilometer skier-cross race and 4x3K mixed relay. There were roughly 100 skiers in each race and the Midwest contingent fared well - with six top-five, 10 top-10 and 18 top-20 finishes among their 24 entries in the three individual events. Additionally, the squad's two mixed relay teams posted the fifth- and ninth-fastest times out of 51 teams.
"We kind of cleaned house," Reis said. "It was amazing. You look at the pictures and you see all the ones (on the podium) in the Midwest uniforms, it was a totally different experience for me to ski with those kids and watch them race, compared to what I've been used to."
Off the trails
The ski conditions were difficult, with undulating terrain and four different types of snow to deal with - everything from man-made snow, to powder to grapple-like sleet.
It turned out the weather at the site paled in comparison to the weather off-site and made Wisconsin's recent Tax Day blizzard feel like a dusting.
A series of Nor'easters battered the East Coast from late February to early March. The CXC contingent, armed with only a two-wheel drive van for its trek into the Adirondack Mountains, drove right into the teeth of one of those storms on the way to the cabin they had rented for the weekend.
"By the time we got on top of the mountain, where our house supposedly was, it was snowing sideways, it was pitch black and we had turned up a road with a 12-degree pitch," Reis explained. "We began to slide backwards down the mountain and jack-knifed the trailer, went in the ditch. But everybody pitched in and helped. We eventually got pulled out and found our house, carried everything down to the house."
It wasn't a short jaunt to the cabin, either. Reis said, because crews were not able to effectively plow their driveway, the team had to make a half-mile trek from the main road down to their cabin and hike back up the mountain a half mile from their cabin to get to their van.
"I think what's poignant about that experience for me, and the entire weekend as well, is how well four coaches who hadn't worked together before - except for Kris and Bjorn - is that we did work together so well," Reis said. "No one lost their temper. Everyone made a concerted effort, especially that first night, to make light of the situation, laugh it off and chalk it up as an epic experience."
Not only that, but the team was off the grid, so to speak. With little to no cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity, Reis said the team members had no other choice but to put away their cellphones and tablets and interact with one another.
"We kind of hunkered down and it was good for the team because they bonded much faster than they would have if they had been on their devices," she said. "There were some fun times to be had in our cabin."
Lessons learned
Serving as a member of the coaching staff for the trip allowed Reis to pick up some tips and pointers about waxing and equipment - vital elements to going fast in ski racing.
But Reis said she also learned a lot about the athletes - who are the same age as the majority of what will be an underclassman-laden RHS Nordic team next season.
"I learned that 14- and 15-year-olds are quite capable of dictating what it is what they'd like to do for warmups and what they want to do for race prep, how they want to get ready, how much time they need," she said. "At that level, they understand that. They understand their bodies better than I ever did at that age. I've come away with this understanding that they are athletes out there that don't need their hands held as much as we think they do. That's kind of encouraging."
Reis said she was also inspired by Van Hefty's performance at the competition. He placed in the top 21 of all three individual events, including an eighth-place finish in skier cross. Put in perspective, Van Hefty was the No. 4 skier on the Lakeland varsity team that won the boys' state championship this winter, and finished 22nd overall at the WNSL state meet.
Reis said Van Hefty's performance should strike a relatable chord with her team.
"They just need that little extra push," she said. "They just need to believe, 'Hey, if Jake can do it, maybe I can to.' A lot of people think that maybe's its a special gift that you have to ski that fast, it's not. They're out there doing the hard work. They're getting faster and they're doing it right."
Moving forward
In keeping with the desires she expressed at the team's banquet right before she flew out to New York, Reis said after four years of essentially rebuilding Rhinelander's Nordic ski program from the ground up, next year the team's attention will turn toward an increased level of competition.
She said she wants to improve equipment and hopes to establish a lease program from one of the major ski manufacturers to ensure that the team is skiing on similar, race-quality gear.
"I think it will change the face of skiing for us next year if we get enough people invested in it because we'll finally be on good equipment," she said. "Once these kids get on real, nice equipment they will not be able to believe how fast they can go. A lot of it is the equipment."
Another part of the plan is continuing to keep the pipeline from the youth and middle school level to the high school team strong. Reis said she's seeing more and more talent in the Rhinelander program as kids come up through the ranks.
"The further we get in the building of our program, the further along we get, the more speed we're seeing and the more good technique we're seeing," she said. "That's because these kids are starting younger and younger and their finally making it up through the ranks. It's like any other sport in that respect."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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