High school skiers strategize over winter break

MAT-SU — The training plans of teenage Nordic skiers vary wildly during their winter break from school, but coaches agree this is a crucial time for honing skills.

Colony High School head coach Mark Strabel said there are a few more Knights on his team this year — up to 33 from 25 last year — but that 60 percent of them are first-year skiers. Those skiers also had one fewer race than they normally would, as the team was not able to travel north to Fairbanks for an annual town race due to inclement weather.

Still, they’re picking up the sport fast.

“We coach them and help them a little with technique and next thing we know they have it,” Strabel said. “It’s really cool to see that.”

Having some returning skiers to watch also helps. Top skiers for Colony on the girls’ side are seniors Jordyn Block and Lisbeth Olsen, along with sophomore Alyson Kopsack and junior Cathelyne Powers. Block’s younger sister, Isabella, was also in the mix at the Lynx Loppet two weeks ago.

On the boys’ side, juniors Dawson and Tracen Knopp are still leading the pack, with seniors Dakota Peterson-Thompson and Tim Farring next in line. Returning skier Ben Grover has also moved up in the team standings.

At whatever level a high school skier performs, it’s important to keep up the practices to retain and gain skills over the break. Strabel said he requires his athletes to make at least half of the practices held over the winter break to attend the next meet, which this year is the Valdez Invitational on Jan. 8-9. The Region III championship meet will also be held in Valdez this season.

Mikey Evans, Palmer High School’s head ski coach, said he’s looking forward to the region preview as well, but is taking a slightly different approach to the out-of-school training right now. Although Evans won’t be meeting with his athletes for practice until school starts up again, he has recruited the captains to meet with their teammates throughout the break, and work according to their individual schedules.

“This is a big-kid sport … and you have to be committed to your training,” he said. “If you don’t do it, you’re gonna suffer.”

As a longtime coach for Alaska Nordic Racing, Evans (like Strabel) has seen the difference in performance between athletes who only attend required practices and those who put in the time when they don’t have to. He said now is a good time to take advantage of decent skiing conditions at Government Peak, Archangel Road and Independence Mine in Hatcher Pass.

“We’re very lucky to have three excellent venues to train at,” Evans said. “There’s really no excuse for Valley skiers to not have a good season.”

The Palmer team has 26 members this year, most of which are female sophomores, he said. Juniors Ruby Woodings and Rya Berrigan are leading the charge, though, followed by senior Eva Bingham, Anahelene Taylor and Sidney Feige.

For the boys, junior Josiah Alverts continues to spur the moose onward, followed by senior Ben Swalling and newcomers Manveer Singh and Reese Qualls. The team has just nine male skiers.

But that’s more than Wasilla’s whole team.

Former Colony skier Jeff Kase is back to coach seven Warriors with Natalie King. The team’s about the same size as last year, with just one boy, returning senior Eli Ickes. Kase said he has high hopes for Ickes — maybe a 10^th-place finish at the region meet — and for the girls’ team, who he hopes will come together to form a relay team for the state championship.

“(That) would be a big deal,” Kase said.

He said he’s talked to the team to about the importance of training over the holiday break and put up a detailed workout plan on the Wasilla ski team’s web page, but like Evans is not meeting directly with his team during the break.

The Su Valley Rams are in a similar boat, heading out into the Talkeetnan wilderness for a ski whenever they get the chance. When they return to school, they’ll be taking tips from former collegiate skier and part-time coach Aubrey Smith, along with third-year coach Graham Knapp, who calls himself “more of an administrative coach.”

Knapp arrived in Alaska six years ago and started backcountry skiing then. He played baseball in college and had been generally athletic since high school, so when the Talkeetna school needed a ski coach, he stepped up.

The team currently consists of about a dozen skiers — more than in recent years — with juniors Celeste Harrel and Mitchel Jurasek showing the most promise, Knapp said. He said most could use some improvement in technique and overall endurance, but they’re making progress.

“We’re starting kind of from scratch with a lot of our skiers,” he said.

It helps to have good trails. Though the lower Mat-Su Valley looks mostly bare of snow, Knapp said the trails are “really good” and the snow conditions are “great” in Talkeetna.

The Rams will join the rest of the Valley teams in Valdez on Jan. 8-9.

Redington and Houston High Schools didn’t field Nordic ski teams this season.

Several high school skiers are also planning to compete in the Mat-Su Ski Club’s annual Icicle Double races on Dec. 26-27 at Government Peak Recreation Area. Online registration for the event is available at matsuski.org.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.