Rochester Active Sports Club

The Rochester Nordic Ski Team traveled to Winona on Tuesday for a ski meet at the St. Mary's University ski trails.  Sunny skies and 45 degree temperatures greeted the 87 RNST skiers as they stepped off the buses.  Skiers had to trudge through the sand of a volleyball court but eventually found the man-made snow of the starting loop.  The Winona team was able to set up a 2K course leading 1K up the valley and then 1K down the valley back to the starting loop.  Skiers skated two laps for the 4K race.  Ian Torchia, Rochester, and Erin Keane, Winona, who were the Rochester Invite champions also won the race at Winona.  The Winona boys and girls won the varsity team competitions.  Skiers were thankful to be able to participate in another ski race as snow conditions continue to rapidly deteriorate.

Photos can be found on-line by CLICKING HERE.  
 

The Rochester Nordic Ski Invite was held on Friday, January 27 at Eastwood Golf Course.  Photos from this year's event with more than 200 skiers can be found on-line by CLICKING HERE. 

Photos of the varsity teams competing at the Winona meet on Monday.

Over 100 Rochester Nordic Ski Team members enjoyed a wonderful weekend trip to the Maplelag Cross Country Ski Resort near Detroit Lakes, MN.

Due to lack of snow, the ski meet at Lakeville on Thursday, December 22 has been cancelled.  We're hoping to reschedule the meet for sometime in January.

Don't stop thinking snow!

Due to lack of snow, the ski meet at Winona on Tuesday, December 20 has been cancelled.  We're hoping to reschedule the meet for sometime in January.

Keep thinking snow!

The RNST will be traveling to Lakeville on Thursday, December 22 for a ski meet.  The ski race will be approximately 5K and will take place at the Kenwood Trail Middle School in Lakeville.  

Click here to sign up for the race.  Skiers should sign up by Sunday, December 18th. 

• Bus Departure Location:  Walmart North parking lot in front of Gander Mountain
• Bus Load Time:  12:45 PM
• Bus Departure Time:  1:00 PM
• Race Start:  3:30 PM
• Bus Return Time:  approximately 6:30 PM

Using your school's absence notification procedure, remember to inform your school that you will be missing an afternoon of classes to participate in the ski meet.

The ski meet document below contains more meet information.

The RNST will be traveling to Winona on Tuesday, December 20 for a ski meet.  The ski race will be approximately 5K and will take place at the St. Mary's University ski trails. 

Click here to sign up for the race.  Skiers should sign up by Thursday, December 15th. 

• Bus Departure Location:  Eastwood Park on Highway 14
• Bus Load Time:  1:15 PM
• Bus Departure Time:  1:30 PM
• Race Start:  3:30 PM
• Bus Return Time:  approximately 6:00 PM

Using your school's absence notification procedure, remember to inform your school that you will be missing an afternoon of classes to participate in the ski meet.

The ski meet document below contains more meet information.

• Tuesday, December 20 - at Winona
• Thursday, December 22 - at Lakeville
• Friday, January 20 - at Northfield
• Friday, January 27 - Rochester Invite, at Eastwood Golf Course
• Tuesday, January 31 - at Winona (sprint relays)

Meet Information:

1. Race length - approximately 5 km
2. Race duration - varies from about 15 to 30 minutes
3. Race start time - typically 3:30 PM
4. School bus transportation to the away meets
5. Away meets - depart around 1:30 PM and return by 6:30 PM
6. Bus departure location will be announced prior to the meet.

The Rochester Nordic Ski Camp is being held at the Maplelag Resort on January 6 - 8, 2012.  This is a great opportunity to enjoy a lot of skiing and have a great time with your ski team.  See the information flyer below. 

We had 56 skiers signup for the camp on registration day (Nov. 10th) which fills up a bus.  If we only take one bus, any new registrations will be placed on a waiting list.  We had enough registrations last year to take a second bus thus providing the opportunity for everyone to attend that was interested.  We're optimistic that we'll have enough skiers interested for a second bus to be financially feasible. 

If you're interested in going to the ski camp, remember to bring your $200 payment to the first practice on Monday, November 20th (make checks payable to RASC).  The payment is your signup for the trip.  We'd like to determine by Thanksgiving if we'll be taking a second bus so submitting your payment by Thanksgiving will really help out.  If we have to restrict the number of skiers on the trip, priority will be given to skiers based on when payment is received.
 

We broke all records last night with over 180 skiers signed-up to date for the 2011/2012 RNST. We have ~90 new skiers this year. Photos of the sign-up courtesy of Dave Greymont. We need an additional 25 pairs of skis to equip all the new skiers - if you have any lying around unused, please consider donating them to the team (contact Michael O'connor at mkoconnor@mayo.edu). Remember, donations are tax deductible!  

Rather than filling in the paper form in the back of the Information packet, here is an easier way to complete your registration in two easy steps! 

First Step – Click here to access the on-line registration system. Fill in your registration information. 

-          at the registration session on November 10 at Mayo High School

-          at the first practice on November 21 at Longfellow School Gym 4:00 – 5:30 PM

-          or mail to Kristin Sorenson at 719 19th Ave SW Rochester, MN 55902.

We are all deeply saddened by the death of Jason last Wednesday.

The RNST End of Year Banquet was held on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at the John Marshall High School cafeteria.   A full set of photos from this year's banquet can be found here.

81 ski team members, a record number for an away meet, ventured to St. Mary's University for some fun relay races with Winona and Northfield.  The four-person relay teams were formed so that all of the teams would theoretically finish at the same time.  The teams consisted of both fast skiers and beginning skiers.

Each person skied a 1.6 K course which was uphill for most of the first half and then downhill or flat the rest of the way (except for a small "bump").  Even though the distance was short, the skiers were working pretty hard.

Another interesting twist to the race was the mass start.  The first skiers of each team all started at the same time.  The boys started with 20 skiers representing teams from Rochester (9), Northfield (6), and Winona (5).  There were a few spills as the boys aggressively double-poled from the start line. The 2nd through 4th skiers on each team had it easier for their starts since the teams had spread out, but there were several times when four to six skiers would come through the relay exchange relatively close together.  The girls race involved 23 teams from Rochester (12), Northfield (6), and Winona (5).  The girls start was cleaner with no thrills or spills.

It was cold out there with temps around 10 - 15 degrees with a stiff wind in the open areas.

Thanks to Darald Bothun, Dave Greymont, Barry Knapp, Erik Lindberg, John Resman, and Andy Wood who took care of getting skiers lined up, recording lap times, and taking pictures.

The meet was a fun way to end the high school ski meet season

There were 223 skiers from Henry Sibley, Northfield, Prior Lake, Rochester, and Winona enjoying the 5.8K trail on the Eastwood golf course and woods at the Rochester Nordic Ski Invitational.  Mild 28 degree temps and good snow conditions made for a fun time for all.  Congratulations to all of the skiers.  It's inspiring for all of the coaches to see so many kids enjoying the sport of cross country - even while working pretty hard!

The RNST skiers had a great meet with the boys and girls varsity squads winning the team competition and Ian Torchia earning the top spot in the boys competition.  The junior varsity boys came in first and the junior varsity girls finished second.

A fun event like this doesn't happen without the involvement of a lot of people.  Many thanks to the coach and parent volunteers who helped make this a great experience for all of the skiers!

Results are posted on the RNST meet results page.

 Click here for photos from the meet (courtesy of Dave greymont)

The Rochester Nordic Ski team headed to the Winona bluff country to tour the hills of the St. Mary's University ski trails.  Fresh snow made for soft and a bit slow conditions, but nicely covered the icy/hardpack conditions remaining from the New Year's eve rain and warmup.  61 ski team members joined the Winona ski team in skating the 5K race in comfortable temps in the upper 20s.  Congratulations to the ski team members who completed their first ski race on this challenging course.  In the varsity team competition, the Winona girls and Rochester boys took first place honors - congratulations!

Results are available on the RNST Meet Results page.

Thanks to Jim Baber, Chris Flood, Dave Greymont, Erik Lindberg, John Resman,  Tish Torchia, and Andy Wood who helped with the start, finish timing, and picture taking.  Their assistance is greatly appreciated.

The team captains for the upcoming 2010 / 2011 ski season are Leah Karsten, Bryan Craig, Tom Shellum, and Karolyn Wood. Look for e-mails from them regarding Captain's practice sessions in Soldiers Field.

Below is a photo of most (15 of 21) of the coaches who helped coach the 107 skiers on the 2009/2010 RNST.  

The RNST season ending potluck was held on Tuesday, March 9th at the John Marshall cafeteria.  The albums below have photos both from the banquet and from many of the major events over the 2009/2010 ski season. 

A number of RNST skiers ventured to Minneapolis to participate in the City of Lakes Loppet events.  Pictured below are some of the RNST members who participated in the REI 10K tour.

Great photos taken by Jay Richards, the owner of Maplelag ski resort, during our time trial on Sunday morning. Click here for the full set of photos from the TT.  Time trial results are on the RNST Meet Results web page.

Results from the Winona meet can be found on the left panel and photos from the meet are now in the RNST Photo album.

The 2008 / 2009 ski season finished up last night with the end-of-season banquet in Mayo H.S. Over 50 skiers lettered in Nordic skiing this season. Some photos are now on-line thanks to Jeff Robertson.

As the RNST grew in size, John Resman agreed to take over organization of the meets and events. Over the last few years John has successfully organized meets for the RNST skiers in Rochester, Winona, Lakeville and Northfield. Over the last 2 years he has also organized the highly successful club ski camps to Maplelag. All of the coaches and skiers greatly appreciate all of the work he has put into our ski program and hope he has the energy to keep doing so for years to come !

Results and photos from the 2K Relay Event in Winona on the 22nd are now on-line. Check the RNST Meet Results and RNST Photo album for results and photos. Thanks to John Resman for all the photos.

33 skiers made the trip up to Maplelag for a great weekend of skiing. Many thanks to John Resman for all his work in organizing this trip.

Photos from the end of season banquet are now on-line along with some photos from the fun ski

The trophys are for the American Berkebeiner Kortelopet  High School Team Race.

Coaches photos and team photos from the 2008 trip to Maplelag.