CENTRAL CROSS COUNTRY SKI ASSOCIATION WRAPS UP THE ANNUAL TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT CAMP AT TELEMARK RESORT SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN BIRKEBEINER

Garrott Kuzzy and Sarah Willis, 2 of the Camp Coaches, Review a Great Four Day Camp

HAYWARD, WI (AUG 1, 2008)

CXC kicked off the 12th annual Technique Development Camp at Telemark Resort on Monday, July 28. The camp is sponsored by the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation and included participants ranging from beginning J3-J4 skiers to master skiers and a coaches education block. The majority of the skiers were high school age.

Meals, lodging and most training was provided by the excellent staff and facilities at Telemark. Sessions were led with a solid coach-athlete ratio by CXC coaches including Elite Team coach Bryan Fish, Junior Development Program coach Bill Pierce, Youth Program Director Everett Myers, as well as Scott Wilson and Yuriy Gusev. Guest coaches for the camp were Sarah Willis, CXC physiologist, Garrott Kuzzy of the US Ski Team and CXC Elite Team and Jay Tapper, personal trainer. CXC past President Dennis Kruse acted as camp co-director.

The goal of the camp was to offer skiers as much exposure to good technique habits as possible in a fun, positive environment. With this in mind, the majority of workouts were done on rollerskis, with a few dryland drills to practice different concepts. Skiers typically spent two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon rollerskiing and working on technique drills and games.

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CXC Regional Technique Development Camp sponsored by American Birkebeiner at Telemark Resort, Cable, WI

July 28 – 31, 2008

This is an open camp for all level athletes, from novice to advanced. The camp goal is introduction to structured training and technique improvement. All sessions are organized in small groups of similar levels. Staffing by a variety of top regional coaches provide athletes a wide range of experiences. The CXC Birkie Camp is very popular among middle school and high school athletes and brings a large group of participants together every year. This camp offers opportunities for Master Skiers and Coaches Education as well.

[more] [camp schedule] [on line registration]

CENTRAL CROSS COUNTRY SKI ASSOCIATION CONCLUDES REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP CAMP

Junior Development Group athletes wrap up the final three days of the recently concluded camp.

HAYWARD, WI (July 14, 2008)

Central Cross Country Ski Association recently concluded a week of testing, training, and technique work at Cresthill Resort in Hayward, WI. Participants included the 12 CXC Elite Team members, 11 Junior Development Group athletes, 4 Regional Elite qualified juniors, 23 members of the qualified State Development Group and 10 juniors and seniors that petitioned in to the camp. Also attending were 8 coaches participating in the 3 day Coaches Education program. Coaching staff included US Ski Team coaches Pete Vordenberg and Matt Whitcomb along with CXC staff members Bryan Fish, Bill Pierce, Yuri Gusev, Scott and Kay Wilson, Everett Myers, and Sarah Willis.

Following are daily reports from Junior Development Group athletes:

Wednesday by Molly Burger: Today, was one of the best days of the REG camp this year because it included a killer strength test, crazy sprint race, and lots of Coop's pizza. We started out the morning with our usual warm-up jog and stretching. After second breakfast, most of the juniors went down and watched the CXC Elite team do their strength testing. It was inspiring to watch the senior athletes hard work pay off as some of them pumped out over 30 pull-ups and 60 dips. It got me really excited to do my own strength test, and has inspired me and many of the other juniors to work harder in the weight room and during specific strength training the rest of the year.

[more] [test results]

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP CAMP GEARS UP AT CRESTHILL RESORT IN HAYWARD, WI

56 athletes from the CXC Elite Team and Junior Development Group, State Development Groups and Petitioned Athletes along with a coaches education contingent begin a full week of training, testing and educational activities.

HAYWARD, WI (July 2, 2008)

The 2008 CXC Regional Elite Group (REG) camp kicked off last weekend at Cresthill Resort in Hayward, WI. Over 50 of the Midwest’s best junior skiers are attending the camp as well as the CXC Elite Team and Junior Team. Skiers at the camp receive coaching from US Ski Team coaches Pete Vordenberg and Matt Whitcomb, as well as CXC Elite Team coach Bryan Fish, Junior Team coach Bill Pierce, and St. Scholastica College coach Chad Salmela, and CXC coaches Scott Wilson and Yuri Gusev.

The REG camp began on Saturday, June 28 with a VO2 max test for all athletes. Several years ago CXC purchased their own state of the art Oxygen Analyzer. The test consists of running on a treadmill with an oxygen mask attached to your face that’s connected to a VO2 max analyzer. The treadmill starts easy and increases speed and grade until skiers can’t run anymore. . .not an easy way to start a camp, but as Pete Vordenberg says, “This isn’t summer camp, it’s ski camp!” It took two full days to test all the skiers. Many skiers were able to see how their fitness had improved during the past season, while others took the test for their first time and were able to get test results to use to measure fitness in the years to come.

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CENTRAL CROSS COUNTRY SKIING ANNOUNCES CXC ELITE TEAM FOR THE 2008-2009 SEASON

Caitlin Compton and Bryan Cook return to join last year’s complete team along with three new members.

HAYWARD, WI (JUNE 15, 2008)

Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the 2008-2009 CXC Elite Team. CXC is extremely proud of this talented and dedicated group of athletes.

Caitlin Compton (Minneapolis, MN) returns to CXC Team after a solid season of training and racing in Europe with the US Biathlon Team. While successfully racing with USBA Caitlin was still able to achieve a dominant win in the 5km skate race at US Cross Country Nationals. Her plans for this year include securing her position as one of the top US Cross Country women throughout the season.

Bryan Cook (Marquette, MI) stepped off the CXC Elite Team last year to complete his degree program at NMU. Along the way he assisted in coaching the Wildcats as well as full time training and racing to many top ten SuperTour finishes and tenth overall for the season among US distance skiers.

Garrott Kuzzy (Hayward, WI) leads the athletes returning from last season’s team following an impressive SuperTour and inaugural World Cup season. Garrott won both SuperTour sprint and distance events last year and finished as the third US skier on the USSA distance and sprint points list. He won the SuperTour sprint title and was the top US male on the SuperTour distance list. Garrott achieved his season highlight of a ninth place finish in the World Cup sprint at Canmore, AB.

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2008 CXC REGIONAL ELITE GROUP CAMP

June 28th through July 4th is set for CXC’s annual Regional Elite Group Camp along with State Development Groups, Junior Olympic athletes from Midwest and Great Lakes, and petitioned athletes.

HAYWARD, WI (June 3, 2008)

Central Cross Country Ski Association is pleased to announce the 2008 Regional Elite Group Camp June 28 to July 4 at Cresthill Resort, Hayward, WI.

Qualified top regional athletes will attend this camp including the CXC Elite Team and the CXC Junior Development Program. The goal of the camp is to provide an opportunity for top regional athletes to conduct testing, workouts and time trials together and to work with US National Team coaches. This camp also offers educational opportunities to athletes with evening presentations on training and team philosophy.

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