What's next ...

~ Updated Sunday, February 24 ~

Here's what there is to know about the nordic team for the next week or so.

End of Season Gathering:
Our End of Season Appreciation evening will be Monday, March 4 at 7:00 in the Downeast Room at the high school.  This is a time for the team to look back on the season, say many thank-yous, and enjoy dessert.  We hope all skiers will attend, and parents and interested siblings are most welcome as well.

We will need some help to make this happen.  Please let Susan know if you can do any of the following:

• Six people will be needed to bring a tasty treat to share - cookies, brownies, bars, etc.
• One or two people to arrive around 6:30 to help set-up.

Photos:
The captains will be putting together a slideshow for next Monday's gathering, so please send Nash any photos or links to galleries so they have pictures to work with.  Nash can be found at  nholley2019@mainecoastwaldorf.org.  These can be anything related to the ski team this season - skiers, coaches, waxing, racing, riding in the van, hanging out together, pasta party, etc.  Please send these ASAP, as the captains will be working on this Tuesday after school.

Optional Races:
With states behind us, the regular high school race season is now complete.  Coming up next weekend (Saturday, March 2) is the U16/Eastern High School Qualifier, which is scheduled to take place at Black Mountain in Rumford.  For those that don't know what this is, the qualifier is a "two race in one day format" (classic in the morning, skate pursuit in the afternoon) to determine who is eligible to represent Maine in both the U16 festival and the Eastern High School festival later in March.  Each of these festivals is a 3 day/2 night event of skiing and racing.  U16s are for younger skiers (born in 2003 or 2004) and EHSs are for all high school skiers.  Each state in New England (and nearby) will field a similar team of 24 skiers and they all race against each other on the festival weekends.  Note that if you make either of these teams and choose to attend the festival weekend, there is a not insignificant fee to be paid by the skier/family (probably ~ $300 plus NENSA membership).  Click here for a post on mainehighschoolskiing.com re: the qualifier.

Anyone is welcome to participate in the qualifier.  In addition to the link posted just above, interested skiers should keep an eye on www.mainehighschoolskiing.com for any new info and updates that may be added.  Do note that this is not an MCWS team event, so the race registration fee ($20 early or $23 day of) is not covered by your MCWS team fee.  All skiers participating in the qualifier will need to submit their own registration (online registration form found on the qualifier info page on mainehighschoolskiing.com).

John Tarling has graciously agreed to wax for our skiers participating in the qualifier, so please extend an extra thank you to John for his help.  Anyone wanting John to wax for them MUST contact him by Monday night (February 25).  Good luck to all that elect to ski in this race!  Remember that if you make one (or both) of these teams and intend on participating in the festival weekend(s), you must have a check in hand and be prepared to pay for the festival weekend(s) on March 2, the qualifier day.

For those that do make either the U16 or Maine EHS team - those festival weekends are:
U16 - March 8-10 at Bethel Village Trails, Bethel, ME
EHS - March 15-17 at Fort Kent Outdoor Center, Fort Kent, ME

Scholarship:
There are some scholarship funds available for attending these festival weekends.  Information is shown on the Qualifier info page on mainehighschoolskiing.com, along with a download of the application form.  Note that they are asking for the completed scholarship application form to be returned by February 25, which is this Monday.

Practices:
Since the regular high school season is over, there will not be any more official after school practices.  As long as Pineland is open, skiers are welcome to arrange their own transportation and ski on their own (passes are still good).

Uniforms:
Everyone should return their CLEAN uniform to Susan this week.  Kids skiing in the qualifier next weekend may keep their uniforms until after that race.