State Sections Meet at Giant's Ridge

As some of you may know, Brian is in his 8th year coaching the Alpine Ski Team for Champlin Park High School. Over the past 2 years I have gotten to be a part of this (a.k.a. single lady from Nov-Feb. j/k). This is no easy job for Brian as he still works his full time job at Minco (starting at 6-2:30) and then he goes and coaches at Trollhaugen in WI, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, usually not getting home til 9:30 or later. This takes a toll on both of us, but in the end rewarding as well. It is pretty awesome because Brian has gotten to coach his brother Caleb, sister Bryanna and currently his sister Casey!!!

Yesterday (Tuesday, 2/2) was the State Section Meet. This is held up at Giant's Ridge. So Monday night about 5:00 after work, Brian and I got on the road to head up to the Ridge. His assistant coach Dan rode the bus with the kids on Monday morning (they go up early so the can hit the hills and practice for the day before the meet). When we got to the Ridge we were greeted by Brian's parents to help us unload the car and fill our tummies with Pizza. We headed up to the coaches room and Cindy and Doug's to unload our stuff and eat.

It was really nice to spend some quiet time with Brian's parents. Since they still have 3 kids at home we don't always get the quiet time to just sit and chat! After awhile we went and hung out with some of the coaches in the other rooms while Brian checked on his kids, helped them wax and tune their skis as well as round them all up for bed!!! After that us adults headed off to the lounge to have a few cocktails. It was about 12:30 am before we decided to head up to bed.

We got up about 7 am to feed the kids and get the tent set up on the hill. Brian had a bunch of coaching things to do so I headed out with Cindy and Doug to get things ready. I hadn't decided if I was going to ski at all (since it has been 7 years) so I bundled myself up and figured I would decide later.

There were 18 teams at the section meet. Each of the kids get to races. Champlin was the 18th in line for the first race and the 1st in line for then 2nd. According to Brian it is better to be in the middle, but they draw so there wasn't a choice. The first race (boys and girls) got done about 11:30. Most of the kids did really well with only a couple tumbles. 6 boys and girls from each team are allowed to participate in the race. After the first race, there was a break until 1:30 so they can re-set the courses. I FINALLY decided to ski. Brian took me up for my first run and we went down a green (EASIEST!) course. He was very impressed with my control. I quickly overcame my fear of not skiing in 7 years and was ready to head up the chair lift again, after loosening my boots!!! Brian was very patient with me :) Then after a couple runs he had to go imspect the courses so I headed off with Melissa and we hit the slopes until about 1:30 when the race began again! I had soooooo much fun and can't wait to get back out there.

The kids did their second race and then awards started at 4:30. The boys and girls teams ended up getting 9th, so right in the middles which isn't too bad. Josh was the only boy that made it to state which is next Wednesday. This is pretty exciting as he is only a freshman, and excellent skier and has lots of time to grow. I was happy because his dad Gary has been a huge asset to the coaching staff and has volunteered his time all season to help Brian and Dan with anything they need; riding the bus, helping with gates, and just being a great cheerleader for the kids!

I wish Josh the best of luck since I will not be able to head up to the State Race!!!! What a fun day it was and we had beautiful weather too!!!! We got home about 9:30 last night and we were exhausted!!!