Austin Ross

Bio: Austin Ross - Cross Country
Age: 24
Hometown: Steamboat Springs, CO
Current Residence: Fort Fairfield, ME
Education: Colby College '08 - Sociology & Economics

Sponsors: MWSC, Cary Medical Center

Career Highlights: Rocky Mountain Junior National Team member 2000-2004, 16th Junior National 5km Classic 2001, 15th UVM Carnival 2007, 17th Dartmouth Carnival 2007, 17th SLU Carnival 2008

Other Interest: Fly fishing, hiking, gardening, cooking, adventuring

Nationals
January 11, 2012

I’m usually pretty positive on this blog. I tell about how my racing and training has been going well, and how I’m looking forward to whatever is next. I don’t think I can be quite so up-beat this time, though. I’m a little disappointed with the way my US Nationals turned out. It was a mixed bag.

I’ll start with my sprinting. This was a bright spot. I improved both my place and points in both sprint races compared with last year. I’m definitely sprinting better. However, that still leaves me in the 60’s, and not that close to qualifying.

My distance racing wasn’t as successful. While I improved by about 15 places in the 15km, and posted a sub-100 point FIS race, I was still in 63rd. This was disappointing because at the start of the season, I had set the goal that I wanted to be in the top 30 in this race, and I didn’t even make the top 50. In the 30km, I got 56th, the same place as last year. My points will likely be a bit better this time around, but that’s only a minor consolation.

So – How do I move forward? It’s important not to dwell on the things I didn’t do well. Rather, I’ll take the lessons I learned from those moments and apply them to my skiing in order to improve. I have also been reminding myself that although I didn’t achieve my top goals, my points and rank will improve because of the racing I did last week. I’ve made positive progress, and that’s not always the case. There is also a lot of race season left, and I am hopeful that I’ll continue to make strides (pun intended) toward the top of the American field.

An Overdue Early Season Recap
January 3, 2012

It’s Nationals. The start of the race season has flown by, and it’s now time for what are likely my biggest races of the season. I am well prepared however. After strong early season races, I’m ready to post the best results of my career in national championship competition.

I should first recap the start of the race season, however. My first races were in West Yellowstone, MT around Thanksgiving. The snow in Yellowstone was fantastic, and we were thrilled to be able to abandon our rollerskis. I posted personal best finishes in SuperTour competition as well as my personal best points race. From West Yellowstone, we drove north to Bozeman, MT where we had several more races. Again, I performed well.

After returning to New England, I raced in the first Eastern Cups of the season in Craftsbury, VT. Again, I performed well, posting my best FIS points race by nearly forty points! This was an exciting weekend for me because I posted my first race under 100 points. This had been a goal of mine for the start of the season, and to accomplish it was a satisfying moment.

This morning my 2012 Nationals began with the skate sprint. Although I didn’t qualify for the quarterfinals, I was pleased with my effort and expect it to be one of my best sprint results. I was also impressed with how well the course has held up after less-than-ideal snow conditions. On Thursday, races continue with a 15km skate race for men. This should be my bread and butter.

Mt. Timpanogos 2011 MWSC
October 5, 2011

Sugarloaf Hill Camp
August 30, 2011

The first big camp of the season is over. Sugarloaf has dished out its toughest terrain, and we've laid waste to it! Well, not quite as aggressively as Tropical Storm Irene did (http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Roads-closed-statewide.html), but we still had a great camp. As a team, we tackled uphill rollerski intervals, uphill bounding intervals, uphill double-pole intervals (are you noticing a theme?), uphill sprints, and some nice, big mountains. Yep, Sugarloaf was a hill intensity camp. It was a great venue too. I didn't use the same hill in different interval sessions once! It was also awesome to have all the biathletes and xc skiers together to push each other. The more we work together, the more it looks like MWSC is going to be really, really, fast this winter.

Now that I'm back in the County, it's time to recover a bit. Between a couple days off, a bit of camping, and a BBQ or two, I'll be ready to go again when work and serious training start up again next week.

Enjoy these select pics from Sugarloaf and a couple from this recovery week. You can also check out the Maine Winter Sports Center Athletes page on Facebook for a bunch more!

MWSC 10th Mountain Time Trial 2011
August 15, 2011

Ride Aroostook is a Blast!
July 18, 2011

Last weekend was the inaugural Ride Aroostook cycling event, and MWSC made its presence felt. We had a great crew of riders and volunteers out to support the event, which benefits Camp Adventure, a summer camp for kids with type-1 diabetes. It was definitely a worthy cause, and the event was awesome. We were graced with fantastic weather, and the organizers didn't miss any details. I have to admit that after 130 miles in the saddle, I was glad to be finished, but I was proud of the accomplishment. I've never biked anywhere near 70 miles in a day before, and I followed my first 70 mile day with a 60 mile day!

Several photographers from the Aroostook F-Stops were out taking pictures during the event, and they got some awesome shots! The MWSC riders really looked good in our new Mt. Borah biking gear. Check out the pictures below.

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