Leadership, our team Captains

This weekend at UVM/Supertour saw some excellent individual performances.  Kristen finally cracked into the top ten for the first time this season with 7th place finish on Sunday after her 12th place finish on Saturday.  She has remained remarkably consistent so far this season as a result of some very dedicated training and preparation.  Johannah did the hometown (Morrisville close enough) fans proud finishing 11th on Sunday in the classic race.  Zach has continued to be on a roll with 17th and 13th place finishes.  Beano finished just out of the top ten in the free in 12th place but unforturnately had some difficulty getting to the line on time for the classic race.   Bryan Pepper worked hard to fill the gap in the team score with Wolcott out sick.

So as for my title "Leadership."  Well it was great to have Beano and Kristen take charge with the help of some others and get cleaning skis and packing away equipment so we could get on the road. Before I even had a chance to start cleaning up myself at the wax tables they had the cleaning and travel waxing assembly line humming.  Its not what you say, it is what you do.  It was a small gesture of thanks to the coaches who worked hard, although with mild success I think, to get the wax right and an example to the rest of the team that we can all do little things to help each other.  

Another great leadership example came from Ben Knowles in the 15K classic race.  Yes missing your start by 45sec is a rather poor example.  However he went after it anyway, never complained or blamed anyone else where I think many others might have.  I could have had a table at the start but we didn't, this probably would have helped and it was mistake on my part.  He also broke a pole during the race, you would think at this point most would call it day and tour the rest of the race or throw in the towel all together.  Ben raced even harder, he moved up through the entire race and still managed to score for the team (second finisher) amid some very difficult classic skiing conditions.  Watching the race you would think he was charging for a top 5 at the finish rather than 27th, hardly a banner day for him and one he would probably like to forget.  I don't think I will though.