News & Stories
Nellie Stone Johnson Boys Team’s Winter Trip
Coaches Jon, Andrew and Nancy took eight of the team members to Seeley, Wisconsin to ski the iconic American Birkebeiner trail. Team members Sherman, Melvin, Kemari, Phillip, Donovan, Quintrell, ZaVunjae and Jose left with the team van on Friday after school – at the end of their last day of school before Christmas break. Needless to say they were excited to head out on an adventure.
On Friday evening, when the team arrived in Seeley, the local Drummond Ski Team was practicing at the County Road OO trailhead. The Drummond Coaches and team members showed the Nellie Stone Johnson skiers all of the secret jumps on the Trail. While the jumps became a team favorite for the Nellie Stone Johnson skiers, their coaches were happy to get them to do some endurance work.
On Saturday morning the team skied 15 kilometers from the Mosquito Brook Road Trailhead back to the OO trailhead. This is the furthest any of the team members had ever skied at one time; the boys skied from a range of two-to-four hours of continuous skiing. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, the team switched to Classic technique after a wax demonstration by Coaches Jon and Andrew. During the classic workouts the team skied North from OO on the famous Seeley Hills and by the landmark Tiger Truck on the Birkie Classic Trail.
In addition to great skiing moments, there were also memorable eating moments during the weekend including a pancake breakfast at the Sawmill in Seeley and Pizza at Coop’s Pizza in Hayward.
Melvin summed up the sentiment of the team members when he repeatedly asked the coaches, “Why can’t we stay an extra day?”