Juniors News

Eastern Mass Cross-Country (EMXC) is seeking two positions for its Juniors (high school) program. EMXC is seeking a new Head Coach and Program Director and has recently added a second position, Assistant Coach and Program Coordinator, to provide leadership and support to our growing cross country ski community.

EMXC supports approximately 350 skiers ages 7 - 18

Head Coach Cate Brams has accepted an offer to join the University of Denver as the Assistant Nordic Coach. Cate has made huge contributions to EMXC. We are enormously grateful for her excellent and enthusiastic coaching leadership as well as her planning and executing on a vision for the structure and management of the Juniors program. Cate will continue in her role as Head Coach and Program

Last month, 25 EMXC Juniors skiers traveled to Bethel, ME for a team training camp at Gould Academy. The skiers were supported by EMXC coaches Chris, Meg, Cate, Mark, and Nick, as well as Gould Academy coach Jacob Volz. It was a great four days of training, team bonding, and learning! Some highlights from camp:

Day 1 - Wednesday

We kicked off camp with a run and strength session

Over the last month, five EMXC Junior athletes attended either NENSA's Eastern Regional Camp (REG), or US Ski and Snowboard's National Training Group (NTG) camp. Our EMXC skiers had the following to report after their new training experiences! Thanks to all of the coaches and athletes who gave their time, expertise and insights to make these camps so valuable to all the attendees.

EMXC Juniors recently enjoyed a well-deserved social gathering to celebrate another amazing year of training, adventures and competition. The evening was filled with delicious food, fun activities that allowed the athletes to demonstrate their sporting skills outside of skiing (basketball, corn hole, badminton and volleyball), a very valuable clothing swap, and bittersweet farewells to

It's that time of year again, and as you're breaking out the dryland training gear for the first time this year, here are some things to keep in mind!

Although this recap is quite belated, I tried to do my best to summarize what was a hectic and cold week in Alaska. - Cate

After a full day of flying (Boston to Seattle to Fairbanks), and the realization that Fairbanks is four hours behind eastern time, the team arrived in Alaska late Friday night to sub-zero temperatures (in Fahrenheit!). After some rest, everyone got out to scope the

U16 Championships in Fort Kent, Maine were an exciting three days for the Massachusetts team, culminating in a third place standing, behind Vermont and New Hampshire! The MA team has accomplished this only once since 2013, with a third place standing in 2018. Way to go, Massachusetts cross-country team skiers and coaches! Susannah Wheelwright, the MA U16 Team Leader highlighted many of the

Unlike other events, EHS and U16s are both scored based on a system where every racer for a team scores points based on finish place. This means that taking 100th vs 100st has the same points difference as 1st vs second. As a result, EHS is a high scoring event (total points for the weekend can exceed 30,000), and every single racer counts. At EHS, the overall depth of a team is what makes the

Mother Nature and the dedicated staff at the Weston Ski Track have been working hard this week to provide us with new snow! The fresh snow conditions are a welcome gift as we continue our training and head into our final weeks of competition--Eastern High School Championships, Junior Nationals and U16 Championships are right on the horizon! Please thank the Weston Ski Track staff when you see

Congratulations EMXC Juniors on an amazing showing at Eastern Cup #3 this past weekend! Quarry Rd Trails provided an awesome venue and supreme flexibility in the face of extreme cold temperatures. The postponement of Saturday's races to Sunday made for a unique EC experience...a double header day! Our EMXC athletes (and some amazing competition) showed up with high energy, enthusiasm and

Congrats to all the EMXC skiers who participated in the EHS/U16 Qualifiers at Notchview this past weekend. It feels like we have truly been chasing snow this year, and the positive attitudes, flexibility, and full focus of all our athletes and families really made for a fun day. Now get bundled up for a cold weekend and a day of adventure and racing on Sunday at Quarry Road Trails!

The 2023 Race for Snow isn't over yet! The online auction is still open until January 29th! Don't miss out...place your bids NOW and support Protect Our Winters!

Link to Online Auction: https://www.32auctions.com/RaceForSnow2023

Kudos to all our incredible event organizers and team volunteers (athletes and family members) for an incredible 2023 Race for Snow event. It was spectacular!

This week will feature some nice and easy recovery, and an opportunity to catch our breath after all the training, race organizing, and glitter-wearing that happened last week. We’ll have an additional day off, either Thursday or

Great work this weekend up in Craftsbury. It was awesome to get to ski with so many of you, work on technique, and enjoy the snow. I know I can speak for all the coaches when I say that this weekend got me SUPER stoked for the rest of the year of racing and training!

Training Plan

This week will be really easy — focus on getting some rest. Don’t worry about “hitting your planned

It was an unseasonably warm and humid morning last Sunday, as competitors started to show up around 8am at the base of Mt. Greylock. Besides EMXC, the field included some of the strongest New England teams, including the SMS juniors, GMVS, and Craftsbury GRP, not to mention college racers from Harvard and Williams. We held a pre-race team meeting covering the complex logistics of the

This week will be our last big volume push before thanksgiving and getting on some real snow!! This is a good week to try and zero in and get as much training done as you can!

Daylight SavingsIn an attempt to make sure people can get one practice during the week on skis during daylight savings, we will be doing two morning practices and two evening practices on Wednesdays until we are

So, the cross country or soccer or field hockey season is over, and you’re itching to get back to ski practice. But, you’re tired -- you’ve had a lot of meets and games in the past few months -- and you’re not sure if you should take a rest first, and for how long. Sound familiar?

At the end of fall sport season, it’s common to feel confused about how to make a

Great work last week with all the testing!! A lot of solid results. It was a tough week to PR as a result of the rain, cold, and the repaving of the DP test hill, so if you didn’t PR, keep that in mind! The bigger thing than PRs at this time of year is to practice the process of completing a TT, and to come out of it feeling as though you have something you’ve learned for next time!

As part of an effort to give back and to the areas in which we rollerski, immediately AFTER Heath's Bridge practice on Saturday, October 22 we are planning an "old school" strength workout: installing trail markers, cutting and moving brush piles, and removing invasive species from along trails. This is an opportunity to create some good-will with the neighbors there, as well as to learn a

This week we will be doing our third and final formal testing week of the year. This means that it is the last week we’ll dedicate, more or less, to testing before we get to the winter season. This doesn’t mean that we won’t do any more time trials — in fact, we’ll do lots more! But this is the last week where we’ll try and get all the dryland time trials (strength test, 3k test, and DP test)

This week will be a relatively easy week, with two off days and some hill-bounding. The goal is just to get some rest, and to hit some quality sessions! Access the training plan through our Members Only section.

The days are getting shorter, the pavement is getting harder, and the leaves are starting to clog the storm drains... all sure signs that its time for the 33rd annual EMXC Fall Classic rollerski race!Mark your calendars - this year's race will be held on Sunday, October 23rd at 9am. The course starts and ends at Milk Street in North Andover, MA and consists of two 7.5km loops on rolling

Beloved coach, leader, and educator. We are so proud of you!

Now is the time to dig out ski clothes, boots, poles and skis that you’ve outgrown. Come to the equipment and clothing swap to to find your too-small, but good-condition gear a new home!

Label items for sale:

*Venmo tips: To facilitate easy Venmo payments,

EMXC Juniors - This week will be a medium volume week with a focus on just getting a bit more volume and intensity under the belt. We’ll do two intensity sessions this week, as will begin to be our norm as we get into the fall. If you are running cross country or playing a fall sport and haven’t checked in with your point coach about how to balance training, this is a great week to do so! And,