Since 2018, USA Nordic has officially acknowledged the accomplishments of clubs, coaches, athletes, and volunteers through our Annual Awards. The 2020 USANS Awards feature six unique and distinct winners from across the entire country, and were nominated by community members.
*Please note that some nominees did not meet the criteria set forth in the nomination forms which can be found here. https://www.usanordic.org/usa-nordic-awards/
Club Coach of the Year: Susan Kavanagh
Year after year Susan Kavanagh pours her heart and soul into junior jumping and nordic combined in the Central division, into the Itasca Ski Jumping Club, and into the club’s junior jumpers. From prepping the hills with Doug Maki and other club leaders in Coleraine, to schlepping kids around to competitions, her dedication to the sport and the athletes is admirable. Susan is Level 100 certified and also continues so seek ways to improve as a coach, finding creative ways to train and even more importantly, engage young jumps. Susan’s dedication continues to pay off as this year Casey Flett represented the Itasca Ski Jumping Club at Fly Guys, and the Itasca Ski Club qualified seven athletes for Virtual Nationals. Susan instills character and a love of the sport in her jumpers both on and off the hill, and our community is certainly better for it.
Club Leader of the Year: Dick Ziegler and Peter Copenhaver – Ishpeming Ski Club
The Ishpeming Ski Club is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance, and it is in large part due to the efforts of Dick Ziegler and Peter Copenhaver, along with the return of Gary Rasmussen as the head jumping coach. One of the oldest clubs in America is hard at work bringing the facilities back into the modern age in both ski jumping and xc skiing. With all the amazing work that Dick and Peter are doing, it is not done alone, and we would be remiss to not mention the countless hours that the Tom’s (Sodergren and Peterson) have put in over the year and continue to put in today. The 40 meter has been repaired and reinstalled with plastic, the trails have been cleared and widened, a new logo and website have been designed, and leadership continues to market the club in new creative ways. It seems like Dick and Peter spend more time at the club than at their real jobs or homes. Innovative new approaches to Ishpeming’s Annual Tournament have paid off as well, contributing to some of the largest crowds in years.
Club of the Year: Cloquet Ski Club
The Cloquet Ski Club has grown from 27 athletes in 2017 to 60 athletes in 2020 and is now the third largest club in America. On top of that, the club boasts 26 U10 girls, 6 more than the number of boys. The Ripp’s, Waugh’s, and Pat Marciniak have been integral to this growth and they deserve a huge amount of recognition for all their efforts. One of their biggest successes is getting new families involved and beginning to pass the torch as their children age out of the club. Many families are getting involved in both coaching and club leadership, and the club now have a level 100 certified coach in Nathan Langer. So many others like Marc’s, Morris’, Lopez’s, and other are now part of the succession plan and the future of the club is bright with so many great folks involved.
Ptarmigan: Scott Halvorson
For over three years, Scott Halvorson has pursued re-opening Big Nansen Ski Jump in Milan, NH. Scott has visited most Eastern Ski Jump Venues and has travelled to many venues outside the Eastern division to gather as much information and insight as he can. Scott has held numerous meetings with NH political and bureaucratic leaders to obtain necessary permissions and funding, while also reaching out out to private donors. He helped host winter carnival events at Big Nansen to prime the pump for future public events and has now begun active management of ongoing engineering and construction at Big Nansen in preparation for a meet in 2021. Scott’s boundless energy and enthusiasm has been a primary driver for waking the Sleeping Giant. It is not possible to know how much time Scott has dedicated to restarting jumping at Big Nansen, but it must be nearly a full-time job. Importantly, Scott has also endeavored to meet and learn from as many people in the ski jumping community as possible throughout this projects life. Scott’s effort to make those connections has been instrumental in his success at Big Nansen.
Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Annika Belshaw
“Annika was a member of the Youth Olympic Team in Lausanne, Switerzland and on the Junior World Championship team. She had her first full year on the Continental Cup circuit and was in the top 25 five times qualifying her for the National B Team. She has been steadily improving every year and is ready to make the next step to become a top level athlete on the World Cup this year. She has a very competitive mentality, and her leadership by example has pushed her team to become more competitive on and off the ski jump.” – Coach Blake Hughes
Junior Sportsman of the Year: Niklas Malacinski
“Niklas had a number of great competitions in the past year. He began the season by qualifying for the National team, scoring Continental Cup points in Park City. He followed that with an amazing 5th place in Youth Olympic Games, and then finished the season in the top 30 at World Junior Championships. He has worked hard to catch up to the older athletes while also pushing their level on the jump hill. Congrats to Niklas for earning Junior athlete of the year, we’re excited for the future!” – Coaches Nick Hendrickson and Tomas Matura
