Breaking new ground (?), Sam Lewis becomes Colorado's first junior national snowshoe champion. Photo contributed by the Lewis family.
The nudging of a coach. The timing of an article promoting the state snowshoe championships. A series of winter snowshoe races held in nearby Eldora. Sometimes, for the competitive mindset, it's all about the convergence of challenge and opportunity.
While many of Colorado's top distance runners were taking time off or fighting against the typical winter obstacles in the path of getting in some decent training, Sam Lewis was spending some of her time on snowshoes.
That little bit of time on shoes, that little window of opportunity, and a huge aerobic engine propelled her to the national junior women's snowshoe title (see results below). Not only did Lewis win the junior women's title, she beat nearly half the junior men in the same race.
And, in so doing, she just may have lit a fire under junior level snowshoe competition here in Colorado. "I think snowshoeing is a great crossing training activity for the winter, and especially in Colorado because we have lots of snow. I would love to see Colorado really embrace snowshoeing at the junior level, which would really help the sport grow. I'd like to see more more competitors out there next year for the Colorado State Championships."
Be careful what you wish for--it just might happen. But, for now, for whatever field assembles at the Colorado state championships next winter, Sam Lewis is the one with the experience and the one to beat. And beating her won't be easy.
But snowshoeing is a natural winter sport for the cross country runner. Obviously, snowshoeing is not speed work, but it is excellent strength training and it represents a great opportunity to break the monotony of pounding the trails and pavement.
And, as Lewis observed following the race, cross country runners are well prepared to excel in snowshoe, "My background in cross country gave me an advantage at Nationals because it was the same distance that we run in cross country and so I was used to running that distance. I think my experience in racing cross country helped my racing strategy at Nationals because I knew that I needed to be patient since it is a long race."
"I think the majority of the juniors at Nationals ran cross country, however not everyone. For instance the defending national champion didn't run cross country in HS."
For now, though, there isn't much raceable snow remaining in Colorado, and the spring track season beckons.
But, what will you be doing next winter?
2010 USSSA National Snowshoe Championships Junior Men/Women Results:
| Place | Name | HomeTown | Sex | Age | Pace | Time |
| 1 | Geary , David | Rochester, NY | M | 18 | 9:11 | 28:29.73 |
| 2 | Smolensky , Scott | Rochester, NY | M | 16 | 9:25 | 29:13.87 |
| 3 | Kerr , Coline | Macedon, NY | M | 15 | 9:28 | 29:23.84 |
| 4 | Talpey, Gregory | Rochester, NY | M | 17 | 9:59 | 30:58.70 |
| 5 | Devine , Connor | East Berne, NY | M | 16 | 10:05 | 31:18.92 |
| 6 | Stahl , Eric | Rochester, NY | M | 17 | 10:14 | 31:46.73 |
| 7 | Morris, Talon | Beulah, MI | M | 19 | 10:20 | 32:05.72 |
| 8 | Burrell , Nathaniel | Fairbanks, AK | M | 18 | 11:04 | 34:20.88 |
| 9 | Tarduno, Matthew | Rochester, NY | M | 16 | 11:09 | 34:35.91 |
| 10 | Lewis , Sam | Boulder, CO | F | 15 | 11:21 | 35:14.38 |
| 11 | Dellarocco, Taylor | Berne, NY | M | 16 | 11:23 | 35:20.33 |
| 12 | Green, Jeff | Rochester, NY | M | 19 | 12:02 | 37:19.91 |
| 13 | Tedeschi , Courtney | Westerlo, NY | F | 14 | 12:38 | 39:12.35 |
| 14 | Heil , Michayla | Medford, WI | F | 18 | 13:13 | 40:59.42 |
| 15 | Hulbert , Eric | Mexico, NY | M | 11 | 13:16 | 41:10.58 |
| 16 | Koutsky, Daniel | Prior Lake, MN | M | 19 | 13:20 | 41:23.38 |
| 17 | Heil , Josiah | Medford, WI | M | 15 | 13:42 | 42:29.98 |
| 18 | Niles, London | Shaftsbury, VT | M | 13 | 14:00 | 43:24.16 |
| 19 | Jardin, Dan | Mexico, NY | M | 17 | 14:12 | 44:04.24 |
| 20 | Harper, Benjamin | Oswego, NY | M | 14 | 14:20 | 44:26.96 |
