Dana Zelenakas of Brattleboro was recently inducted into the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame. The formal induction ceremony took place on Aug. 6 in Frontenac, Minn.
Zelenakas got his start in the Brattleboro Outing Club's junior jumper program at Living Memorial Park. He graduated to Harris Hill as a teen, and eventually grew proficient enough to be a member of the U.S. Ski Jumping Team from 1967 to 1972 and participate in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.
A graduate of Canaan College and the University of Minnesota, he returned to Brattleboro in the late 1970s and was a teacher at Brattleboro Area Middle School. For many years, he was the Chief of Competition for the annual Fred Harris Memorial Tournament.
“Ski jumping was a big deal,” he told Vermont Public Radio in a 2010 interview. “There was no hockey. They didn't have a hockey rink at the park. They didn't have computers. In the wintertime, you either played basketball or skied.”
Training to be a ski jumper is hard, but the payoff is the indescribable rush of taking flight, if only for a few seconds.
“Ski jumping is like nothing else, ” Zelenakas told VPR.
That feeling is what kept him in the sport for more than six decades as a competitor, coach, and tournament director. It also provided many friendships over his years in the sport.
“I began skiing in the '50s and have been connected to the sport ever since,” he said in a 2012 interview with the USA Nordic Sport Story Project. “Like all us old timers, [we've] seen huge changes in the sport, from hill design and preparation ... to in-run and flight technique, to equipment and clothing. Just look at the pictures, and it's all positive.”
Brelsford Dana headed to Paralympics
• Speakling of Olympians, Paracyclist Alicia Brelsford Dana of Putney will be headed to Rio to compete in the 2016 Paralympic Games in mid-September.
Dana, 47, was selected to the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Cycling Team in July. It will be her second Paralympics. She rode in the 2012 games in London, finishing fifth.
She grew up in southern Vermont and was a cross-country ski racer. But in 1986, during her senior year at The Putney School, she fell 40 feet from a tree and became instantly paralyzed from the waist down.
Dana tried wheelchair racing, but when handcycles were invented, she became a passionate racer. In 2001, she began her international racing career. That first season, she beat the reigning female champion in the sport, and made her way onto the U.S. Team, competing in Germany in the World Championships in 2001.
She continued to compete internationally in 2002 but, in 2003, she stepped away from the sport after the birth of her daughter, Willa. She took a break for a few years, but once she resumed the sport in 2011 and started racing seriously again, Dana has been a force in handcycling.
After the London games, Dana earned medals in World Cup events in 2013 and 2014, and was the International Cycling Union's paracycling women's world champion in 2014 and 2015.
Good luck in Rio, Alicia!
Practices for fall season begin
The fall high school sports season began with the first day of varsity football practice on Aug. 15. Varsity soccer, field hockey, and cross country began their practices on Aug. 22.
In Brattleboro, there will be continuity on the varsity level as Edwin DeBrujin (girls' soccer), John Dimick (cross country), Sherryl Libardoni and Kelly Markol (field hockey), Chad Pacheco (football), and Paul Sather (boys' soccer) all return for another season of coaching.
The Twin Valley boys' soccer team will get a jump on the rest of the area schools, as they play their first match on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m., against Windsor.
Opening Day for the other schools is Friday, Sept. 2, when Brattleboro field hockey hosts Bellows Falls for a 7 p.m. game. Leland & Gray boys' soccer also opens that day wtth a 4:30 p.m. home match against Green Mountain, while Twin Valley girls' soccer also has a night game at 6 p.m. at Hayford Field against Otter Valley.
Football kicks off that night too, as Bellows Falls opens under the lights at Hadley Field for a 7 p.m. game against Springfield, while Brattleboro is on the road for a 7 p.m. game against Hartford.
In girls' soccer, BF travels to Windsor on Saturday, Sept. 3, for an 11 a.m. match, while Leland & Gray also has an 11 a.m. match with Mount St. Joseph.
Brattleboro boys' soccer opens the season on Tuesday, Sept. 6, when they host St. Johnsbury for a 4:30 p.m. match at Sawyer Field.
The BF boys travel to Springfield on Wednesday, Sept. 7, for soccer under the lights at Brown Field at 7 p.m., while the Brattleboro girls start their soccer season in Bennington on Thursday, Sept. 8, when they play Burr & Burton in the Mount Anthony Tournament.
Brattleboro cross country begins its season on Sept. 6 with a race in Thetford, while BF cross country gets going on Tuesday, Sept. 13 with a race in Arlington. Both begin at 4:30 p.m.
Walk, Run, and Roll 5K benefits Walk-In Clinic
• It is time for the 21st annual Walk, Run, and Roll 5K race to benefit the Brattleboro Walk-In Clinic. This year's event takes place on Saturday, Sept. 10, and features a 5K road race, a 5K walk, a one-mile kids' fun run, and a 34-mile cycling race.
This fundraiser benefits the Brattleboro Walk-In Clinic, whose mission is to provide free health care to those in our community who lack insurance, are underinsured, or who have other barriers to accessing care. The clinic is staffed primarily by volunteer providers, nurses, and clerical staff. It is located at 81 Belmont Ave. in space donated by Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
Registration for the cycling event begins at 7 a.m., with a 7:30 start time. Registration for the 5K Run, 5K Walk, and Kids' Fun Run registration begins at 7:45 with these start times: 8:30 for the Fun Run, for children 12 and younger; 8:45 for the 5K Walk; and 9 for the 5K run.
Registration will take place in front of the hospital between the Richards Building and the front entrance. The first 100 adults to register receive a free T-shirt. Prizes will be raffled off after the event for participants. The male and female winner of the 5K run will receive a gift certificate for running shoes.
Entrants may register on race day or else print a registration form from via www.Brattleborowalkinclinic.com. Registration also is handled at www.3CRaceProductions.com. Registration forms are also available at Burrows Specialized Sports and Brattleboro Pharmacy. A non-refundable entry fee of $25 covers the 5K Walk/Run event. Children participating in the one-mile kids' fun run are free.
Hog Jog races in Guilford
• In conjunction with WKVT's third annual Baconfest, the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Hog Jog 5K and 10K race on Saturday, Sept. 17.
The race starts at the Guilford Fairgrounds and heads south on Weatherhead Hollow Road on a rolling out-and-back course on paved roads. There is water at the turnaround for each race, as well as water, Gatorade, and snacks at the finish line. Runners receive a Hog Jog 2016 t-shirt.
Pre-registration at www.active.com/guilford-vt/running/distance-running-races/guilford-hog-jog-2016 is encouraged. The advance entry fee is $20 for the 5K race and $30 for the 10K race, and $25 and $35, respectively, on race day.
Packet pick-up and race day registration starts at 8 a.m. The races will start together at 9 a.m.
Senior bowling roundup
• There is just one more week left in the summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League, but Team 10 (58-22) has wrapped up the season championship. Team 4 and Team 8 both have 47-33 records and are tied for second place. Team 9 (46.5-33.5) is just a half-game behind in third. Team 3 (44-36), is fourth, followed by Team 6 (42.5-37.5), Team 5 (34-46), Team 1 (34-46), Team 2 (32.5-47.5) and Team 11 (22.5-57.5).
Team 9 had the high handicap game (726) and series (2,091). Pat Cutler had the women's high handicap game (264) and series (687), while Warren Corriveau Sr. had the men's high handicap game (286) and series (774).
The women did not roll a 200-plus game, or a 500-plus series again this week. Corriveau had a pair of 200-plus games (255 and 235) for the second straight week and a 681 series. Jerry Dunham had a 204 game and a 581 series, while Peter Gilbert had a 205 game and a 544 series. Fred Bump rolled a 501 series, while Marty Adams rolled a 548 series.
High averages for the women last week were Sonya Shippee (155), Shirley Aiken (153), and Lorraine Taylor (146). Top men's averages belonged to Fred Ashworth (176), Dunham and Corriveau (173) and Adams (171).