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**** The 2013 National Snowshoe Championships were run on March 15-17 in Bend,OR ** Click on the link below for the results as they become available ****

For International Snowshoe Information Click on logo

The 2013 Dion National Snowshoe Championships was held in Bend, Oregon

March 15-17, 2013

Click here for National Championship Results

All results will be posted as soon as they become available. Check back often

For information on the event site visit

Bend Visitor's Bureau website for the National Championship Event

Sandra Lee and her quest to bring awareness to diabetes Native Americans

I have been in running in Kahtoola RNR22 Running Snowshoes since January of 2012. My running experience took off after competing in my first race ever snowshoe race, the Winter Warrior 10K in Durango, CO. As the high peak snows melted into wild meadows of wildflowers, I raced the Kennebec Mountain Challenge (over 12,000') and Imogene Pass Run (over 13,000') in late summer of 2012. On February 9, 2013, I competed in the Winter Warrior 10k, now a USSSA national qualifier. Snowshoeing is a great way to get a core and cardio workout, get outside, and enjoy winter! I found that I could go for longer hikes in beautiful winter days and evenings. I discovered songs in the crunching of snow when I ran in snowshoes. Often, I'd become seduced and thus sidetracked by fresh animal tracks and explore.

Since a kid, I've always loved being outside to play or work. I would follow my dad everywhere, if he was chopping wood, I was there helping. I ran when I was a teenager, because on the reservation there really isn’t anything else to do. After I left the reservation, I continued working out in mostly Physical Education classes in college. Today, I do not have a vehicle, if I need to get somewhere I walk. I walk in all types of weather, and there is beauty in it. If it is a snowstorm, I am there alone on a bike trail, if there is a sandstorm, I am there, if it is raining and hailing this girl is there.

Snowshoeing kept me active in the winter.

There is also another great passion in my life; they are my nieces and nephews. I have over twenty nieces and nephews, and I know that four of them have diabetes. My nephew was just diagnosed this week as having diabetes. Does education of diabetes fall on deaf ears? Something as simple as taking a walk or eating healthy seems to be far away goals. One niece said diabetes runs in the family, and then I started to think do I have diabetes? Do I have a diabetic gene somewhere inside of me that will pop up someday? I remember them when they were babies and toddlers, I would have them hike with me. I can remember some hiking with gallons of water in their hand so we would not go thirsty. The fact that there are 9 fast food places in Shiprock, NM and a lack of exercise options like bike trails, or Recreation Center is very alarming. It is a huge concern that the number of children, youths and young adults are being diagnosed with diabetes. From 1194 to 2009, prevalence rates of diagnosed diabetes increased by 110% in American Indian youth ages 15-19 years and by 161% in American Indian young adults between the ages of 25-34 years.

Navajo teachings such as aspiring to be 102 included running to the East in the mornings, eat moderately, and always be active - are now replaced by fast food restaurants and convenience stores, and living a sedentary lifestyle. I have found a wholistic way of living. Wholistic incorporates breathing, eating nutritiously, cardio workouts, and strength work. To be a snowshoe runner, one must be fit and be flexible to any trail conditions, love the cold and snow!

I thank Coach Steve Ilg for finding my running spirit that was deeply hidden.

Some days I dream that during spring and summer? It would snow.

Click here for 2013 National Championship Results

Photos from the event can be found at

Steve Sander's Photography

April 14^th, 2013 – Raleigh, North Carolina

Sports Director: Mark Elmore

The USSSA has wrapped up the 2012-2013 season which culminated in another successful edition of the U.S. National Snowshoe Championships in Bend OR. Preparations for the 2014 season are already well underway.

The USSSA is pleased to announce that the 2013-2014 season will kick off later this year with a talented group of snowshoe athletes already eligible to compete at the 2014 Nationals Championships next Feb. 28^th-March 2^nd at the Prospect Mountain Ski Center in Woodford Vermont.

The USSSA Board of Regional Athletic Delegates (BORAD) adopted what is being popularly being called the “Schwam Rule” this past season. This new policy allows the top three finishers in each age group from the 2013 national championships to earn automatic eligibility for the 2014 national championships in Vermont. This policy was first proposed by BORAD member Marcy Schwam of Massachusetts. Schwam, a world renowned ultra-marathoner and longtime snowshoe racer and advocate, proposed this rule last year and the BORAD voted to adopt it. It is hoped this new policy will serve to deepen the fields at the annual national championships. The following list of snowshoe athletes, the first “national class” of athletes to benefit from the “Schwam Rule”, certainly reflects the talent and depth that competes each season at the national snowshoe championships. The USSSA is pleased to announce the following athletes are automatically eligible to compete at the 2014 nationals in Vermont next season without having to re-qualify next year.

National Snowshoe Team Members:
Women:	Men:
McKenna Ramsay – CO Rachael Jones – NY Bonnie Nutt – WI Stephanie Howe – OR Brandy Erholtz – CO Carolyn Stocker – MA Dolores Bergmann – CA Christy Runde – WA	Justin Miller - OR Louis Ferrone - NY Paul Schmitt - WI Josiah Middaugh - CO Eric Hartmark - MN Mario Mendoza - OR Ryan Phillips - SD Dan Prahl – OR

*Age group athletes eligible to compete in 2014 Nationals in Vermont:*
Women:	Men:
Junior B 14 & Under:
Gina Kelble – CO Etta Moen – WA Zoe Colfax - NM	Jonah Thompson – NM Logan Colfax – NM
20-24 yrs. of age:
Michayla Heil – WI Melissa Tekippe – WI Alexa Cosgro – NY	Jordan Neeck – WI Nicholas Eiben – MI Jack Mulvihill – NY
25-29 yrs. of age:
	Nicholas Scalfone – CA Alex DeCino – OR Andy Marshall – WI
30-34 yrs. of age:
Carrie Zografos – OR Kristi Speer – WI Jeannette King – OR	Kris Borchardt - WI Jason Reed - CA Jordan Gregory – OR
35-39 yrs. of age:
Jennifer Chaudoir – WI Siri Berg – OR Erika Kikuchi – CA	Charlie Nowacki – CO Eric Sambolec – NY Ryan Voyson – ID
40-44 yrs. of age:
Colleen Sullivan – OR Laura Kantor – OR Lisa Schrader – CO	Chad Carroll – AK Michael Green – CO Kevin Cooper – OR
45-49 yrs. of age:
Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs – WA Katy Class – MN Robin Yakhour – WA	Peter Keeney – ME Dave Peterson – OR Clay Halverson – OR
50-54 yrs. of age:
Myra Klettke – OR Cecilia Muldoon-Walker – FL Andrea Kinzey-Wheeler – CO	Bob Bolton – SD Rob Class – MN Frank Mungeam – OR
55-59 yrs. of age:
Jane Cleavenger – OR Sinthy Kounlasa – NH Pat Highlander – OR	Charlie Andrews – NY Wayne Stocker – MA James Rantala – OR
60-64 yrs. of age:
Marcy Schwam – MA Helen Shepard – OR Diane Levesque – NH	Jim McDonell – MN Dennis Aslett – ID Brian Gallagher – NH
65-69 yrs. of age:
Pat Tolleson – CO	Bob Cooper – CO Jim Graupner – MN Keith Johnson – WA
70-74 yrs. of age:
	Bill Faulkner – CO
75-79 yrs. of age:
	Jim Kauffold – CA
80-85 yrs. of age:
	Rich Busa – MA

The site of the 2014 USSSA National Championships will be

Bennington and Woodford, VT

On February 28 to March 2, 2014

Bennington will serve as the host community, while the races will be held at Prospect Mountain Ski Area in Woodford, just 8 miles away