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Viewfinder Encore: More Photos From the Junior Olympics

You asked for more pics of all the winter sports at Theo Wirth last week, and Golden Valley Patch was happy to oblige.

The Junior Olympics were a huge success at Theodore Wirth Park last week, and Golden Valley Patch reported on many of the events. After getting a few emails asking if we had more photos of last week's events, we took a closer look and ended up with enough pics to create a new photo gallery. So consider this a Patch Viewfinder Encore.  Photos include events from  the Sprints Quarterfinals, athlete warm ups, fans watching, and athletes between events during the Nordic Ski Championships from Monday, March 7. Enjoy!

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2011 Junior Olympics Concludes

World class teenage athletes from across the country and hundreds of local volunteers combine to make the 2011 Junior Olympics success.

The blur of colors circling Theodore Wirth Park throughout the last week came to an end on Saturday, as the 2011 Junior Olympic Nordic skiers, event managers and volunteers concluded a successful week of urban racing. The event couldn't have gone better, according to co-race director Kate Ellis, for the athletes and the volunteers who worked hard to make the races a success. "This is the first time the Junior Olympics Nordic races have been held in a large metropolitan area, where you have all the athletes staying in the same place," said Ellis. "This gives the young athletes more of an actual 'Olympic Village' feel than ever before." The teen athletes spent their days racing through Theo Wirth Park before climbing aboard shuttle busses …

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The Nighttime is the Right Time for Winter Sports

Theodore Wirth Park played host to the first-ever night races of the USSA Junior Olympics.

Theodore Wirth Park is bustling with activity this week as Nordic ski racers from across the nation are competing in the USSA 2011 Junior Olympics championship meet. Not only is this the first time the park has played host to the event, Monday night was the first time in the history that  the competitions were held in the evening hours. Lights, bonfires and luminaries helped created a winter wonderland on the hills of the Hap and Judy Lutter Trails (northwest of the Chalet). According to race co-director Mike Bono, the later hours and the mild weather conditions helped increase the size of the crowds. “Fans were really excited to watch the races at night,” Bono said. “We thought the atmosphere really added something special to the …

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PatchCast: School Board Gets Techie and Edina Students Make History

This is a video roundup of stories around Patch in the Twin Cities west metro.

Highlights: Hopkins school board experiments with iPads, junior skiers converge on Golden Valley, former NBAer Jim Petersen chats with Patch, and Edina High School students prepare for a renowned thespian festival.

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