Coaches and Bio

I (Jason Hettenbaugh) founded Rochester Nordic Racing (R.N.R) in the spring of 2008 to facilitate the improvement of Nordic skiers within the greater Rochester area and Mid-Atlantic Division.

In the summer of 2008 the junior program was launched and was tremendously successful. An astounding 80% of the athletes from the summer program qualified for the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Junior Olympic Team and all of the athletes qualified for Eastern High School Championships. From that point on we have not looked back! Accomplishments now include World Junior Championship Qualifier, NCAA All-American, USSA All-American, State Champions, Sectional Champions, and more and more athletes continuing to ski in College!

As we move forward and continue to grow and succeed new and exciting programs will form as well our relationship with local high schools and ski clubs. I look forward to the future and welcome the challenges and excitement that it will bring!

Jason Hettenbaugh

Education:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virgina Tech) Blacksburg Virginia College of Human Resources and Education: BS in Education: Major in Secondary Education, Physical Education, and Health with Health Endorsement: Concentration in Teaching

Honeoye Falls – Lima High School

2015 United States Ski and Snowboard Level 200 Certified Nordic Coach

2011 United States Ski and Snowboard Level 100 Certified Nordic Coach

Coaching Experience:

January 2023 U.S Biathlon World University Games Lake Placid New York

January 2023 U.S Ski Team Wax Tech World University Games Lake Placid New York

January 2019 U.S Ski Team Coach World Junior and U23 Championships Lahti Finland

January 2018 U.S Ski Team Coach U18 Nations Cup Vuokatti Finland

January 2017 U.S Ski Team Coach U18 Nations Cup Trondheim Norway

February 2016 U.S Ski Team Coach World Junior and U23 Championships Almaty Kazakhstan

February 2016 U.S Ski Team Coach Slavic Cup Nove Mesto Czeck Republic

February 2016 U.S Ski Team Coach Europa Cup Campra Switzerland

March 2010- Present Mid-Atlantic Junior Olympic Ski Team Trip Leader/Head Coach: Fairbanks Alaska, Minneapolis Minnesota Anchorage Alaska, Soldier Hollow Utah, Lake Placid New York, Cable Wisconsin, Truckee California, Stowe Vermont, Fairbanks Alaska, Soldier Hollow Utah, Minneapolis/St.Paul Minnesota, Presque Isle Maine

March 2007-2009 Mid-Atlantic Junior Olympic Ski Team Coach: Soldier Hollow Utah, Anchorage Alaska, Truckee California.

June 2018 NENSA USSA REG Camp Coach Lake Placid NY

June 2015 NENSA USSA REG Camp Coach: Waitsfield Vermont GMVS

June 2014 NENSA USSA REG Camp Coach: Lake Placid, New York

June 2013 NENSA J2 REG Camp Coach: Stratton Mnt, Vermont

June 2012 and 2011 NENSA J2 REG Camp Coach: Craftsbury Vermont

July 2010 NENSA USSA REG Camp Coach: Craftsbury Vermont

Athletic Experience:

2022 USCX Series Overall Champion 40+

2021 USCX Series Overall Champion 40+

2009 Summer Biathlon World Championships Oberhof Germany

1999-2003 Scholarship Member of the Cross Country, Indoor, and Outdoor Track Team at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg VA.

1996-1999 Honeoye Falls-Lima XC Running, Nordic, Track

Professional: Independent Sales Rep in the Mid-Atlantic and New England Region

Madshus Skis, Boots, Bindings, Poles, and Accessories

Bliz Eyewear

Swenor Rollerskis

Start Ski Wax and Poles

NYS Registered Hunting, Fishing, and Outdoor Guide Badge #7068

U.S Ski and Snowboard Safe Sport Certified

CPR and First Aid Certified

Cat 1 USA Cycling Cyclocross and Road

Brian Lilly

Coach Lilly raced competitively for over a decade before turning his talents to coaching. In high school he earned individual Section V Championship titles in cross-country running, Nordic skiing, and track for Fairport High School where his school record for the 1600m run (4:14.63) still stands.

Following high school, Coach Lilly was recruited to the biathlon team at the United States Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University. During his time there, Coach Lilly participated in two Olympic biathlon trials (1998 and 2002), World Junior Biathlon Championships (1999) and three World Military Skiing Championships (2002, ’03, ’04) as well as numerous US National Championships and International Biathlon Union Europa Cups.

Before retiring from racing, Coach Lilly’s top results nationally include 11th place at the 2002 Biathlon Olympic Trials (10km sprint), 1st Place 2002 and 2003 US Military Skiing Championships (15km cross-country), 3rd place at the 2003 US Biathlon National Championship (10km sprint) and 2nd place 2002 Summer Biathlon National Championships (mass start). Top international results include 27th place, 1999 World Junior Biathlon Championships (15km Individual), and 15th place 2003 World Military Skiing Championships (15km cross-country).

After retiring from competition, Coach Lilly began coaching with the US Biathlon Team as head coach of the IBU Europa Cup team representing the United States in 2004. Later, he was named Development Team Manager for the 2007 NCAA Champion Dartmouth Ski Team, and was an assistant coach with the New England Junior National Team that same year. Coach Lilly then returned to Rochester and became head coach of the Irondequoit High School Nordic team in 2012, before moving to Pittsford with his family in 2016 where he was named director of Nordic skiing for both the Mendon and Sutherland school districts.

Craig Mattern

Craig is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. The hills of Western PA provided great training opportunities for his passion for the sport of cycling. Craig enjoyed both mountain biking and road cycling where he was a several time state champion. Craig attended the University of New Hampshire (UNH) for his undergraduate studies. He quickly learned to embrace the sport of Nordic Skiing as an essential tool for winter time fitness. Craig’s love of sport and physical activity guided him through his time at UNH where he earned a degree in exercise science and competed on the UNH cycling team. He was a member of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Championship team and he represented UNH 4x at Collegiate Cycling Nationals. Craig continued his education at the Ohio State University where he went on to earn a PhD in Exercise Science. Upon completion of his degree, he relocated to Western NY to direct the Exercise Science program at the College at Brockport- SUNY. He continues to have a passion for both cycling and skiing, as well as mentoring youth sport development. As a cyclist he still competes and stood on the podium at US Masters Cyclocross Nationals in December 2018. Locally, he volunteers with youth cycling development clinics. Within the ski community, Craig previously served as a youth coach with Rochester Cross Country Ski Foundation. He currently assists with coaching the Rochester Nordic Racing summer program and he is the head coach of Brighton High School. In February of 2019, he led the school to their first State Championship title. Craig is CPR and First Aid certified and has completed the USOC Safe Sport Course.

Matt Bellizzi

Matt grew up skiing in western Mass and raced for Harvard in the mid-90’s, with EISA and NCAA championship results just good enough to earn this epitaph from Middlebury coaching legend Terry Aldrich: “If he’d gone to a ski school, he could’ve amounted to something. But he didn’t, and he didn’t.” After graduating, he coached the Harvard ski team for 3 years while working in a comparative physiology lab (where among other things he worked with antelope, emu and rollerskiers on a treadmill to study how biomechanics affect the energy cost of locomotion). He moved to Rochester in 1999, coached several Brighton skiers in his free time during medical and grad school, and continued to race and train for the day when skiing would consist of towing a double-wide Chariot full of kids up the water tower hill at Mendon Ponds. He has led the RXCSF youth ski program since 2012, and joined RNR in 2018 to help transition youth skiers into junior racing and strengthen the skier development pipeline in our area. In his day job he's a neurologist at U of R (and has first aid, CPR, and SafeSport training).