Maren Askins '12, cello, accompanied by David Askins. from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Maren's Junior Recital
I recently learned that Maren's junior recital had been posted on the Bowdoin Music Department website. I've never had the chance to hear Maren play, aside from occasional notes from her electric cello on ski trips, so it was a real pleasure to watch her performance from last spring. I've posted it here for the benefit of Bowdoin Nordic fans and music lovers everywhere.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
New Assistant Coach Zach Stegeman
I'm happy to announce that we've hired Zach Stegeman as our new assistant coach. Zach is a southern Maine native and a graduate of Yarmouth HS, where he was a teammate of Walt Shepard '10 (and yes, he's even older than Walt). He went on to earn a degree in History from St. Lawrence, where he was a four-year carnival team skier and team captain his senior year. After graduating in 2002, he was an assistant coach at Cape Elizabeth HS for two years and then head coach at North Yarmouth Academy for two years (where he coached Grace Hyndman '11). For the last five years, Zach has been living in Colorado Springs and working in sponsorship and marketing for USA Triathlon. We were lucky to have Zach show up on our radar when his wife Kathryn (former Bates Nordic captain) was hired as an Associate Dean of Admissions here at Bowdoin - fortunately for us, he was eager to get back into ski coaching. Zach comes to us highly recommended by lots of people in the Bowdoin Nordic family - I'm absolutely thrilled to have him on board!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Summer Recap
Well, the semester is underway and students have been back on campus for several days, so I guess it's time for me to stop slacking and start updating this blog again. So far the year is off to a great start. Over these last few days, I've talked to most of our skiers, and I've been really impressed by the quality of training that people have done. Some people have been training by the book, while others have been doing less structured stuff, but almost everyone appears to be in great shape. Here are a few of the highlights:
Spencer spent the summer in Truckee training with a group of EISA skiers led by former Bates assistant Martin Benes. He racked up a ton of high-quality training with a good training partners - an ideal situation. He also got quite a bit of on-snow training in June, and he's had a lot of time to do focused technique work.
Erin was on campus for the summer - she did a lot of running, but also mixed it up and took advantage of the college resources by swimming, erging, and lifting quite a bit. I was happy to hear that she incorporated some speed work into every rollerski session she did this summer.
Kaitlynn spent a few weeks at home in VT doing great work with the Craftsbury club. This stint was bookended by a trip to England where she seemingly ran, walked, and hiked all over the country, and then a lengthy backpacking trip to the Sierra Nevadas.
Wilson worked as a raft guide in Glacier National Park. He did a decent amount of hiking and trail running and an incredible amount of paddling. I'm going to have a hard time challenging him with specific strength work this fall.
Chris taught ski lessons at the Snow Farm in New Zealand. He accumulated a massive amount of training through a regular routine of a morning trail run followed by a ski before work, and then another trail run in the afternoon. He did several races, including a great performance at the 30k Kangaroo Hoppet. He also was able to do regular technique work with Alexei Sotskov, coach of Vermont Academy and also the NZ National Team, and he's super excited about the progress he's made.
Steph and Riley both worked on trail crews. Steph was in Idaho - she reports that she carried a 70 pound pack and 20 pounds of tools while hiking several miles a day to and from the work sites. Riley was in New Hampshire. He came back to campus with a mohawk and quite a bit more muscle, so he's actually kind of scary right now - I think I'll be a little nicer to him this year.
One last thing - we revived a tradition I'd hoped would stay dormant when incoming first-year Shelby Aseltine separated her shoulder in a bike crash. That makes 4 first-year arm injuries in the past 4 years, all right at the start of the school year. Fortunately, she's making a quick recovery and should be back to full strength soon.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with how the summer went - I think the team's fitness is higher than it's ever been at this time of year. These guys have gotten me incredibly excited about the season, and I can't wait to start working with them in October!
Spencer spent the summer in Truckee training with a group of EISA skiers led by former Bates assistant Martin Benes. He racked up a ton of high-quality training with a good training partners - an ideal situation. He also got quite a bit of on-snow training in June, and he's had a lot of time to do focused technique work.
Erin was on campus for the summer - she did a lot of running, but also mixed it up and took advantage of the college resources by swimming, erging, and lifting quite a bit. I was happy to hear that she incorporated some speed work into every rollerski session she did this summer.
Kaitlynn spent a few weeks at home in VT doing great work with the Craftsbury club. This stint was bookended by a trip to England where she seemingly ran, walked, and hiked all over the country, and then a lengthy backpacking trip to the Sierra Nevadas.
Wilson worked as a raft guide in Glacier National Park. He did a decent amount of hiking and trail running and an incredible amount of paddling. I'm going to have a hard time challenging him with specific strength work this fall.
Chris taught ski lessons at the Snow Farm in New Zealand. He accumulated a massive amount of training through a regular routine of a morning trail run followed by a ski before work, and then another trail run in the afternoon. He did several races, including a great performance at the 30k Kangaroo Hoppet. He also was able to do regular technique work with Alexei Sotskov, coach of Vermont Academy and also the NZ National Team, and he's super excited about the progress he's made.
Steph and Riley both worked on trail crews. Steph was in Idaho - she reports that she carried a 70 pound pack and 20 pounds of tools while hiking several miles a day to and from the work sites. Riley was in New Hampshire. He came back to campus with a mohawk and quite a bit more muscle, so he's actually kind of scary right now - I think I'll be a little nicer to him this year.
One last thing - we revived a tradition I'd hoped would stay dormant when incoming first-year Shelby Aseltine separated her shoulder in a bike crash. That makes 4 first-year arm injuries in the past 4 years, all right at the start of the school year. Fortunately, she's making a quick recovery and should be back to full strength soon.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with how the summer went - I think the team's fitness is higher than it's ever been at this time of year. These guys have gotten me incredibly excited about the season, and I can't wait to start working with them in October!
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