Bates Carnival and Broomhall Cup

Carnival season is underway!   Back to Rumford last weekend for the Bates Carnival.  We jumped right into the deep end with a 15/20k mass start classic - quite a way to introduce the new kids to the carnival circuit!  This was a day where experience mattered - our senior men showed how it was done with a pair of stellar races.  Jackson finished 21st, with Tyler close behind in 28th.  Both of them skied smart, well-paced races - they used the pack to their advantage, skiing in the draft and moving up when opportunities arose.  Super smooth and relaxed technique as well - they both looked fantastic.  Mac skied a great race as well, with a nice PR of 43rd.  These three guys hit a new level in their skiing on Friday - hopefully we can keep this going.  The youngsters handled themselves pretty well also, with Ellie in particular showing some spark and moving up steadily throughout the race.

This race also doubled as the Broomhall Cup, Maine's collegiate state championship.  Jackson (2nd) and Tyler (3rd) earned First Team All-State honors, with Mac (7th) and Hannah Miller (7th) named to the Second Team.  As a team, we finished third behind Bates and Colby in a closely-contested race, but our men were the top scoring team, which was pretty cool.

Saturday's skate was cold and windy - a very tough day to be a ski racer, especially after emptying the tank so thoroughly the day before.  Hannah Miller bounced back from a minor illness with a ton of fire, scoring a big skate PR of 9th place!  This was really quite impressive considering how she'd been feeling for the last few days - a great display of determination.  Mac had the best race of the day for men with a new PR yet again - his 35th place finish was by far the best skate race I've seen from him.  Overall, a very encouraging start to the season.  I'm confident that we'll keep getting better as we head to Stowe for the UVM Carnival this weekend.

Here are some action photos from loyal parent-alum Greg Askins, as well as a shot of Hannah in the awards ceremony from Emily Bloch.  Thanks to all of the parents for their support this weekend, especially Ron and Deb Aseltine, who generously hosted the entire women's team.