NCAA and JN Wrap

The second race at NCAAs proved to be even more exciting than the first.  After a few super-warm days, temps dropped significantly, and it was good and cold on race morning.  Amazingly, the snow still wasn't fully transformed, and I spent a good bit of the morning chasing a hard wax & binder solution while the sensible people were all focused exclusively on klister.  Fortunately, I had some expert wax testers - Kaitlynn tested hard wax while Shelby was on klister.  It's amazing how much you can get done with three people working on skis and only one athlete to worry about!  With some input from Hannah, we finally settled on a klister combination that had worked well the day before.  She tested it and came back feeling pretty good but wanting just a tiny bit more kick - not too much.  I believe her exact words were, "Don't harsh my mellow."  This brought my uptight square tendencies to the surface in a big way, and I spent forever fussing with this micro-adjustment before finally sending her out the door.  At the start, Hannah stayed at the back of the pack - as before, the plan was to ease into the early climbs and try to pick up a few spots as the race wore on.  In the first few kilometers, she looked nice and relaxed, and we could see that she had good kick.  By the second lap, she had settled into a small group at the back with 2 other skiers and was moving well, and she gradually pulled away in pursuit of another pack that was starting to string out in front of her.  Early in the third lap, she passed another skier and started a furious charge to catch a few more before the finish.  It was exciting to watch her chasing down the other skiers - she was holding her technique together remarkably well, and she looked better than almost anyone out there.  For a few minutes I thought she was going to get at least one more, but the gap was too big and she just ran out of room, finishing not far behind 5 or 6 skiers after almost an hour of racing.  At the finish we found a very happy skier - she told us that the race was super fun, her skis were good, and she'd had that unmistakable "peaking" feeling.  Can't ask for much more than that - a perfect way to end the season.  I'm pretty happy as well - this was a great week.  I've coached at seven championships now, with Montana State, Whitman, and Bowdoin.  I've worked with some really fast skiers and have witnessed some great races, including an All-American performance.  But I feel like this has been my most successful championships so far, because everything went right.  Hannah skied a pair of great races that were right at the top of her ability as a skier.  Skis were good both days.  The venue was perfect.  Most importantly, it was a really fun experience for both of us.  I owe a big thanks to Hannah for being so positive, enthusiastic, and coachable, both at the championships and all season long.

Thanks also to our great support squad:  Kaitlynn, Shelby, H. Marshall, Deb, and Meg and Laurie Groves.  Shelby handled feeds, which was a big help and allowed me and Kaitlynn to be out on course (at one point, she delivered a "textbook feed" to Hannah, in the words of the announcer).  Much thanks to all of these guys, and to all of the Bowdoin Nordic fans everywhere who have given us so much support all season!

Full NCAA Results

Replay of Live Feed

While we were wrapping up NCAAs, JNs was winding down in Truckee.  I haven't heard a full report yet, but it sounds like Ellie and Mac were both solid in the mass start classic, and Mac posted a really fast split in the relay.  It sounds like everyone did a good job of spreading the good word about Bowdoin Skiing, especially Ellie - no surprise there.  Sarah kept busy shepherding the J2 girls - no doubt this was a piece of cake, especially during the dance.  Overall, a really fun week for everyone.  Full results are here, and here's a video recap.

Still a little more racing to come as we enjoy the last of this amazing winter - stay tuned for more reports!