UVM Carnival/Eastern Cup/SuperTour

Quite a lot going on at the UVM Carnival last weekend!  With the absurdly warm weather continuing, Trapps lost so much snow that they had to move the races to Craftsbury (ironically, a mini-blizzard hit the coast of Maine just as we were leaving, so it was pretty sad to drive out of all that lovely snow into the bleak brown landscape of NH and VT).  The folks at Craftsbury did amazing work to squeeze a 2.5k loop out of very limited space and snow - a lot of loops back and forth in the 2 main fields, and a nice rolling segment out in the woods, all covered by mostly manmade snow.  Since the carnival doubled as an Eastern Cup and tripled as a SuperTour, there were lots and lots of people sharing this very small space - a bit hectic but also a busy and fun atmosphere.  The frozen granular snow and lack of big climbs made for a really, really fast race and super tight times on Saturday's 5/10k skate.  Ellie took an aggressive approach to this race and it paid off - she started out fast and pushed hard the whole way, and was rewarded with her first NCAA points ever in 27th.  Amazingly, she was just 8 seconds from being in the top 15 - a really, really close race!  This was a real breakthrough for Ellie, and very exciting for all of us to know that our skiers can be right in there with the best.  The whole rest of the team skied well also - I was really happy with how everyone looked.  Sean scored his first NCAA points in skate (25th), Hannah Marshall skied her best distance race ever (in my opinion), and Mac bounced back from a few sluggish weeks to set a distance PR of 34th.  A delicious dinner at the Miller household with several other team parents in attendance put the cap on a really nice day.

On Sunday we were loaded for bear (ie, klister), but the predicted snow showers were heavier than expected, and there was some real accumulation in the tracks throughout the morning.  We tested a number of options and made a last minute call to go with hard wax for the women.  With such a gently rolling course, we didn't dare to slow the skis down with klister in pursuit of perfect kick.  Fortunately, the women were up to the task - they did a great job of making the kick work and had nice fast skis.  Lucy broke out to finish 2nd for our team - her first time ever scoring points for the team!  As the new snow got skied in and the showers subsided, we switched back to klister for the men, but we stuck with a colder klister than the temps would normally require in the hopes of getting fast skis with just enough kick.  Again, the men made it work, and we had some really nice performances.  Sean led the way in 18th - he continues to set a new standard of excellence for Bowdoin Nordic first-year skiers!  Mac bettered his own PR from the day before in 32nd, just barely missing his first NCAA points, and Jake was right behind with a personal best of 34th - another strong performance in what has been a remarkably consistent season for Jake, with no finishes lower than 38th.  Once again, the whole team skied well and looked very strong.  The best thing I noticed was that our skiers are steadily improve at working the course and grabbing seconds here and there.  Tess did a fantastic job of working the transitions, August experimented with a very aggressive sitting tuck, and lots of people took the opportunity to catch rides off the many skiers coming and going on their various laps.  Very good stuff that will continue to add up and yield better results.

One other cool thing about this carnival was that we had a couple of alumni joining us in the races.  Spencer Eusden '12 was in town for the SuperTour with his Sugar Bowl Academy teammate Emily Blackmer, and Erin Hatton '12 jumped into the classic races.  We helped these guys out with waxing, and they did a great job of holding their own against all the fast HS and college kids.  It's really great to see Bowdoin Nordic alumni staying in the sport (and extra nice to have a chance to wax their skis one more time to make up for all the times I didn't get it right when they were in college!).

The only blemish on the day was sickness - we had 3 skiers who were under the weather and unable to race all weekend, which was obviously a bit of a letdown.  I also got a bit sick on Sunday, which was not fun on a busy klister day.  Fortunately, Tim was on top of his game and was extra efficient in testing and application to make up for my total lack of energy.  Overall, it was a great team effort, and we were well supported by a great crew of parents - a very successful weekend that has us all excited about the second half of the season.  With snow still thin across New England, we're headed right back to Craftsbury on Saturday for the 1-day Dartmouth Carnival - can't wait!

Here are some photos courtesy of Everett Marshall and Kaitlynn Miller: