Chummy Cup 2018

Last weekend was the 11th Annual Chummy Broomhall Cup - the Maine collegiate championship.  This race is named in honor of the late Chummy Broomhall, a Maine native and a US nordic skiing legend.  We usually combine this event with a carnival; this year we had a break in the EISA schedule, so we took the opportunity to hold the Chummy as its own event for the first time since 2011.  This year's venue was the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle - first time we've ever had the Chummy up north, and the first time our team has ever raced on those trails.  It's rare that we get to check out an unfamiliar venue, so this was pretty exciting.  Turns out that the NHC trails are fantastic - nice mix of terrain with lots of rolls and transitions, including several fun turns in the middle of fast downhills.  When we showed up to preview the course on Friday evening, the scene was gorgeous - blazing orange light shining through thousands of ice encrusted branches - one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen on any ski trail anywhere.  This picture doesn't even come close, but it's the best I can do:

The next morning was cold and clean and perfect for racing.  The team was as amped up as I've ever seen them - we've never won the Chummy, and everyone was determined to make this our year.  Not surprisingly, the men's race got off to a hot start - after some chaos, things calmed down a bit.  After Zane Fields of Colby went off the front, Elliot settled into a duel for second with Parker McDonald of Bates, pulling away in the last few hundred meters.  Meanwhile, Sam, Christian, Jake, and Sean were part of an absolute brawl with a few Bates and Colby skiers - the final climb into the stadium was just a boiling mass of skis and poles, with everyone battling for those precious points.  Sam ended up 6th, Christian 8th, Jake 9th, and Sean 10th - a solid showing, but still a few points behind Colby going into the women's race.  We knew it would take a near miracle to close the gap, especially with one of our best skaters (Ellie) out due to illness. but the women were game to try.

As it turned out, they had to wait a while to get their shot.  On their cooldown, a few men discovered a huge hole right on the edge of the trail - looking more closely, they discovered a hibernating mother bear and two cubs!  Not something you see every day at a ski race - certainly a first for me.  A true Aroostook County experience.  After a short delay, the race organizers were able to re-route the course, and the race was on.  A big pack stayed close together for the first several kilometers - Gabby and Renae were right in the mix with the top Colby and Bates skiers, with Lily detached but fighting hard to stay close.  The skiers disappeared into the woods again - standing on the final hill, I had no idea what was happening until I heard our men making all kinds of noise, and I figured we must still have skiers in contention.  When they finally came around the turn, it was Renae leading a pack of four - Kaelyn Woods (Bates), Kirsten Miller (Colby) and Gabby.  At the base of the climb, Kaelyn found an extra gear and broke away, closely followed by Kirsten - Renae and Gabby fought hard but couldn't quite keep up, finishing 3rd and 4th.  Seconds later, Lily came around the turn with a pair of Colby skiers and the same scene repeated itself - a final charge up the hill with our skier just off the back.  In the end, we had to settle for second, just 6 points behind Colby.  We really wanted this one, and it's tough to accept that we'll have to wait at least another year before we finally hoist that cup.  Still, we can't feel too sad - Colby has been killing the skate races this year, and it was going to take a perfect day to beat them.  On this particular day, they were just a bit stronger than us - hats off.  Our team gave it a great fight, especially the women - as Ian would say, they punched above their weight.  The season's off to a great start, and we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about February.  Back to action at the UVM Carnival this weekend!

RESULTS

Here are photos of the All-State teams (top 10):

Many thanks to Tim Whiton, UMPI, and the good folks at MHC for organizing a great race.  It's a fantastic venue, and we hope to have a chance to come back for more training or racing soon!  Thanks also to Andy Shepard of OSI for starting this event in the first place, and for keeping it going all these years.  It's a special tradition for the Maine schools, and I hope we have many more to come.