After three days of blazing hot weather, it was a minor miracle that the Midd Carnival races actually happened, but the crew at Rikert did a great job of chopping up ice and pushing around snow to cover the full 5k loop. I seem to be saying stuff like this more and more often these days - I guess those are just the times we live in... Anyway, excellent work by Rikert gave us very nice skiing for the whole weekend. Friday's 5/10k classic was your basic klister day - we tested a whole range of things with much help from our volunteer wax tech Cirque and were able to get the skis pretty well dialed. This was one of those days where the whole team passed the eyeball test - everyone looked really good! Gabby had a clutch performance to finish 8th - she came into the day holding onto the last NCAA qualifying spot by the thinnest of margins, and this race gave her some much needed breathing room. Renae was solid in 17th, Lily 26th, and Ellie just outside the top 30 in 33rd. The Ellie/classic relationship has been a long and winding road - we've been chipping away at this for the last four years, and sometimes it seemed like classic was just never going to click for this kid. But years of hard work resulted in a breakthrough last fall, and she's been crushing classic all year. Coming into the season I would have been overjoyed to know that Ellie would have a 33rd place classic finish - it's a mark of how much she's overachieved that this is only tied for her 3rd best classic race of the year! On the men's side, Sam has made similar progress in classic, and he showed that with a 36th place finish, just one off of his PR set last week at Williams. The big showstopper of the day was Elliot, as has been the case so many times this year - 3rd place! Best ever men's result for Bowdoin Nordic, and our first ever men's podium! The crazy thing was that for the first half of the race he didn't look like he was moving that fast, and his first lap split wasn't anything special. Then suddenly he started showing signs of life making time on the skiers around him, and I figured maybe it would be an OK race after all. Even so, I didn't believe Cirque when he told me that Elliot was just a couple seconds out of 3rd at 7.5k! Elliot didn't believe it either when he got the split, but he put his head down and gunned it anyway, and that final surge put him on the podium. It was really a remarkable display of pacing, and a great reminder that relaxed smooth skiing is fast, even if it doesn't always look fast. So much for the eyeball test. That night, we celebrated with a delicious dinner organized by team parents and friends - a fantastic group effort by a bunch of people who have gone above and beyond for our team all season long.
The next morning was pure spring skiing for the 15/20k skate - loose granular snow that just got warmer and wetter as the day went on. Cirque again earned his money, and we were able to test a wide range of things right up until the last minute. The soft, slow conditions made the race a real grind, which was right up Christian's alley - he was strong and steady for the whole race to finish 15th. The Rad Chilla has quietly had an outstanding season, with 6 races in the top 20 - super consistent and really impressive improvement for a guy who wasn't on anyone's radar 2 years ago. Elliot was right behind in 16th, with Sean 28th, Sam 29th, and Jake 31st. Jake skied the whole race just a few seconds behind the Sean/Sam pack - it was a bit tragic but also inspiring to see him fighting so hard the whole race to close that gap, skiing by himself the whole time - a really courageous effort. For the women, Renae was steady as always, leading the team in 17th. Ellie got taken out in a crash right from the start - by the time she got up she was about 3rd or 4th to last, and this could have been the end of her race. But she never gave up - she started chasing people down and moving through the field steadily, putting in a final push to grab a couple more places and finish 24th - her second best finish ever and a fine way to end an excellent college career. Speaking of people who never give up, Rachel gave a great effort, making up tons of ground in the second half of the race to pick off several skiers and finish 54th, just a couple places from a PR. Rachel has put in a ton of hard work over the years, and right now I can't think of any Bowdoin Nordic skier who improved more between freshman and senior year.
So that's a wrap - the 2018 carnival season is complete. It's been a fantastic year for Bowdoin Nordic - the best season we've ever had by any measure. And we're not even done racing yet! Elliot, Renae, and Gabby have all qualified for NCAAs! We've only had five Bowdoin Nordic skiers qualify for NCAAs in our entire history, so three in one year is almost too much to take - and all of them are first-years! Way ahead of schedule. If we can ever get a flight out of the Northeast with all this crazy weather, we've got some exciting races to look forward to in Steamboat this coming week. Also, Jake is already in South Korea to prep for the Paralympic Games. We know from last spring and a couple races in December that he's competitive with the top visually impaired skiers. This year he's been super steady, and his fitness is excellent - can't wait to see what happens. First race on March 12th - I'll post more info when I find links to timing and maybe even a live feed if we're lucky. Lastly, I'm happy to report that a few of our skiers are re-establishing a proud Bowdoin Nordic tradition and finishing the season at the Rangeley Loppet today! Last time our team went to Rangeley (2014) Jackson Bloch '15 and Hannah Miller '17 swept the 50k. Based on early reports our crew did pretty well today... I'll post more details when I have them.
One last note before we put the 2018 carnival season in the books: All four of our seniors - Jake, Rachel, Ellie, and Sam - are going to be much missed. They've done so much for the program - not just skiing fast, but helping build a culture of dedication and focus, and most importantly creating a fun and supportive environment on our team. This year was fantastic not just from a competitive standpoint, but also from a team unity standpoint. Our skiers really had fun together and supported each other beautifully - they really care about each other in a way that you always hope will happen but you can't ever take for granted. Our seniors have played a huge role in making this happen, and it's made all the difference. As Rachel often says, "Happy people ski faster!" Thanks seniors, for making people happy and for being your amazing selves. We will miss you so much!
Much thanks to Chris Shaheen and Orion for these great photos!
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