Midd Carnival and Regionals 2019

Carnival season is over already!  I don't know why I'm still surprised after 12 years - this happens every year.  Anyway, I'm happy to say that we ended with our two most complete carnival performances of the year.  Here's a quick recap:

Warming fresh snow made for a challenging day at the Midd 10/15k classic.  Conditions were just shy of zeroes for the men.  We got their skis pretty well dialed in but added a bit extra to protect against the warming temps - this proved to be our undoing, as the skis clumped and dragged a bit.  We certainly weren't the only ones having trouble, and the guys were able to keep it respectable - Elliot 20, Sean 25, Christian 28.  Cirque just missed another top 30, and Noah E set a PR in 39th.  The women were solidly into zeroes conditions, but unfortunately we only had 2 suitably sized pairs.  We ended up with three different things going on:  Renae made a klister/hard wax combo work beautifully, skiing a super aggressive race to finish 12th.  Lily was on Christian's zeroes and rocked it, finishing 19th.  Gabby opted for speed and straight hard wax and ended up light on kick, but she put up an incredible fight and managed 22nd place.  Fiona had a strong showing as well, just shy of a PR in 38th.

Next day's 5/10k skate was combined with an Eastern Cup - always fun, always chaotic.  The men were on fire - best skate showing in a long time, maybe ever, with Elliot 10th, Sean 13th, and Christian 15th.  We've had 3 women in the top 15 once before, but I'm pretty sure this was a first for men.  Big skate PR for Sean!  Noah E continued his late season charge, bettering his brand new PR with a 33rd.  On the women's side, Renae (11), Gabby (21), and Fiona (42) all set PRs, with Lily completing the scoring in 28th.  Overall, we were 4th for the carnival, tying our top performance ever (St. Mike's Carnival in 2018).

Leslie stayed at Midd to support Noah G, Orion, Luca, and Perrin for the Eastern Cup classic on Sunday - solid showing by all four.  It's always tough to keep the fire burning for those not skiing carnivals, and I'm proud of these guys for staying focused and racing hard.

We closed out the regular season with Regionals at the Bates Carnival in Rumford.  The skiing was amazing - tons of snow up there!  Gabby came into the weekend just outside of NCAA qualifying, so there was a lot riding on the skate race.  She rose to the occasion and came up with a best-ever 18th place finish.  Renae followed in 25th and Lily in 30th in a race featuring super tight times.  The men continued their skate hot streak, with Elliot 6th, Christian 15th, and Sean 20th.  That evening, we celebrated Leslie's birthday and Sean's last carnival with an amazing dinner hosted by the parents.  We are so lucky to have an amazing group of parents supporting our team - every year I can't believe how much they do for us!

The final carnival race of 2019 was a 15/20k classic mass start.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, starting out cold but quickly warming.  We were lucky to have our dream team working on the skis - John Eldredge and Steve DeAngelis joined us, with Luca and Orion helping with testing.  This was fantastic - it allowed us to get a bunch of waxes on the snow and make adjustments quickly to keep up with the changing conditions.  We got skis dialed in nicely for the women, and things were looking good at the start.  Renae got off to a great start and kept getting stronger throughout the race - she flew up High School Hill every lap and kept picking people off, ending up with a nice PR in 7th.   Lily also skied a big race - she went out hard and was able to hang on to the chase pack for a fantastic 16th place finish.  Perrin had a nice race as well, setting a new PR in 42nd.  There was one major cloud over this otherwise great race, though:  Gabby got cut off by another skier just a few hundred meters in and ended up in a tangle.  She recovered quickly but the lead pack was long gone.  She put up a heroic fight and worked her way back to the top 20, but couldn't get any higher, ending in 18th.  Meanwhile, another skier on the NCAA bubble had a great race to lock up the last qualifying spot.  This one really hurts - I don't know if I've ever felt so disappointed about the outcome of a ski race before.  We knew Gabby was poised for a great race, and I know she would have had a shot at staying with Renae and skiing top 10.  I guess that's life on the bubble.  Not much to be done besides train hard and come back strong next year - I know she will.

The men had a tough act to follow, and also tougher conditions - the sun kept beating down and the snow kept warming.  After last weekend, most of the guys were a bit reluctant to get extra kick to stay ahead of the warming, so we got them dialed for the moment and hoped for the best.  Not surprisingly, we had good skis for two laps, and after that it was just survival - the sunny hills got really slick, and it became a double pole and run fest (not just for us, but for most of the field).  Elliot ended up 16th, with Sean 26th and Christian 31st.  Not the closing race we were looking for, but not a bad showing on a tough day.  Noah E was the lone guy to ask for pre-emptive kick, and it turned out to be a great decision - his skis worked well throughout the race, and he once again bettered his PR with a 32nd place finish.  It's been fun watching him break through in the second half of the season - very encouraging signs for the future!  Overall, Regionals was a great finish to a very successful carnival season.  We were 4th again - pretty gratifying to have our best 2 showings to close out the season.  It's hard to believe that we've been solidly in the upper half of the league these last two years, after so many years of inching our way up from the bottom.  On our best days, we're at the top of the EISA's second tier - it's going to take a ridiculously large jump to get into the top tier, but you'd better believe that we're going to try in the coming years.

So, that's our last carnival for 2019 - but the season's not over yet!  Elliot and Renae are going on to NCAAs in Stowe - the big finish is next week.  Meanwhile, several others will be racing into March - Rangeley Loppet this weekend, and all kinds of other possibilities after that.

Sadly, the end of the carnival season means the end of Sean's college career.  It's been a joy watching Sean grow as a skier and as a person these last few years.  He's been such a big figure on our team for so long - it's hard to imagine Bowdoin Nordic without him.  For years Sean has set the tone in training and provided a great example of how to be a college ski racer - he's helped shape the way our whole team approaches the sport.  No one loves this team more than Sean, and we are going to miss him so much.  Thanks for everything, Sean!

Dartmouth Carnival 2019

Fun weekend in New Hampshire for the Dartmouth Carnival.  Warm weather last week made things a little touch-and-go, but the race volunteers did a ton of shoveling and got the course in great shape.  Friday morning was warm with occasional rain showers, but the skiing was nice and fast.  We dumped a ton of fluoros into the skis and sent the women off for the 10k skate.  Renae led the way in 14th place - one of her best skate finishes ever.  The sun came out for the men's 15k - didn't hurt the early starters much, but as the race wore on the snow got slushy.  Things slowed way down, and it became a brutal battle of attrition - the difference between people's first and third laps was striking.  I'm proud to say that our skiers did a great job of holding technique together for the whole race - although they slowed down like everyone else, their skiing stayed solid.  Strangely, we didn't get paid back with great results - they were solid, but not quite what I'd expected given how well they skied.  That's always a bit frustrating, but some days are like that - just a reminder of how competitive the league is.  Elliot led the way in 15th, with Christian close behind in 18th - his best skate finish of the season.

Things got nice and cold overnight and we had some great klister skiing for the 3x5k classic relay.  The 2.5k loop had only one big climb and a lot of rolling stuff, so we were looking for speed and just enough kick to get through a few tough spots - with volunteer assistant coach John Eldredge helping out, we got the skis dialed in nicely.  Gabby got our first team off to a great start, tagging off at the front of the chase pack in 5th.  The Midd team got past Lily, but she pulled away from the rest and handed off a solid lead to Renae, who widened the lead and brought us home in an outstanding 6th place finish, behind the top 2 teams from UVM and Dartmouth as well as Midd's first team - great showing!  Our second team ran into a few bumps with four falls, but they kept fighting and kept themselves right in the mix - judging by their place in the pack I never would have known that they'd had all those falls.  Perrin, originally slated to be our wax tech, was also able to race thanks to a kind invitation from one of Dartmouth's teams that was one skier short - she crushed it and moved them up several places on the final leg.  The men followed up with an equally strong showing - Sean and Noah E were absolute heroes on the first leg, putting us right in the thick of it, and Christian and Cirque both kept us there for the second leg.  Elliot got the tag in 7th with two Williams skiers right next to him - he was able to pull away, catch Colby, and come close to Midd and Laval to finish in 6th - another kilometer and he might have had them.  He skied the fastest third leg of the day.  Meanwhile, Luca showed some serious grit by battling with the Dartmouth and UNH first teams - they ultimately got away from him, but it was pretty cool for him to be scrapping with those guys.  Our second team finished ahead of everyone's second team except UVM and Williams, and beat several first teams as well.  A great effort by the whole team - it's so rare to have everyone skiing well on the same day, so this was pretty special.  Sometimes relays bring out the best in everyone - I'm glad that's how it worked out for us.  After the race was the usual Carni Crush shenanigans - I kept my distance as usual, but from the noise and the smiles, I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time.

Back in Maine there was more racing action.  Noah G and Orion took 1-2 in the John Roderick Memorial 15k in Rumford.  Rachel Z joined them and took 2nd for women.  This was the frosting on the cake of a great day for the whole team!

We were incredibly fortunate to be hosted by Perrin's family last weekend - the women stayed with them and the men stayed with family friends/relatives, the Bandler/Holcombe family.  Both houses were amazing and the hospitality was fantastic.  The Millikens hosted dinner both nights, including a bunch of Bowdoin ski parents on Friday night.  It was so nice to have this big group together - a real family feel.  The whole weekend just felt really special and fun, and our hosts were a huge part of this.  Thanks so much to the Millikens, the Bandler/Holcombes, and all of the Bowdoin Nordic parents who do so much.  And thanks especially to John Eldredge, who continues to be a huge help and a real good luck charm on classic days.  Great weekend - can't wait for more at Middlebury!

UVM Carnival 2019

Back to Trapps for the UVM Carnival this year!  We missed Trapps last year, so it was good to be back.  No troubles this year - trails were gorgeous and snow was plentiful.  It was also really cold!  Friday's 5/10k skate was windy, too - that was nice.  Didn't stop our women from crushing it - very solid performance all around, led by Renae in 16th.  The men were not quite as sharp - Christian was our top finisher in 25th.  We haven't quite hit our stride with skate yet - most of our skiers haven't done much distance skate yet in 2019, so we'll be looking to sharpen this up in the second half of the season.

We had beautiful conditions for the 15/20k mass start classic - firm tracks and fresh snow.  We were also lucky to have Rachel helping with testing and Steve DeAngelis on application - so nice to have a wax crew!  The women did a nice job of putting themselves in competitive positions out of the start.  Gabby was her usual tenacious self - she stuck with the leaders from the beginning and held on for 11th.  Renae was right in with the lead group as well, but unfortunately a skier crashed in front of her and she couldn't avoid going into the powder and losing a ton of time - always a bummer, but she kept fighting and moved up remarkably well to finish 21st.  She told me afterward that she was basically sprinting for 13k trying to make up lost ground - perhaps a moral victory and a confidence boost there, knowing that she has the fitness to hold a fast pace for a full 15k.  Lily closed out the scoring in 29th - three skiers in the top 30 is always a good day!  The men held up their end of the deal - Christian 25th, Sean 26th, and Cirque with a huge personal best in 28th!  Christian had a similar experience as Renae, unfortunately - right in with the leaders for 8k before a crash dropped him well back.  Again, it's at least good to know that he can ski at that level - just need to keep him on his feet!  Cirque's race was one of the best performances I've seen from a Bowdoin skier in a long time.  Before the race he told me he had a plan that was probably a bad idea - go out hard and see if he could stick with the fast guys long enough to finish top 30.  Of course I told him to go for it - he's been skiing great all season, so why not take a chance and try for a home run?  He got himself solidly in the 30s in the early going before gradually skiing away from his pack and moving up place by place to score a huge PR.  It was pretty inspiring to watch - it's not easy to pull off a jump to the next level, but he skied his plan and made it happen.  I love seeing our people skiing with well-earned confidence - it makes all the difference in the world!

Overall a strong finish to the weekend - it's not often that we've had all 6 of our scorers in the top 30.  This showing was particularly notable because Elliot was out sick for the weekend - can't wait to see what we can do when our team is back at full strength!  Now we're fully into the second half of our season - off to Hanover for the Dartmouth Carnival this weekend.  Everything we've done for the past several months has been built around skiing fast in February, so now's the time to cash in!