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!
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