Wow that was cold! Absolutely frigid temperatures at the St. Michael's Carnival last weekend. It wasn't so much that the daytime temps were cold, although they were. It was more that the overnight lows were absolutely arctic, and it took the better part of each day to warm up. Fortunately, there was no wind this weekend - the jury moved the races to the warmest part of the day and everything was just fine. But cold.
The Sleepy Hollow course is rolling, with a lot of gradual up and down and not a ton of steep climbs or technical descents - good fun skiing that really rewards people who know how to work transitions, preserve momentum, and ride a gliding ski. In short, this was a great course for Elliot to get his mojo back. He skied a smooth, strong race to finish 8th in the 10k skate, with Zach also stepping up his game in 25th and Carson finishing 30th to score his first ever NCAA points. This seemed to be the theme of the day, with Ellie (27th) and Ingrid (30th) posting their first top 30 finishes as well. Aggie led the women in 17th, with Renae right behind in 18th. All 6 of our women finished in the top 35 - excellent depth, and so close to NCAA points for everyone! Both teams were 5th on the day.
Next day was a 5k classic. This one was less about gliding and more about double poling - just a pure power race from start to finish. I was a bit worried about how our men would handle this - we've always been more of a grind-it-out team who thrives on endurance/fitness based skiing. But this turned out to be a great day for them - their best race of the season so far! Elliot continued his strong weekend in 9th, with Zach posting an outstanding personal best in 16th and Carson with a solid 32nd. Fourth place as a team! Renae bounced back to lead the women in 7th, with Aggie 22nd and Ellie 29th. Sixth as a team, just a few points out of 3rd. For the full weekend, we were 5th overall in the nordic scoring. I continue to be impressed by how well our young skiers are performing in their first collegiate season together. After graduating so many amazing skiers in the past few years, I was keeping my expectations tempered, but this group is quickly exceeding my highest hopes. Can't wait to see what they can do in the coming weeks!
The Bowdoin Nordic parents also deserve a special shout-out for this carnival. Our team parents are always amazing, and this weekend they really went above and beyond. They were so incredibly kind and thoughtful about taking care of our shivering athletes after the races - I can't even imagine how cold they must have been standing around the food table. We can't thank you all enough!
Chummy Cup next weekend - the Maine State Championship! Time to defend our title - can we make it three in a row? It's going to be tough - Maine college skiing is looking pretty stout these days. For the first time ever, we'll contest the Chummy at Sugarloaf, hosted by the University of Maine-Farmington. Change is good and different venues are fun - can't wait!
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