NCAAs is always a treat, regardless of where it takes place or how many athletes we qualify. This year was a bit extra special - partly because it's fun to go to a western venue, and partly because we had FIVE athletes qualifying. With just one or two athletes at the championship, it's hard to capture the team magic that makes college skiing special, and so it was extra nice to share this adventure with such a big crew. We hit the road shortly after the athletes were finished with classes for the week in order to give our skiers a chance to acclimate to the altitude. Jori, Zach and I were able to fly to Denver on Thursday afternoon - we enjoyed a peaceful Friday that included a little hike around Red Rocks with Bowdoin Nordic alum Matt Klick '98. Morgan, Carson, Emma, and Leslie joined us that night, and we drove to Steamboat the next morning. The venue was in great shape, with tons of snow, and we spent the next few days skiing just enough to stay sharp and get a feel for the courses. That left us with lots of time to stay on top of schoolwork while we built our red blood cells. Happily, we had just enough time left over for some quality team time as well - here are a few highlights:
- Movie nights: Everyone took turns picking the nightly movie. We ended up with an eclectic mix: Kindergarten Cop, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hustle, Holes, Stepbrothers, Isle of Dogs and The Meg. Siskel and Ebert would have been proud of our choices.
- Opening ceremony: The championship hosts organized a nice opening ceremony at the alpine area - our people got to march through the square with their flag on a gorgeous sunny afternoon. They also got sweet gift bags, including the coveted NCAA water bottles.
- Bowling: Our team's been talking about a bowling outing for years, and we finally got our chance at the Steamboat Springs Snow Bowl. Although we're not the most amazing bowlers, we were actually pretty OK - everyone managed an occasional spare or strike, and Carson showed off the slick form honed in his Boulder HS phys ed class. The Williams crew joined us for this outing - always fun to get to spend some time with folks from other teams.
- Snow removal: Ok, this was mostly me and Leslie, but it certainly was a memorable part of the trip. Starting on our first night in Steamboat, it snowed on and off for about three days. Our very steep driveway remained unplowed, and getting out in the morning became more and more exciting until one day we just couldn't make it. Nothing that an hour of shoveling couldn't fix! Fortunately this didn't happen on a race morning.
- Cooking: No ski team trip would be complete without some great team-made dinners: frittatas, pesto pasta, pizzas, and coconut rice. Carson's parents made us a lovely lasagna, and the whole parent crew got together to make us a gigantic feast on our last night. Leslie also made the team nightly beet juice cocktails, because here at Bowdoin Nordic we leave no stone unturned when it comes to altitude acclimation.
- Fake banquet: Ever since the championship banquet went away in the wake of the pandemic, we've done our own version of a banquet - just a simple night out at a semi-nice restaurant in our semi-nice clothes. We had some fantastic tacos at a place called Salt and Lime, and enjoyed a great walk around downtown Steamboat in the snow with a dessert stop at a lovely candy shop.
Eventually it was time to do what we came to do - Thursday brought a bright sunny morning for our 7.5k skate race. The new snow had set up nicely and conditions were perfect. The course was fairly stout - a series of steady climbs right off the bat, followed by a brief rolling section and a long fast descent back into the stadium. With the altitude making everything more challenging, our skiers were determined to nail the pacing - not too hard, not too easy. We were partly successful at this - some of our people seemed to get it just right, and others came out of the gate a bit too hot. Our results were correspondingly mixed - some good, some less good. Zach skied a nice steady race to finish 28th - probably his best skate race of the season. Emma played it cautiously at the start and then latched on to a pair of skiers who passed her partway through - she was able to hang with them until the finish and then outsprint them to take a few seconds back and finish 17th. It was super fun seeing her hold her own against a pair of veteran skiers (who both ended up getting All-American). Morgan started beautifully and then blew up hard, finishing 35th. Jori skied technically well but just didn't have her best stuff, and ended up 36th. Carson started out maybe a bit too hard, had a really rough second lap, and then did a great job rallying to grab a place or two on the final lap to finish 38th. Overall a respectable day on the big stage - not our best and not our worst.
After two warm sunny days, conditions were trending toward klister for the 20k classic, but a Friday night flurry dropped an inch or two of snow and complicated things. Fortunately, we had a pair of legendary alumni show up to help us with waxing - Hannah Miller '17 and Elliot Ketchel '21. Hannah and Elliot are two of the very best skiers to ever come through the program, and it was really reassuring to have them out there testing as conditions changed throughout the morning. After dabbling with a whole bunch of waxes, we got the women's skis set and sent them on their way. Emma and Jori settled into the middle of the pack and probably could have cruised comfortably for a good long time, but the race leaders had other ideas - they took the pace out hot and quickly strung out the field. Emma was able to hang with a group in the teens for the entire race and ended up in 18th. Jori was solid in the 20s for most of the race - she lost a few places in the final lap but still finished a solid 31st. Morgan played it much more cautiously this time, starting well in the back of the field - she held her technique together well and was able to pick off a few places to finish 35th again. Things were really heating up by the start of the men's race, and it was a real guessing game trying to predict what wax would still be working by the end of the race. Zach got himself into a good group after the first series of climbs, but they pulled away on the downhill and he ended up skiing almost the entire race by himself - a tough way to go for a 20k at altitude! Nonetheless he held it together well and held on to finish 26th - a really solid race to wrap up an outstanding season. Carson hung in near the back of the pack and kept chasing hard for the whole race, ending up in 39th. Like Thursday, this was a respectable day - not great, not terrible. As a team, we finished 16th in the overall standings (13th among nordic teams), which is our best championship finish ever. Of course we wanted to finish just a bit higher up after a season full of overachieving, but this was a solid performance against a super elite field. It was a super fun trip to close out an amazing season, and I'm so, so proud of what our team has achieved these past few months. Many thanks to Hannah and Elliot for wax help, MSU coach Adam St. Pierre for lending us tables and forms and saving us much trouble in the airport, and the whole crew of team parents for food and support at these championships. Now that it's all over, I'm already getting stoked for next year, but right now we all need a little break - looking forward to enjoying a peaceful spring as we bring the 2023-24 edition of the Bowdoin Nordic team to a close!
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