We closed out the carnival season with Regionals, aka the Middlebury Carnival. Rikert has always been one of our favorite venues, and we've had some really special results there over the years. This edition of the Midd Carnival started with a warm sunny day for the men's 7.5k skate, where Adam posted one of his best finishes of the season in 19th. The women followed up with an absolutely magical performance - probably the best single race in Bowdoin Nordic history. Emma finished 2nd, just 10 seconds from the win! With this performance, she tied Kaitlynn Miller '14 for the best carnival finish in team history. Meanwhile, Jori finished 8th and Morgan 10th, giving us all of our scorers in the top 10. The rest of our women showed off our depth, with Ingrid 20th, Natalie 21st, and Kira 30th - first time we've ever put 6 women in the top 30! The women were 2nd on the day - just an exceptional showing and a huge boost to our whole team. Cold overnight temps froze up the course hard and fast and made the downhills in the 20k classic into an exciting adventure. It was a little more adventure than we needed, honestly - we had a lot of crashes in the men's race. When the race started, I had two nice test skis on my feet - five minutes later, I had zero, having given them away to Zach and Sawyer, who each broke a binding with a first lap crash. Carson also had quite a time, with one of his three falls leaving him in a ditch on the side of the course. All three guys kept fighting, though, and Zach almost got himself into the top 30 - a great effort by all three of them on a day where it would have been easy to quit. Will was able to keep it together for a really nice 23rd place finish, and Adam scored a respectable 28th. After hearing the dire warnings from the men, the women played it a bit more cautiously, and we avoided major carnage. As usual, Emma and Jori went out with the lead pack and stayed there for most of the race, finishing 5th and 11th, respectively - what a joy to see these two skiing with so much confidence this year and claiming their space in the mass starts. Morgan was 25th and Natalie skied a gritty race to hold onto 29th. Emma locked up First Team All-East honors, and four others joined her in qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Steamboat Springs, CO: Jori, Morgan, Zach, and Carson. As a team we ended up 5th for the weekend - a solid finish to an exceptional season. Many thanks to Aggie, Mia, and Silas, who worked hard all weekend helping with testing, waxing, and feeds. Thanks also to the team parents for organizing a wonderful dinner to honor our seniors! Our eight seniors have been the backbone of our team for the last four years - our team wouldn't be what it is without them, and we're truly grateful.
While we were closing out our carnival season, Mirra was in Estonia representing the US in the Youth World Championships for biathlon. She earned her place in this event with some excellent finishes in qualifying races over Winter Break, and although we missed her at Regionals, we were so thrilled to see her get a chance to test herself on the world stage. Her best finish was 58th in the 6k sprint, a very solid showing against a huge and competitive international field. Congratulations Mirra!
As the NCAA folks were making their way to Steamboat, a big crew of our skiers headed up to Rangeley for the Rangeley Loppet 50k. Will capped off his outstanding first-year season by outsprinting a few Colby and Bates skiers to earn the win and bring home a bear trophy. Aggie led the women with a strong second place finish. Rangeley has always been a fun and special event for our team, and it was so nice to have so many of our skiers out there racing on those beautiful trails.
Lastly, alumna Renae Anderson '21 got her first World Cup starts a few weeks ago! Renae has been racing the SuperTour circuit with APU this season, and she posted enough strong finishes to earn starts at the North American World Cup races in Canmore and Minneapolis. This was extra special because Renae is a proud Minnesotan who grew up skiing at Theodore Wirth Park, site of the Minneapolis races. Renae made the most of her opportunity, scoring solid results and earning starts at the upcoming World Cup sprints in Drammen and Falun. You can read Renae's account of her races at her blog. Congratulations Renae - we're so proud of you!
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