The middle carnivals are done, just like that, along with some non-college races - lots going on these past couple weeks. Here's a rundown:
St. Mike's Carnival: Back at Sleepy Hollow for the first time in three years, and it didn't disappoint - nice fresh snow on rolling trails winding through a hardwood forest. Classic Vermont skiing with an old-school feel - love it. In the 10k classic Adam led the men in 12th, with Will 18th and Lars 35th. Caleb also scored a personal best in 51st. We put 5 women in the top 30 - Emma 2nd, Jori 11th, Gillian 22nd, Keira 25th (first top 30 finish for Keira!), and Mirra 30th. Good solid start, but the real excitement was the 3x5k classic relay. Will got our first team off to a strong start, 5th at the tag, and Adam went back and forth with some other teams and ended up tagging off still in 5th. Lars was in a tight battle with some really strong skiers on the third leg and skied probably the best classic race I've seen from him so far, bringing the team to a very respectable 8th place finish, just seconds from 5th. Our second team of Caleb, Catcher, and Michael finished 17th, with Michael showing off some really nice striding - a nice payoff for all the hard work he's been doing this winter. Jori got the top women's team off to a fast start - she was at or near the front of the group pushing the pace for most of the first leg, and she tagged off in 4th. Gillian showed some impressive poise skiing against a strong group of experienced skiers - she kept it close and tagged off in 5th, 10 seconds from the lead. Emma made a pro move right away, putting in a strong surge to catch the lead group by the end of the first kilometer. From there, she skied in a group with UVM and Dartmouth. Late in the first lap she went to the front and tried to drop the others, but they stayed tight. With less than 1k to go, Dartmouth pulled away, and although Emma couldn't quite match the pace, she outlasted UVM to bring our team into 2nd place - our best relay finish ever! Meanwhile, our second women's team put together an outstanding race of their own. Mirra kept the team in the mix despite the furious pace set by Jori and the leaders, and Kira and Keira showed off some beautiful striding to wrap up an 11th place finish - I'm pretty certain that this is our best second team finish ever. It was a nice finish to a lovely day of skiing, and even more lovely to see our team on the podium. As a team, we were fifth for the carnival, just three points out of fourth. Many thanks to Gillian's parents, Stephanie and Josh, for hosting our team for dinner, and also to alumni wax testers Carson and Zach!
Quarry Road Eastern Cup: That same weekend, a few of our skiers raced the Eastern Cup at Quarry Road. Grace posted a 9th place finish in the 10k skate, with Sawyer leading the men in 26th. The next day was sunny and very cold - perfect for a 10k mass start classic! Grace crushed it again, finishing 5th, with Francie right behind in 13th. Ollie was our top men's finisher in 24th, continuing his comeback from a combination of injury, illness, and fatigue over the last few months.
Dartmouth Carnival: We got a big storm on Thursday that snarled up our travel plans a bit - the team ended up taking a bus to our hotel that night, and the coaches drove the vehicles over either before or after, with a big assist from Bowdoin AD Tim Ryan. The nice relaxing bus ride left our skiers full of energy for the 7.5k classic, and thanks to some timely wax testing help from alumni Mia, Carson, and Ingrid, we managed to get decent skis for them on the fresh snow. Emma took another 2nd place finish, showing off her much-improved striding technique, and Jori followed it up in 9th with Gillian 18th to help the women to a second place finish! Will led the men in 19th, with Lars setting a PR in 25th and Adam 28th. Catcher also scored a huge personal best, finishing 33rd. After a lovely dinner hosted by the Miller family and prepared by our three wax testing alumni, we came out ready to crush the 20k skate. Emma, Jori, and Gillian all skied in the lead pack for most of the race - such a thrill to see our crew up with the leaders! Somewhere in the second half of the race Emma decided to break it up - she went to the front and pushed the pace, stringing out the group and gradually dropping all but four other skiers. Try as she might, she wasn't able to open up a gap, and although she was right with the group up the last hill she couldn't outsprint them, finishing 5th - not as exciting as some of her recent races, but still an outstanding finish! Jori (15th) and Gillian (16th) completed the scoring for us, with Keira (27th) also in the top 30. Kira and Grace also had really special efforts - Kira was clearly exhausted two laps into the race, but she kept fighting and held on for a really solid 37th place finish, while Grace had an unfortunate fall on the first downhill that left her at the back of the pack but was able to ski her way back to 54th. Our top men followed the same playbook, with Adam and Will in the lead pack until the last few kilometers. Adam scored his first ever top 10 finish, outsprinting a Dartmouth skier to finish 8th, and Will hung in there for his third straight top 20 finish in 19th. Lars put in a solid 36th place finish, helping the men to a 6th place finish on the day. It's been exciting to see the men emerge from a slow start , and Lars has been a major part of that. As a team, we finished 4th - our best carnival showing of the season! Huge thanks to the many people who helped make this carnival possible - the Millers, Tim Ryan, and of course our many alumni who showed up to test wax, cook dinner, and cheer. This was a really special community effort, and we appreciate all of our supporters so much.
Meanwhile, Francie and Ollie ventured up to Orono to compete in the Great Caribou Bog Race. They both won the 10k event, and received an interesting railbed based trophy that I have yet to see. It takes a little extra motivation to get out the door for a humble local race halfway across the state - great work by Ollie and Francie to make it happen. Very glad to see smaller events like this thriving!
Next up for us is a double classic weekend at the Middlebury Carnival. Should be another interesting travel situation with another big storm coming - we'll get there one way or another. Looking forward to a great weekend!
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