UNH Skate

Most people don't know this, but the 5k race loop at Jackson is FIS homologated. Essentially, this means that a duly appointed representative of the International Ski Federation has evaluated the course and declared it homologous. It looks like the trail designer knew what he was doing, because this course was not only homologated, it was a lot of fun to ski - a nice mix of terrain with some steep climbs, lots of turns, and some fun rolling downhills. I had a great time cruising around out there on a beautiful sunny day.

Oh yeah - we had a ski race today, too. 10k skate for both men and women. The men put in another solid performance. Walt led the team in 34th - although the result wasn't great, he felt good. He's done almost no racing or intensity in January due to a lingering sinus infection, so we were just happy to get him racing again. The times were fairly tight, so he should be able to get right back in the mix soon enough. Spencer, Colman, and Scott followed in 45th, 46th, and 49th - decent places for an open carnival, and a nice step up from last weekend for Spencer. Team place was 9th (with Walt as a non-scorer).

The women had their best day as a team so far - they finished 10th again and came close to beating Harvard for the first time in a long while. Courtney had a personal best of 43rd - a good sign to see her posting that kind of result in such a big field. Erin was 59th, with Elissa rounding out the scoring in 70th. Maren had one of our better races in 73rd, her best finish so far. Olivia looked really snappy but a spectacular crash cost her a ton of time - apparently she augured into the powder pretty deeply and inhaled a good bit of it as well. A pretty good day overall, though - definitely a step forward.

Full Results

UNH Classic Sprint

Today was a short but fun day on the Jackson sprint course. Nice cold snow, clean tracks (with one exception), and plenty of competition - today was another open carnival, so the fields were big. The women got things started - Erin led in 55th with Olivia close behind in 58th - best carnival finishes so far for both of them. Courtney and Grace both started off strongly before crashing on a turn with a oddly placed track. One crash in a sprint and it's over, so this was super-frustrating, but it's encouraging at least that both of them skied well. As a team, they finished 10th, a step up from last week's finishes. For the men, Spencer, Niko, and Colman were stacked up from 52-54, just a few seconds from qualifying. They beat some good skiers and were close behind several more, so I'd consider this a decent day even though we didn't qualify anyone. As a team, the men were 9th - we'll move up as the season goes on. 10k skate tomorrow - I'm feeling very homologous about our chances.

Pre UNH Training

Our training between carnivals is falling into a nice pattern - overdistance on Sunday with intensity and speed sessions during the week. Here's Woody dropping in for a sprint:

The skiing at Pineland remains outstanding, although yesterday's 6+ inches won't hurt. Tonight we're in Jackson for the UNH Carnival. Classic sprint on Friday should be relaxed and fun, then a 10k skate on the new FIS-homologated course.

Bates Carnival Photos

Some photos from this weekend, courtesy of Andy Shepard:

Courtney working the V2.

Long Scottwell had a breakout weekend.

Elissa "The Best" Rodman.
Spencer and Elissa were 2 of several Bowdoin skiers sporting Hattonwear last weekend.

Bates Carnival

We just wrapped up the Bates Carnival at Black Mountain - the season is finally underway. It's been a decent weekend. Our team score wasn't anything too exciting, but a lot of our people did some good racing these last couple days. Colman was our top skier in the men's 10k classic yesterday, finishing 42nd in a huge field. We had a solid cluster of guys a little ways behind him, including Niko, who's making a nice comeback from his rollerski-free semester in Denmark. The women showed good depth as well, with Courtney leading the way in 64th and Erin right behind in 66th.

Today's 15/20k skate race was solid. The mass start was set up with a short uphill double pole zone - interesting way to start a skate race. The women's race sorted itself out with a few bumps, but our women held it together well. Courtney got herself in the middle of the pack and moved up gradually, ending in 54th - very nice result for a big open carnival. Elissa and Olivia both had some difficulties mid-race and could have dropped out, but I was thrilled that both of them pushed through to salvage respectable finishes. I'm really happy with how our women skied. It's clear that this group has taken a step forward, even on a weekend when not everyone was on. I'm positive that we haven't seen their best yet, so these next few weeks should be exciting.

The men's start was rather messy. Colman got tripped up right at the start, and Nat was trampled shortly afterward. Spencer got out well, near the front of the pack after a few hundred meters. He decided that he'd better ease up a bit, at which point a few dozen people skied over him and left him with a broken pole. Everyone recovered well from their mishaps, though, and we ended up with another train of Bowdoin guys moving up through the field. Scott had the day's best race, passing dozens of people to end up in 44th - a great start to his college career.

We ended the day with a fine lunch set out by some stalwart team parents in a howling wind. We had great support at this carnival, with several Bowdoin students cheering us on along with the parents. Once again, the Mawhinneys were kind enough to put us up at their house, which helped make it possible to bring our massive men's team on the road. Thanks to all of our supporters!

Tons of Snow

Last weekend's blizzard left southern Maine in great shape - we had at least 16 inches. Pineland is amazing right now.

Shem deep in the woods.

Courtney hammering out some 30/30s. We've done some good training these last few days - light intervals and speed work.

Back to Rumford this weekend for the Bates Carnival and the start of the EISA schedule. Can't wait.

Broomhall Cup

Sunday's Broomhall Cup was pretty epic - a hard course with tons of fresh snow. Snow started falling on Saturday night and didn't let up all day. Luckily for coaches, it was cold, dry snow, so the waxing wasn't too tricky. The women powered through the 10k and ended with some solid finishes. Courtney was our top skier again, finishing 53rd in the midst of some good college racers. Erin was 70th and looked strong - very encouraging. The course was a shambles by the time the men raced, and the 15k turned into a grind. Colman had a stellar race, finishing 41st in a huge and deep field. A short ways back, a big knot of our guys skied together and passed people throughout the race - it was exciting to see a cluster of black and white suits moving steadily through the field. In the end, we weren't able to get close to Bates and Colby in the scoring for the Maine State Championship, but I'm really happy with how we skied nonetheless. A lot of people showed that they're fit and tough yesterday - our depth has improved tremendously, and I can't wait to see how this team does in a college race.
Results

We were lucky to have support from a lot of people yesterday. Maresa and another former ski teamer, Krysia Crabtree, came up to watch the race and help out with waxing. This was huge - there's no way Ollie and I could have handled all of the men's skis by ourselves. Several parents braved the storm to set up a great tailgate in the parking lot - so nice to have hot soup and other good food after a long day of racing. Lastly, the lodging at the Mawhinney household was a huge blessing for the sprint racers - it's hard to imagine how we could have managed to get them to both races without Dan and Diane's hospitality. Thanks to all of our supporters from the weekend!

Tons of great race photos from Steve Fuller can be found at the Flying Point Road site. Lots of good ones of our team - check them out.

A few tailgate photos from the always reliable Nick Crawford:

A rare moment when Spencer's not talking.

Parents working hard to put food on the table and skiers working hard to eat it.

Grace instructing Maren on the fine points of a good swing. It's never to early to start the golf season.

Rumford Sprint

Ollie called in a report this afternoon on the Eastern Cup sprint in Rumford. Decent performance overall on a tough course. Spencer was the top finisher in 35th, narrowly missing the heats. Polasky had the race of the day in 48th, ahead of lots of fast juniors and some good college skiers as well. Full results here. They're staying at the Mawhinney's house right down the road from Black Mtn - a perfect setup, thanks to Woody's parents, Dan and Diane.

Back home, we held a couple sprint relays, short and long. The World won the short, but Maine came back to take the long and earn a split. Jeff gets a gold star for helping his team to the short course win after a broken pole. Today was the best day of skiing all week - cold, sunny, and nice firm snow.

Broomhall Cup tomorrow - 10/15k classic. There's snow in the forecast and apparently the course is tough, so it'll be a slog. That works for us.

Friends of Bowdoin

Last night was our annual Friends of Bowdoin dinner. Our team broke into groups for dinner with 4 different families around the area - great food and great company. My group had dinner with Henry and Alicia Heyburn. Henry coached the Bowdoin nordic team from '87-'92, back when the team was a Div. 3 power - it's always fun to talk ski team history. Thanks to all of the Friends of Bowdoin - we truly appreciate your hospitality.

Good training these last couple days - OD skate with some sprints yesterday, and an easy classic ski today. It's been really cold, but with no wind and bright sunshine the air feels great - couldn't ask for better. We've put in a lot of training over the last few days, and people are feeling it - we'll cut back pretty significantly starting next week, but for now we're taking advantage of no school to load up a bit. Tomorrow most of the first-years are off to Rumford with Ollie for the Eastern Cup sprint. Old folks will stay behind with me for a sprint relay, with more MvW points at stake.

MvW Day 2

Another good day of training at Pineland today - we did classic 4x4 VO2max intervals, with some aggressive downhill pack skiing on the recovery. The snow got a bit transformed yesterday night with a weird brief thaw, so it was pretty abrasive but hard wax still worked fine. Skating tomorrow should be great.

Team Maine won a decisive bowling victory to open the MvW competition last night, led by Nat's high score of 171. Lots of folks were streaky - lots of strikes and gutter balls. Wilson opened the game with 3 straight strikes and started talking about ditching skiing for bowling - fortunately, he cooled off shortly thereafter. Olivia took most improved honors, increasing her score from 58 in the first game to 154 in the second. The World appears to have gotten the better of the play in water basketball today, so the overall competition would seem to be tied, although I haven't gotten the official word yet.

Maine vs the World

As of today, everyone's back on campus for a short camp before classes start. We'll get in some quality training together before the Broomhall Cup (ME State Championships) on Sunday - then it's back to work on Monday. We got underway this morning with a long classic ski and some specific strength paired with a little downhill practice. Good times. Skiing at Pineland is great - with cold temps in the forecast, conditions should be solid for a while.

As an added challenge for the week, we're holding the first annual Maine vs. the World competition: bowling, water basketball, trivia/scavenger hunt (mostly pertaining to Bowdoin Skiing or Athletics in general), a spring relay, and more. Regional pride is coming to the surface, with some trash talking already starting. A few folks are going to be eating theirs words when this one's over.

For any Bowdoin Skiing fan who wants to try his/her hand at the trivia questions, here they are:

-Name 5 members of the 2000-2001 nordic ski team.
-Name 3 recipients of the Polar Bear Award (current team members excluded).
-Name 3 former nordic ski coaches (Marty Hall excluded).
-Name the only Bowdoin nordic skier to qualify for the Div. I NCAA Championships. (Bonus point: Name the only apline skier to accomplish this feat).
-Name Bowdoin's first year as a full member of the EISA.
-Describe the "opposite wave."
-Describe "French Toast."
-Name Coach Slovenski's high school alma mater.
-Name 3 recipients of the Col. Ryan award.
-Name 2 of the 2008 inductees to the Bowdoin Athletic Hall of Honor.
-Middle name of Forrest Horton '08.
-High school alma mater of Leah Ricci '07.
-Name 3 coaching positions held by Marty Hall prior to his tenure at Bowdoin.
-Name a Bowdoin graduate who has won an Olympic medal, including year and event (JBS excluded).
-What is the school record for the women's 1500m (outdoor)? Name the athlete, year, and time.
-Name the majors of 4 opposing team members (ie, Maine/World, not other ski teams).
-What is the pool record for the men's 50m freestyle? Name the athlete, year, time, and school.
-SPECIAL BLOG BONUS (5 points) What is Marty Hall's middle name?
Submit pictures of the following:
-2+ team members in front of Bowdoin's oldest building.
-2+ team members with any event winner at Saturday's track meet.
-2+ team members at Friday's hockey game.
-2+ team members at Saturday's swim meet.
-2+ team members with a snowman in front of the dorm named after a Civil War general (not JLC).
-2+ team members in front of the building that formerly housed the Chi Delt fraternity.
-2+ team members with Finley.
-2+ team members in front of a plaque, picture, building, etc. bearing the name of the men's hockey coach prior to current coach Terry Meagher.

Pineland Race

Several people raced at Pineland today in the Race For Those Not Heading To Nationals, a 10k skate. It snowed last night and all morning, so the conditions were soft and smooth. The competition was solid - most of the Bates and Colby skiers, as well as some good juniors and master skiers. I was helping out with the race, so I didn't get to see much of our skiers, but I liked what I saw and I'm absolutely thrilled with the results. Courtney led the women with an 8th place finish and Spencer was 6th for men. We had several skiers up in the middle of the Bates and Colby crowd, skiing with people they haven't been close to in the past. Great way to end the pre-season.
Men's Results
Women's Results

Here are a few photos courtesy of Nick:

Courtney was skiing on a higher level today - she thrives on tough conditions. She looked strong and aggressive - probably the best I've ever seen her ski.

Erin sporting the groovy headwear.

Grace powering through - the course got a bit sloppy, but no one's complaining about new snow.

Cookie Monster with the face shield - somebody loves him.

A few other race notes: Scott burned up a local NY citizen race yesterday, the Byrncliff Governor's Cup - always nice to take the win. And here's a photo of Wilson and Maren with Andy Newell at a Wasatch Citizen Series race from last weekend:

Nick & Ollie at Craftsbury

Here's a report from Nick, who raced at Craftsbury last weekend:

Ollie and I went to the Craftsbury Classic this past weekend in the Northeast Kingdom area of VT. My day started at 5:30 when I had a big mug of coffee for the 4 hour drive up there. While Courtney and the other coffee drinkers on the team are delighted to start the day like this, it didn’t sit so well in my stomach. I was a little worried but I ended up feeling much better by the time the race started. It was supposed to be a low key, local citizen’s race, but because there weren’t any other races in New England, a large field showed up. The organizers had not anticipated so many participants so there ended up being a mass start, self seeded race with 130 men and women aged 15-70+. The start was pretty hectic, quickly going to two tracks through the woods. After a kilometer of mostly downhill, the course went down a series of sharp hair pin turns in this big field the locals call “Eleanor’s”. I was hoping to see some crashes but since the snow was fairly forgiving and the trail was plenty wide I don’t think anyone went down. The trail rolled back up to the start area with another sharp downhill turn that Ollie and I both almost went down on before a long false-flat straightaway to the finish. The race was very successful for us with Ollie taking 8^th and the first U23 finisher and I was 24^th as the second U23 finisher. Afterward we enjoyed a nice cool down and easy tour on Craftsbury's scenic trails through old farm fields and forest with great views of the Green Mountains. The snow was nearly perfect with blue-extra wax, firm tracks and good cover.

-Nick

Pictures courtesy of Harvard skier Anna Schulz.

Holiday Racing

Pretty quiet lately - the team's on break right now. Everyone was pretty worn out after exams, so it's good to have a few days to relax and train without the pressures of school. The main focus of our training right now is doing a few tune-up races to accompany some VO2max work and speed. People are finding low-key races around home - here are a few links to results:

Rangeley Opener

Bedford Nordic Championships

Como Championships

These early results are fun to check out for a preview of the carnival season, but the main thing we're after is the process of racing. There are several days left before the big races start, and plenty of good race opportunities, so we should enter the season nice and sharp. I'll pass along more results as they come in.