Three carnivals down, three to go - season is going fast. Here's a quick recap:
The Colby Carnival brought some cold weather - for a minute it looked like the races might be canceled, but we ended up with cold but not extreme temps. Day 1 was a 20k mass start skate - we weren't super sharp after a week off from racing for most people, but we managed some good performances. Beckett (22), Will (23) and Ollie (28) led the men, with Henri (35) and Ian (37) scoring impressive personal bests and Eli finishing 40th - this gave the men 6 skiers in the top 40, checking the box for one of the team outcome goals they'd set in the fall. Michael also produced an inspiring race - he crashed and broke a pole about 3k into the race, and then, while skiing with one pole, went way off trail into the powder. His ski came off and it took him forever to right himself, at which point he was pretty close to last. Nonetheless, he stayed with it and chipped away, passing dozens of people to finish a respectable 58th. Great races don't always show up on the results sheet, but we need to recognize them even when they're hidden. On the women's side, Emma had a mishap of her own, with a fall right off the line in the mass start. She was able to catch back up to the leaders, but the effort cost her - after several laps in the lead pack she fell off the pace and settled for 6th. Mirra had a breakout day in 21st, with Jori close behind in 25th. Kira scored her first top 30 of the season, and Francie posted a big PR with her first-ever top 40 finish in 39th. That night we had a lovely team dinner at Leslie's house courtesy of Megan and Andy Scott - always so nice to get off campus for dinner to give us that carnival feeling even when we're staying at home! Day 2 was a 7.5k classic - it was a fast race, with super close times. Beckett continued his impressive start, finishing 17th on his home course. Will (23), Lars (27), Ollie (28) and Sawyer (31) were all just seconds from the top 20. Emma led the women in 7th despite a wrong turn in the lap/finish area that cost her a lot of time - like Michael, she showed great resilience and kept pushing hard, moving up from 23rd to 12th to 7th. Jori found a little extra spring in her step, finishing 12th, and Ruth scored an impressive 20th to close out a great weekend for our first years.
The Dartmouth Carnival was our first in-semester road trip - racing from class to van for a long drive on Thursday evening always takes some adjustment. This was another cold weekend - the East seems to be in a bit of an deep freeze these last couple weeks, which has allowed us to keep all the lovely snow we've gotten. Once again, we were a bit flat on Day 1 for the 7.5k classic - got to figure out how to fix that! Emma (8), Jori (27) and Gillian (30) all put up top 30 finishes for the women. We were a bit shorthanded on the men's side due to illness, so we had a small crew. Sawyer stepped up with his first-ever top 30, finishing 30th on his home course, with Lars (35), Ollie (39) and Henri (40) close behind. We rallied for a strong 15k skate the next day. Emma skied with the lead pack the whole race, surging up the final hill to a 3rd place finish - great to have her back on the podium! Keira had a great race, scoring a PR in 21st, with Ruth finishing a strong 23rd. Francie continued her great season with another top 40 finish. For the men, Ollie finally broke the top 20 after a series of solid races, finishing 19th. Henri chased the top 30 right to the end, finishing 34th, and Michael bounced back from illness to score a big PR in 38th. This day felt like a nice step forward - hopefully something we can build on as we head into the second half of the season.
After Dartmouth had wrapped up, we had a small crew head up to Titcomb for the UMF Invitational 10k classic. This was a USCSA event, with several smaller clubs and teams from around the East participating. It was a nice opportunity to check out another side of collegiate racing, one that we don't get to overlap with often - super fun to race with a bunch of new teams! Natalie's prep for the women's race was a bit rushed due to an earlier than expected start time, but she handled it like a champ. Once the gun went off, she eased away from the field with a powerful double pole and ended up with a dominating victory. The men were second, so they had a little more time to get themselves situated before the start. Ian battled with a Clarkson skier the whole way, finally breaking away for a narrow win - his first time ever on a ski race podium! After getting caught up in a crowd at the start, Caleb gave a game chase but wasn't able to make contact; he was able to ski away from the rest of the field, however, and ended up 3rd. Overall, a great day and a really nice change of pace. Many thanks to Henri for helping with wax testing and troubleshooting at the start!
Next up is the UVM Carnival in Craftsbury - always a fun venue in a beautiful spot. Looking forward to seeing what we can do in our first sprint race in a while!
