UVM and Williams Carnivals and Hanover EC

Our beautiful snowy winter rolls on! Two more carnivals, two more weeks of perfect conditions - we are feeling luck and enjoying every minute. The UVM Carnival was a special weekend at the remote but gorgeous Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Day 1 was a classic sprint - our first time trying out the new 50-person heat format - top 50 qualify for heats of 10. I was a little apprehensive about the potential for chaos, but it worked out well - the Craftsbury course is pretty spacious, especially for classic. We had a really nice day! Emma and Jori are always great in classic sprints - they made their way to the finals without too much trouble, with Emma just a few feet from the win in 2nd and Jori in 8th. Lars led the men with a brilliant personal best of 15th - he is so good at working with a pack, and he used his skills to get through the quarterfinals and put up a solid semifinal heat as well. Francie also made heats for the first time in her college career with a personal best of 34th. This was no surprise to anyone who's watched her steady progress in double poling - not too many skiers in this league are stronger! Keira (27), Ruth (28), Gillian (30) also qualified for women, with Sawyer (33) and Eli (36) in the heats for men.

The next day was a cold 10k skate. We had some excitement before the race when the women locked themselves out of their vehicle - luckily they were staying close to the center and were able to get to there in time for the race while some kind and resourceful Outdoor Center staff members worked on opening up the van. Emma finished a strong 4th racing on borrowed boots, and we put 6 women in the top 30 - Gillian 13th, Ruth 18th, Keira 20th, Jori 21st, and Mirra 30th. The men were solid, with Ollie leading in 30th and Eli (36) and Michael (40) close behind. As a team, we were 5th for the weekend - our best showing so far. The whole weekend was made much easier and more fun by the Krebs family, who hosted the women's team as well as a family gathering and team dinner - many thanks to them and the Craftsbury staff who helped unlock our van!

Prospect Mountain was at its best for the Williams Carnival - tons of snow on their winding, old-school trails. We started off with another 10k skate. Ollie got us off to a hot start with a personal best 14th place - so exciting to see him crush it at his home venue! Lars (36) and Sawyer (37) completed the scoring with some of their best-ever skate performances. Emma cranked out another 4th, finishing strong with the second-fastest final lap. Mirra had a fantastic day, finishing 19th, with Gillian right behind in 20th and Ruth (27) and Jori (30) also cracking the top 30. Next up was relay day - always a season highlight! Relays always seems to bring out the best in our team, and this race was no exception. Lars got the men's first team off to a scorching start - he was quick off the start and got himself in with the lead pack. It was super fun to see him skiing relaxed and fast and obviously having fun. Will took the tag from Lars and skied a great leg to move the team up a few places, and Ollie protected our spot with a nice anchor leg to bring the team into 7th overall and 5th in the team scoring. Our second team of Eli, Ian, and Sawyer was equally solid, finishing 17th overall and 5th for second teams. In the women's race, Jori got the first team off to a red-hot start skiing with the lead pack - she even took the lead for a bit up the final big climb before tagging off in a close 2nd place. Gillian was her usual tenacious self and kept the team right in the hunt for the podium. Emma battled with UVM for the final podium spot as Dartmouth and Midd opened up a small gap in front - she took the lead going into the final descent, but her skis were just a bit too slow to hold it, and we had to settle for a still-outstanding 4th place. Meanwhile, Ruth kept the second team in the mix off the start, and Keira flew through the second leg, gaining a ton of places. Mirra closed it out with a strong final leg to bring the team into 8th and second among all second teams. The energy was amazing all day, from our team and the whole league - a great celebration of skiing as a team sport. We finished 4th for the carnival - our best showing of the year and hopefully a sign that we're ready to bring our best to Regionals! Many thanks to Katie Swabey for preparing a wonderful dinner for the team and making the weekend go a lot smoother. Looking forward to a big finish at our last carnival next weekend!

While the team was at Prospect, a few folks went over to Oak Hill in Hanover for Eastern Cup Finals. Henri and Beckett raced the Saturday classic sprint - both qualified for heats. Beckett cruised through his first two heats before running out of steam in the finals, finishing 5th. Henri narrowly missed the lucky loser spot in his quarterfinal, finishing 13th. Caleb joined them the next day for the 15k skate mass start. All three of them were with the leaders for the first lap before things started to string out. Henri and Beckett stayed in the lead pack until it broke open heading into the last lap - they finished 6th and 9th, respectively. Caleb wasn't feeling it, but he hung in with a game effort and skied smoothly to 27th place. Henri and Beckett both locked up their spots at JNs and will be headed to Wisconsin for Spring Break. Also, many thanks to Tracy and Rich Zuckerman for hosting our small crew and making this trip possible!

 

Colby, Dartmouth, and UMF

 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!