Bates Photos

As usual, Greg Askins was all over the course taking photos at Rumford last weekend - here are a few:

Bates Carnival

Carnival season is underway at last. Several inches of snow fell on Thursday night, giving us a clean, soft course for the weekend. Friday's 5/10k skate was a so-so day. The skiers pushed hard, but the results weren't there - we still don't quite have the edge that we need to race fast, and most of our competitors do. Still, most of our skiers felt strong, if not fast - the fitness is there, and the results will come. This race also happened to be the 6th Annual Broomhall Cup, Maine's collegiate state championship. We ended up in 3rd behind Bates and Colby, with Spencer finishing 4th for Maine skiers and earning First Team All-State honors.

Today's 10/10k classic was a step forward. The cold temps and fresh snow made the waxing straightforward, and we were able to get the skis dialed in pretty well, thanks in no small part to Walt Shepard '10, who took some time away from his high-powered consulting job to provide expert wax tech assistance. In the men's race, Spencer got off to a strong start before crashing twice on the first lap - with over 100 skiers clustered close together in the early kilometers, he lost a lot of places and had to burn a ton of energy passing people. Riley took over as our top skier, and for a while it looked like he'd win the battle of the Eusdens, but Spencer rallied to pass dozens of skiers in the second half of the race and earn our top finish in 52nd, with Riley close behind - still an outstanding day for him. We also got some strong performances from the first-years - Kevin and Jackson were right in the mix. I should also note that Wilson commented that his skis (waxed by Walt) were the best he'd ever had - that's why we like to keep Walt around. The women had a very solid day - every single one of them bettered their skate finishes. Kaitlynn got off to a good start and moved up throughout the race, ending up in 35th - she's been feeling better bit by bit, and today was definitely a sign of good progress. Hannah also looked like she was starting to find her race gears after spending the fall in Argentina. Erin had a particularly impressive effort - before the race she was worn out just walking around, and she was dead last going up the first hill out of the stadium. She kept after it and eased into the race, passing a ton of people and beating some very good skiers. Overall, a very encouraging day for the women, and a respectable day for the team as a whole. Although I wish we'd been able to get our season off to a faster start, I have a lot of confidence in our skiers - I'm positive that we'll keep getting better as the season goes on, just like we do every year.

We had great support this weekend from a lot of team parents, who spent a long time huddled in a cold parking lot to give our skiers hot soup and snacks after the races - thanks to all of you! Thanks also to Andy Shepard for keeping the Broomhall Cup event going strong. This has always been a fun event for our team, and it's become a major goal for us to strive toward - we'll keep chipping away in anticipation of winning the Cup someday soon!

Maine vs. World and Name the Skier Pt. 3

We've had a few good days of training since the Eastern Cup - conditions at Pineland have held up well. With no classes until next week, we've had time for a few fun distractions as well. Yesterday, Zach took a big crew down to Portland, where they spent some quality time in the Old Port and watched a Pirates game. The 4th annual Maine vs. World competition is also underway - Maine jumped out to a commanding lead by winning the sprint relay and the sensory awareness challenge, but World rallied with victories in basketball and trivia. Undaunted, Maine responded by totally dominating this afternoon's Polasky Ball game to take a 3-2 lead. Just a couple more event to go - stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion.

We also have some other competitions happening this weekend - some sort of ski race type thing. Bates Carnival/Broomhall Cup - tomorrow and Saturday at Black Mountain. Here we go! Updates to follow. In the meantime, try to identify these 2 current Bowdoin Nordic skiers:

No gold stars for correct guesses - they're too easy. Instead, you get kicked out of the Bowdoin Nordic Fan Club if you can't get these right.

Titcomb Eastern Cup Day 2

Yesterday was one of those days that you remember. Super cold temps with an occasional stiff breeze made it a tough day to be outside, let alone ski around in race tights. Combine that with a LOT of climbing and you have a day of racing that won't soon be forgotten. The race was a 9/12k skate on a short loop - basically, a long climb up an alpine slope had been added to Saturday's sprint course. The ensuing downhill claimed several victims - steep and fast, with several small rollers and a big sweeping turn at the bottom. It got tougher as the day went on and the flat light made it easy to miss the little bumps. Six laps for women and eight for men meant a lot of trips up and down the hill, and a lot of skiers sharing the trail at once - an exhausting race that was probably more fun to watch than to ski.

Our team handled the challenge well. Spencer led the men with a 32nd place finish in a very competitive field, with Riley having one of his best races ever in 50th. On the women's side, Kaitlynn, Shelby, and Hannah were stacked up in 44th, 45th, and 48th. Jackson had the race of the day, however - he was on fire. Unfortunately, a counting mixup (not by Jackson) ended with him skiing an extra lap - judging by the bibs he was skiing around, he would have been around 4 1/2 minutes faster. Still, a great race and an encouraging sign for the rest of the season. I was equally proud of our skiers who didn't have great days - not everyone was feeling their best today, but everyone stuck it out and kept grinding. Overall, this was a very successful weekend - we still have a ways to go before we're where we want to be, but this was a solid showing for mid-January - we're definitely ahead of where we've been in the past.

SATURDAY RESULTS

SUNDAY RESULTS

We had tremendous support from the team parents this weekend - several folks braved the cold to cheer, and also brought a lot of delicious food for post-race recovery. We were also lucky to have wonderful overnight hosts to save the skiers from a lot of driving back and forth to campus: Steve DeAngelis and Tara Wicks hosted the men in Readfield, while the women stayed with Deb and Ron Aseltine in Wilton (amazingly, Deb and Ron were also key members of the race organizing crew, helping to put on a fantastic event for hundreds of skiers despite tough low-snow conditions). Thanks to all of you for taking such good care of our team!

Here are some photos from Sunday's race, courtesy of Greg Askins:

Titcomb Eastern Cup Day 1

Good day for us at today's Eastern Cup classic sprint at Titcomb in Farmington. Kaitlynn led the way by qualifying 14th and ending the day in 15th after a strong 3rd place showing in her quarterfinal heat. She made a bold call by choosing to double pole the fast, rolling course on skate skis - one of only a few women to do so. Nate, Tyler, and Spencer chose the same route in the men's race. Nate qualified in 15th for men and ended the day in 26th after being eliminated in the quarterfinals, and Tyler qualified for the junior heats and made it to the A final, where he finished 5th, just missing out on 4th by a lunge. Spencer and Shelby missed the open and junior heats, respectively, by just a few hundredths of a second. The whole team skied solidly today - I was pretty thrilled with how everyone looked, especially considering that today was the first true race start of the season for many of our skiers. Tomorrow is a distance skate race - forecast says it'll be cold and windy!

In other news, a few of the guys (Kevin, Wilson, Scott, and Chris) stayed home today and did a time trial at Pineland with some of the Bates skiers. Poles were shattered and brand new skis were gouged, but it was a solid race effort nonetheless - a good tune up for tomorrow.

Live Update from Pineland: What a difference a day makes

Bowdoin Nordic, and most of New England, have been waiting for snow and chasing every man-made meter we can find. Pineland Farms kept hope alive, opening a surprisingly good 0.5K loop to local programs. Maine native Nate Niles takes advantage here (above left).

Lap after lap, hope for a storm grew. Drew Gustafson of Minnesota ended the day yesterday with promising weather over his shoulder (above right).

Here is the difference between yesterday and today...

With snow still falling, Seniors Dan Polasky, Scott Longwell & Chris Sanville lead the charge into winter...

Post from Assistant Coach Zach Stegeman

Name This Skier Pt. 2

After last week's warmup at Nationals, we're ready to start the season in earnest. Almost everyone's back on campus now - we have 2 weeks before classes start, and we're looking forward to some great training and racing. We'll have reports and photos soon from the awesomely outrageous manmade snow loop at Pineland, and, of course, Maine vs. World. For now, though, here's another challenge - can you name this current Bowdoin skier?