Bates Carnival & Eastern Cup

The first carnival of 2016 is in the books, and it was a good one for Bowdoin Nordic!  Heavy rain early in the week wiped out the skiing almost everywhere around New England, including Black Mountain.  Fortunately, the good folks at Quarry Road agreed to host the race - they stepped up and made a TON of snow to cover a 1.5k race loop.  With a little fresh snow mid-week, conditions were pretty much perfect for Friday’s classic sprint.  The day started out well with people burning up the prelim – H. Miller (11^th), Sean (15^th), and Mac (29^th) all qualified for the heats, with Jake just missing in 38^th and H. Marshall posting her best race ever in 49^th.  Things got better in the heats, with both Sean and Hannah advancing past the quarters.  Sean made the semis with a great lunge at the line; although he was knocked out in the next round, he came back strong in the B final to lock up 10^th place – the best debut of any Bowdoin nordic skier ever! (at least in the EISA era).  Hannah was solidly in control in the quarters and semis, finishing second in both behind the top-seeded skier.  She ran out of gas in the finals but still hung on for a career-best 5^th place finish.  It was a fantastic start to the season and an exciting day that got the whole team fired up and feeling confident.

 That night, we stayed in Augusta due to a nasty storm in the forecast (kind of silly to stay in a hotel 40 minutes from campus, but there was nothing available in Waterville except a place described as “scary” – after getting caught in the middle of a drug bust outside our motel a couple years ago, we try to be choosy about our lodging these days).  The storm hit that night, and we woke up to find our vans encased in ice with a couple inches of fresh snow on the ground.  The snow kept coming down throughout the races, making for soft and silky smooth skating.  The temps were colder than originally forecast, and our wax call for the men was clearly too warm.  For a minute it looked like we were in trouble – fortunately, our salvation arrived in the form of James Crimp ’13, who braved the storm and drove over from Rockland to help wax.  James was a total hero and helped us blast through the ski prep – we couldn’t have gotten it done in time without him!

The races were almost as exciting as the lead-up.  Since the event was a combined carnival/Eastern Cup and also was held on a short loop, there were skiers coming and going constantly – lots of passing and being passed, and lots of opportunities to work with other skiers.  Our skiers battled hard and looked good – I was pretty happy with how the team skied.  Somehow, though, our results were only OK, which was a bit of a surprise.  Just a reminder that our league is really deep – a lot of good skiers showed up ready to ski fast on this day.  Jake had the race of the day – he skied with a ton of fire and posted a career-best carnival finish of 35^th.  H. Miller led the women in 19^th – she was obviously a bit tired after a very long sprint day, but she hung in there nicely and put in a great surge in the final kilometer.  Marshal also had a great race – he latched on to a Williams skier early in the race and skied on his tail for the rest of the race, staying smooth and relaxed the whole time.  It was great to see him skiing well after so many setbacks last season – hopefully the first of many good races this season.

As if the combined Eastern Cup/carnival wasn’t enough, the race also served as the Maine State Championship.  Colby dominated to bring home the Chummy Broomhall Cup for the first time in 4 or 5 years.  We finished 3^rd once again – one of these years we’ll win that cup!  Jake and Hannah earned All-State honors for their efforts – First Team for Hannah and Second Team for Jake. 

 One other highlight from the day – Kaitlynn showed up to race, fresh from her amazing performance at Nationals.  Not only was it great to catch up with her a bit, she also won the race and made it look easy – super controlled and powerful the whole time.

Even after such a long weekend, one skier hadn’t had enough – Sam decided to race in Sunday’s Eastern Cup classic race to score some points for JN qualifying.  He was seeded way in the back of the mass start, but managed to pass a ton of people to move up to 28^th by the finish in a very strong field.

Overall, it was an exhausting but successful weekend.  I’m more certain than ever that our team is ready to put up some great results this season – can’t wait to head back up to Quarry Road for the Colby Carnival this weekend!

Jan Camp So Far

Jan Camp 2016 is underway - the first week-plus has been busy!  We started up on the first weekend of the new year with five hardy skiers:  H. Marshall, Lucy, Tess, Mac, and Wil.

 The first thing we did was head up to Quarry Road in Waterville for a classic time trial.  No other teams were back yet, unfortunately, so we had to settle for time trialing ourselves.  Lucy pulled off the upset to post the top time for women despite not having raced classic since the Hoover administration.  Mac and Wil were locked in a tight battle until Wil took a wrong turn 200 meters into the race, leaving Mac racing only against himself (he won).

 After a nice PM jog and a restful night in the scenic village of Kingfield, we ventured into the woods to explore the Maine Huts and Trails system in Carrabassett Valley.  If you live in New England and you haven't checked out these trails, you should remedy that - they're beautiful, challenging, and totally free to the public.  We had a great OD ski full of long climbs, fun downhills, and gorgeous views.

 By the time we got home, Pineland had scraped together enough snow to open the trails.  The skiing was really good!  We can always count on Pineland to do more with less.  Over the next couple days, teammates gradually trickled back to campus while we did intervals, specific strength, worked on technique, and practiced our downhill moves.

 Before we knew it, the weekend was almost upon us, and we headed up to Jackson for a mini-carnival organized by UNH.  We had a lovely pre-race ski on Thursday afternoon, highlighted by a little extra strength work when we had to push the van out of a snowbank on the way out of the parking lot - perfect race prep.  Friday brought a 9k skate - H. Miller was our top women, and Jake led the men, with Sam and Wil close behind.  Saturday was a classic sprint - 2 person teams alternating for a total of 6 laps.  After scraping off the rust on Friday, everyone was pretty peppy.  The women were particularly energized, because just before their race started we found out that Bowdoin Nordic alumna Kaitlynn Miller '14 had won the National Championship classic sprint! (an amazing accomplishment that deserves its own blog post - coming soon).  They crushed the double poling and dominated the downhills.  H. Miller and Ellie were in the mix the whole race and finished 3rd amidst some very strong skiers.  Tess gets extra respect for switching to skate skis for her last 2 laps and double poling the whole course - the only skier in the race bold enough to attempt this feat.

 We closed out a great trip with a pancake breakfast at the home of Angus ('89) and Rachel ('87) Badger.  They live on top of a big hill at the end of a country road - after our previous van mishap, we decided to walk the last couple pitches up to their house.  The women made friends with the Badger family sheep, while the men got a head start on the pancakes.  Angus and Rachel have been big ski team supporters for a long time, and it was fun to chat with them and two of their kids who were up for breakfast, Nina and Willem.  Thanks for the hospitality, Angus and Rachel!

Despite full bellies, we rallied for one final ski on the Jackson trails as the rain started coming down - we finished wet and chilled but happy.  All in all, a great trip, and we feel very lucky to have packed in a lot of skiing now that New England is pretty much bare after yesterday's monsoon.  Now we're enjoying a rest day and looking forward to more snow soon!

Fall Training Video

Happy New Year!  Several of our skiers are returning to campus for our first team training of 2016 this weekend - can't wait to get started!  For now, here's a video recap of our training for Fall 2015:

European Marathon Adventures

Recent Bowdoin Nordic grads Tyler DeAngelis and Jackson Bloch are headed to Europe this winter to race in eight of the world's greatest ski marathons.  They'll be blogging about their adventures - check it out!  Also, here's a nice article from the Portland Press Herald about their trip.  We're all really excited to follow their travels - good luck guys!

Last Weekend of 2015

 

We've just wrapped up our team training for 2015!  It's been a great fall - nothing but hard work and positive energy from a very fit and focused group of athletes.  Our final practices of the year last weekend were no exception.  On Saturday, we drove up to Waterville to ski on a 200m scrap of snow at Quarry Road - kind of absurd, but at this time of year we'll ski on anything!  We joined Colby for a skate sprint relay - 2 person teams, alternating for 6 laps total - except in this case, 1 "lap" consisted of 3 times back and forth on the strip.  With 12 or 13 teams on course at once, it was a bit chaotic, but it ended up being a really cool workout.  Relays are always exciting, and everyone was fired up to represent their team as well as possible.  After the initial cluster sorted itself out, people were pushing hard and making aggressive moves - great practice for the real thing coming up in the Colby Carnival next month!  I was really pleased with how well our team skied.  Ellie and Tess gave Colby's top women's team a good run, finishing just a few seconds behind two of the league's best skiers.  Our second team of H. Marshall and Emma finished neck and neck with Colby's second team.  Colby's men were a bit too deep for us, and they put their top 2 teams ahead of Sean and Marshal, but it was a back and forth battle.  Since we had only 3 men present, August teamed up with a Colby skier and gave a good account, sticking behind some of the top teams for a good stretch.  Overall, everyone had a lot of fun and got a legitimate race effort in the bag.  Can't wait for the real thing in just a few weeks!

The next day, we wrapped up the semester with a great OD ski from campus to the Torres household in Yarmouth - a fun change of pace from our usual rollerski loops.  The sun came out, the air was mild and pleasant, and the Sunday morning traffic was pretty reasonable, so we had a great workout.  Once we arrived, Joan and Jon Torres served us a fantastic brunch - almond crossaint French toast, baked eggs, home fries, and more.  What a great way to finish our fall practices!  Every year I remember how lucky we are to have such a generous and supportive group of team parents - many thanks to Joan and Jon for making this a really special day for the team!

Meanwhile, a few of our skiers were off having a different adventure - Mac, Jake, and Sam journeyed to VT for "Man Camp."  First stop was the Miller household, where they welcomed H. Miller home from Svalbard and skied at Craftsbury.  After that, they descended upon the Groves household to ski on what little snow was left at Rikert.  Preliminary reports indicate that it's been a very successful and very manly trip, featuring knitting, trail running, Mitt Romney, man vs. egg battles, and even a little skiing.

So that's that - a few more days of exams and everyone is out of here until 2016.  Here's hoping that next semester will be just as great as this one!

Strength Video

Here's a video of our strength training this fall:

Morocco Thanksgiving Camp

Bowdoin Nordic alumni Emma James '13 and Hannah Wright '13 recently reunited in Morocco, where Emma is serving with the Peace Corps.  Being dedicated skiers even long after graduating, they embarked on a 10-day training trip across the country.  Here is their guest post:

Emma, the Responsible Freshman of 2009-10, packed all her gear into one big bag.  #responsible #impressive

Emma does max strength.

Because she is an alum, Hannah forgoes single leg squats and keeps both feet on the ground.

Emma warms up for a track workout by doing stair repeats.

Even without the Buck Center, Hannah gets her Olympic lifts in.

Planks stabilize the core.

Emma and Hannah practice their ski jumps...

...while others practice their humps. (get it?)

Nathan and Tim remind the girls that staying hydrated is important.

As the carnival season approaches, the girls work on their agility - you can never be too prepared for Oak Hill's corners.

Lemma buys a new buff for racing season.

Carnival season arrives.  Emma and Hannah love to ride in the cargo van and entertain Coach Alsobrook.  He wishes they would do more of this:

 And less of this:

The most romantic race of the season:  Carni Crush.  Better do your hair real good for this race!  Don't worry, folks, it was purely good clean fun.

After the racing season Emma celebrated with a big glass of... orange juice.  #culturallyappropriate

All in all, during Thanksgiving Camp '15 (Morocco edition), we trained about 35 hours (if sitting on a bus is considered training).  Please notice both our shirts.

 Until the next reunion...(we didn't have time to write Nordic).

Love,
Emma and Hannah, Class of 2013

PS - Don't be fooled.  We're still *sometimes* immature.  #hitim