Roy Varney Memorial Eastern Cup and More

No carnival last weekend, so let's catch up on some of the other exciting stuff happening in the past few weeks:

World University Games:  Renae Anderson '21 represented the US at World University Games in Lake Placid - she teamed up with Finn Sweet of UVM to win a silver medal in the classic sprint relay!

Para World Championships:  Jake Adicoff '18 won two gold and two silver medals at the Para World Championships, guided by former Mt. Ararat HS skier Sam Wood of Harpswell.  After a brief post-college retirement, Jake has been a force on the Para racing scene for the last couple years - so proud to see him getting better with age!

Girls and Women in Sports Day:  Bowdoin Nordic has never been able to participate in this fantastic event - we've always had conflicts with racing and training.  With no carnival this past weekend and the Eastern Cup events postponed, six of our skiers were able to introduce the next generation to the erg, ski imitation, power poses, and of course glitter.  Thanks to Jori, Kira, Grace M, Ingrid, Mia, and Emma for representing our team, and big thanks to Taylor Stevens (assistant Bowdoin volleyball coach) for organizing a great event!

Roy Varney Memorial Eastern Cup:  Lastly, several of our skiers raced the Eastern Cup at Quarry Road yesterday.  This race was held in honor of Roy Varney, a Maine high school skier from Turner who passed away in 2019.  Due to cold and windy weather, Saturday's classic race was postponed and we had a double race day on Sunday - 7.5k classic mass start in the morning, 7.5k skate mass start in the afternoon.  Ingrid, Mia, Grace M, Grace E, Emma, Francie, and Michael all tacked this challenge and represented our team brilliantly.  Some highlights:  Emma skied with the lead pack in both races, right behind recently retired Olympian Caitlin Patterson, to earn a pair of 3rd place finishes - wow!  Grace M finished 10th in the classic, her only race of the day, and Ingrid took 12th in the skate.  In particular, it was so fun to see our younger skiers mixing it up with fellow juniors after a month of competing at the college level - a nice indicator of how much they've improved this year!  I'm really proud of this whole crew - it was a long, hard day, and they rose to the occasion wonderfully.  Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season brings for our team!

UNH Carnival 2023

 Back to Jackson for the second time this month for the UNH Carnival!  Jackson is always a lovely venue - nice winding trails with some fun descents, very spectator friendly, and surrounded by beautiful mountains.  And it's even better when you're staying right across the street at a nice old school hotel, the Eagle Mountain House.  A couple days before the races, New England got a big snowstorm followed by some rain, so the course was covered with saturated snow when we arrived on Thursday.  It froze up overnight and groomed out nicely for Friday's 5k skate race - super fast and fun skiing, and the race was over in a flash.  Zach led the men in 19th, with Carson in 25th, Adam scoring a nice PR in 28th, and Ayden skiing a fantastic race to finish 35th.  The women put 5 in the top 30 - Aggie 16th, Jori 19th, Emma 20th, Morgan 24th, Kira 27th - with Ingrid in 34th and Grace M in 37th for emphasis.  Really impressive display of depth!

Things got interesting the next day for the 20k classic - a little flurry shortly before the race put us right on the edge between klister and hard wax.  We were pretty committed to klister by this point, so we kept plowing ahead and did what we could to keep the skis free.  After as much testing as we could manage, we scrambled to get the skis out on time for the men.  The lead pack broke up more quickly than last weekend, but Carson was able to hang on to a small chase group and finish 11th - only a stumble in the final sprint kept him from another top 10 finish.  Zach was a bit under the weather but managed a respectable 34th, and James came back from sickness for a gritty 39th place finish.  We tweaked the women's skis a bit and sent them off, hoping they'd be able to make them kick as the sun hit the course.  Jori skied an almost identical race to last weekend, jumping in with the lead group and hanging tough once things strung out to finish 11th.  The rest of our crew did an outstanding job of moving through the crowd - Emma scrapped up from a middle seed to work her way into 14th, with Morgan close behind in 19th.  Aggie kept calm and skied smoothly throughout the race for a personal best classic finish of 21st.  Kira got caught up in traffic in the first few kilometers, but showed impressive perseverance to work her way back to a great PR of 23rd.  Grace M was once again close to the elusive top 30 in 36th - another strong race in a remarkably consistent season so far.  Grace E was not far behind in 40th - a fearless performance from a tough young skier.  Just a crazy, chaotic, exhausting, and super fun day of racing.  Big thanks to volunteer assistant John Eldredge, who drove up to help us out with waxing - we never could have gotten all those skis ready in time without him!  Overall a really solid carnival that left us feeling confident and eager to get back after it.  We've got a bit of a break this week with no carnival - several of our skiers will be doing the Quarry Road Eastern Cup, but no overnight travel.  Should be a fun weekend!

Jan Camp 2023

 A slow start to winter made for an extra busy Jan Camp this year - lots of trips to Quarry Road!  After our first few practices of the new year, we headed to Jackson for our traditional training/racing weekend.  A little snow just in time left us with surprisingly good skiing after weeks of warm temps.  We were able to do a great mini-carnival with UNH and skiers from several other EISA teams - a fun 8.8k skate race on a little stash of snow high in the hills outside of town.  Really nice showing by our skiers - Emma 3rd for women, and the men put 3 in the top 5, with Carson 2nd, James 4th, and Ayden tied for 5th.  After a nice long adventure ski with some glade skiing and creek crossings, we headed back home.  Big thanks to Jackson XC for putting together amazing skiing in such tough conditions!

After a few more days of the Quarry Road grind, it was carnival time!  Bates Carnival got things started at Black Mountain, where they had just enough snow to put together a nice race loop.  Once again, some timely snow helped us out considerably, but not enough to allow for tracks, so we ended up with a double skate weekend.  Day 1 was a warm, wet and sloppy 7.5k skate.  Aggie led the way in 11th, with Carson in 17th.  Things cooled off and firmed up for the next day's 10k.  The women's team really hit their stride in this one, with Aggie scoring her first top-10 finish in 9th, Morgan setting a new personal best in 13th, and Jori finishing 15th.  Carson and Zach led the men in 25th and 26th, respectively.  Kira (31), James (33), and Grace M (34) nearly scored their first NCAA points.  The women were 3rd on the day, and the team finished 6th overall for nordic - a respectable start to the season for this young team.

Even by mid-January, snow was still scarce across the East, so it was back to Quarry Road for a few more sessions - although of course we'd rather be training at Pineland, we're so lucky to have this great facility right up the road!  Soon enough it was time to head to Vermont for the St. Mike's Carnival, which had been relocated to Rikert.  Rikert has always been a great venue for our team, and this carnival was no exception.  Friday's skate sprint saw 5 of our skiers qualify for the heats:  Aggie (15) and Jori (18) for women, and Carson (24), Adam (27) and Zach (30) for men.  The heats were super fun to watch - Aggie finished a strong 3rd in her heat to end the day in 14th, and Carson and Adam were right in the mix before settling for 5th and 6th, respectively, to end up in 24th and 29th.  Jori advanced by nearly winning her quarterfinal, and then fought hard in the semis before running out of gas to finish 6th and end her day with a remarkable 12th place finish.  Meanwhile, Zach fearlessly challenged USST skier Ben Ogden (just back from an outstanding finish in the Tour de Ski) in his quarterfinal - although he didn't win that battle, his tenacious skiing earned him a trip to the semis.  He was equally aggressive in the next round, and just missed advancing with a lucky loser spot.  He ended up with a career-best 7th place finish - the best sprint finish ever by a Bowdoin man.  Amazingly, the next day's 15k classic was even better.  Jori got out to a hot start and stayed close to the lead pack the whole race, earning an impressive 10th place finish.  Morgan finished 16th despite skiing the whole race alone, and Aggie (26) and Emma (27) earned top 30 finishes as well.  In the men's race, Zach and Carson went out hot, got in with the lead pack, and managed to stay close for the whole race to finish 8th and 9th, respectively.  This was one of the best displays of confident, courageous racing I've ever seen - neither of these guys had any reason besides self-belief to think they could hang with the lead group for even a small part of this race, but they went for it anyway and got richly rewarded.  I couldn't be more proud.  Adam completed our scoring with a determined effort, moving up from last place leaving the stadium to 30th.  As a team, we were 5th for the weekend, just 1 point behind Dartmouth in 4th.  A great way to close out Jan Camp and send us into the heart of the season with momentum.

Just like that, we're a third of the way through the carnival season!  The semester is underway, and things will get busy very soon, but for at least a few more days we're in a semi-calm period.  Hoping to take advantage of it to crush the UNH Carnival in Jackson!

Thanksgiving Camp 2022 and Semester Wrap

 Thanksgiving Camp 2022 is in the books and the semester is just about done.  We've done all kinds of good stuff in the past few weeks - here's a rundown:

Mid-semester was loaded with classic Bowdoin Nordic workouts:  mystery intervals, roll/run OD to Pineland, Bradbury to Pineland run, water tower hill repeats, knockout, and of course a ski on the beach at Morse Mountain.  We also tried out some new stuff - a point-to-point OD rollerski to Luke's house in Manchester, where the Bartol/Moss family hosted us for an amazing post-workout lunch, and a classic time trial with Bates and Colby on some recently paved roads in Durham.  Fun stuff and a great foundation for the fall grind.

As much as we enjoyed our dryland, we were all pretty thrilled to head up to Lake Placid for Thanksgiving Camp.  LP got some nice natural snowfall a few days before camp, which complemented their artificial snow beautifully.  When we first arrived, we were able to cruise all over the Mt. Van Hoevenburg trail network on rock skis - so nice to get out and stretch our legs a bit.  As the week went on, warm temps ate away at the natural stuff, so we stuck mostly to the snowmaking loop, which had great coverage throughout the camp.  Between sessions, the crew hung out at our home base (a pair of cabins not far from the venue), watching not only the start of the World Cup season, but also the men's World Cup soccer games.  The team pulled together an impressive Thanksgiving dinner despite having lost long-time turkey expert Elliot Ketchel '21 to graduation.

Toward the end of camp, we did our traditional time trial with the other schools at LP:  Bates, SLU, St. Mike's, UVM, Midd, and Paul Smith's, along with a few NYSEF and Ford Sayre juniors.  This is always a fun wake-up session - nice to put on a bib and go against a bunch of other college skiers.  We had a respectable showing, with Aggie and Emma leading the way for our women and Zach first on our men's side.  Of course, the more important competition was gradually unfolding night by night, as our three cooking squads put their best culinary efforts forward in a bid for glory and gold stars.  This year featured a variety of outstanding dinners:  Sweeney-style chili with Richter-style guacamole; massaman curry and snickerdoodles; and mac and cheese from scratch, along with brownies and real whipped cream (as always, the judging was agonizingly difficult, but Team Curry triumphed in the end).  On our final afternoon at camp, most of the crew went out to explore the Whiteface toll road, where they found just enough snow to ski on and some gorgeous views.  After one last long ski the next morning, we headed back to Brunswick tired and happy - a remarkably successful camp!

It's always tough to come back to dryland after a great on-snow camp, but we've risen to the occasion with some quality training these last few days, including another beach ski workout and a barnburner soccer match.  We were able to keep in touch with snow feel with a couple trips up to Quarry Road, where they've done an amazing job putting together a small loop despite uncooperative weather.  Last weekend's Quarry Road Opener was a super fun 7k drag race around a mostly flat loop on fast snow - our crew popped some decent races, with Emma taking a spot on the podium in 2nd.  And today we did a 2000m erg test just for fun, because why not?  Lots of PRs, plus Zach set a new men's record (6:49.5), and Morgan (7:58.4) and Mia (8:03.5) both broke the women's team record - wow!  Lots of good stuff happening.  Now just a few more days of team training and then it's time for exams and Winter Break!

Fun Times, Fall 2022

 We've been underway for three weeks now and it's time for an update!  All kinds of good stuff happening so far in October.  We started off the month with the 16th Annual Phil Soule Phlail 5k - it was a great event, with record student turnout and top-shelf performances by Bowdoin Nordic alumni Jackson Bloch '15 and Alec McGovern '14.  Immediately afterward was six intense days of tryouts, culminating in a trio of fitness tests.  Aggie and Silas set the pace for the bike path time trial, Morgan and James topped the erg test, and Morgan and Adam won the Morse Mountain run.  Luke posted the top combined run/erg time, and Morgan rewrote the record book for the erg, MM, and of course the combined.

The morning after tryouts concluded, we set off for Fall Camp, hosted by the Eysenbach and Hamill families in seldom-visited but stunningly gorgeous Brooksville, Maine.  On the drive up we stopped off for a trail run across Camden Hills State Park and finished the day with a nice roll on some of the many beautiful roads in the Brooksville area.  The following day we tackled a Bowdoin Nordic classic, a traverse of Acadia National Park.  The team went big this year and hit so many peaks I lost count (yes, they're small peaks, but still - a pretty stout workout).  We wrapped up the final day of camp with another great ski through peaceful woods and quiet coves.  In between workouts, we had some quality conversations about important topics, along with a lot of great team time.  The whole time, the Eysenbachs and Hamills took wonderful care of our group with delicious food and amazing hospitality.  We can't thank them enough for making this camp possible - it was such a good experience for our skiers, and we're so incredibly lucky to have their support.

Since camp, we've settled into our usual fall training routine - lots of good, challenging sessions on our local roads and trails.  Haven't made it out to the beach yet for a ski, but we'll get there soon!  Our biggest highlight of the last couple weeks was the Maine Event orgainized by NENSA at Pineland.  Aggie dominated the qualifier and held off her challengers for four rounds of head-to-head skiing to take the win, and first-year Emma Crum announced her presence by taking the third spot on the podium.  Carson led the men with an 8th place finish.  Overall a fun day and a great skills challenge.  Now we're gearing up for our last big dryland push - hoping for snow for Thanksgiving Camp in Lake Placid!

Graduation 2022

The Class of 2021 is out the door!  It took an extra year, but Noah, Renae, and Elliot have officially graduated.  It's been such a pleasure to have these three with us for the last five years, and it's hard to imagine what the team will be like without them.  They've had an incredible impact on our program - they've totally expanded our understanding of what is possible for Bowdoin skiers and the team as a whole.  They're leaving big shoes to fill, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the crew steps up to fill them.  So what's next for these three?  Elliot's going to be assistant coaching for his high school alma mater, GMVS, so we'll undoubtedly be seeing him at some races next winter!  Renae is also going back to her roots, launching her post-college racing career with Team Birkie in Minneapolis.  And Noah is following the time-honored Bowdoin Nordic path of figuring it out as he goes along (anyone want to bet that he'll be working in Bozeman or Sun Valley by July?).  Looking forward to following these three on the next stage of their journey - for now, we'll have to bid them a fond farewell.  Congratulations and good luck Noah, Elliot, and Renae, and thanks for everything you've done for our team!

Post-Season Honors

Now that the season's over and everyone's enjoying a peaceful spring, it's time to announce some post-season awards!

Marty Hall Award:  This award honors our most outstanding male and female skiers and is named for former Bowdoin Nordic coach Marty Hall.  It will come as no surprise to anyone that this year's winners are Renae Anderson and Elliot Ketchel.  Renae's All-American achievement at NCAAs was the pinnacle of an already outstanding season in which she posted nine top-10 carnival finishes and was our top skier in all but one EISA race.  Elliot earned All-East honors and was our top skier in every carnival race.  He ends his career with five EISA podiums (four individual and one relay).  These two are the only Bowdoin skiers in history to qualify for NCAAs all four years.  Congratulations Renae and Elliot!

EISA All-Academic Awards:  The All-Academic designation is given to any skier who earns the right to compete at Regionals and has a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.  This year we had an incredible TEN skiers earn the award - congratulations to Silas Brown, Ayden Nichol, James Eysenbach, Morgan Richter, Carson Williams, Aggie Macy, Ingrid Miller, Ellie Smith, Adam Carlisle, and Elliot Ketchel!  It's no small feat to achieve such high grades at a school as academically challenging as Bowdoin, and to do so while training at a super high level is even more impressive.

Last but not least, congratulations to Noah Eckstein for being our newest inductee into the Bowdoin Nordic Van Driver Hall of Fame!  Noah has been a team-first athlete and all-around great person for his entire time with our program.  This year in particular he stepped up as a safe and reliable van driver, most notably before NCAAs when he got up at 3 AM to drive the Utah crew to the airport!  Many thanks for your contributions, Noah - you are now immortalized alongside your fellow Bowdoin Nordic van driving legends.