NCAAs 2025

We wrapped up our season with the NCAA Championships at Dartmouth last week - some pretty big highs and lows!  We had good prep leading up to the event with a few good training days at Pineland after Regionals before leaving campus and settling into a nice little house in Lebanon.  We had a couple days of course preview and wax testing at the venue, and Dartmouth put on a nice opening ceremony on their campus with a marching band leading a parade of the teams - fun stuff.  The day before the 7.5k classic race, we got some rain and warm temps - not anyone's favorite conditions, but at least it was stable.  The next morning was warm and sunny - great spring skiing, and a perfect chance to break out our warm klisters after a season of racing on nothing but hardwax.  With some expert testing help from Kait Miller '14 we were able to get find some klisters that worked well, and then it was up to the athletes!  Jori started out cautiously and maintained a steady pace - this proved to be a good strategy as other athletes slowed way down after starting fast.  After one lap she was in 32nd, then 28th, and finally 23rd at the finish - her best NCAA finish ever!  Emma started out a bit hotter and was definitely feeling the effects of the fast pace and slow conditions - for a minute we thought she might blow up, but she found some reserves and finished strong in 6th place - our best NCAA finish ever!  With this race, she joined Hannah Miller '17 and Renae Anderson '21 as the third All-American in Bowdoin Nordic history.  In the men's race,  Adam came in with modest expectations after battling a cold all week - he had good skis and his technique was on point, but the energy just wasn't there and we had to settle for 40th.  Even so, this was a great day for our team - we ended the day in 12th overall and 6th place for women's nordic!  Not bad for a two-woman team.

With a day between races, the skiers were able to catch up on rest and schoolwork while the coaches pivoted to glide testing for skate.  Even better, we had some guests show up to make dinner for us!  Debbie Carlisle and the Crum family put together a great meal, and we had a really nice time without even leaving our house.

All of this put us in a good place heading into the 20k skate - the skiers had good energy, we had testing help from Kait as well as Carson Williams '24, and tons of alumni, friends, and family had come out to cheer for the team.  It seemed like we were poised for a great day - sadly, it was not to be.  Adam had made some progress with his cold, and we were hoping that he'd turned the corner, but once he got into the race he just didn't have it - the energy was there, but the breathing wasn't, and he finished last.  It's extra tough to be last in a mass start race where everything is plain to see - this was tough to watch and tougher to experience, but we're still so proud of him for doing everything he could and finishing the race.  Things didn't get much better in the women's race.  Emma started off with the leaders but struggled with the fast pace.  Her legs started cramping and she just wasn't feeling right, and things just kind of spiraled - after two laps, she pulled off to the side and it was over.  Such a heartbreaking way to end an otherwise amazing season.  Jori provided the closest thing we got to a silver lining in this race - her skis weren't great and neither was her energy, but she skied a determined, gritty race and fought her way to 34th place.  It was a great effort by our most consistent skier, and her race gave us one small thing to cheer about on an otherwise terrible day.  It was really disappointing to end the championships on a down note, especially after things had started out so well, but skiing is tough like that - sometimes you get the races you want, and sometimes you don't.  We'll grow from this and come back stronger.  Despite the tough ending, the season as a whole was fantastic - our skiers made so much progress, we posted some of our best results ever, and we had a really great time together.  There's a lot to be proud of, and a lot to look forward to.  Right now we're going to take a break and process everything - it's Spring Break, winter is ending fast, and we're all ready for a deep breath.  Before too long it'll be time to start planning for next year - can't wait to get started!

Marty Hall

Last week we lost former Bowdoin Nordic coach Marty Hall.  Marty was one of the giants of North American skiing - he had a hand in so many major developments in the sport, from Bill Koch's silver medal to the first US women's national team to the advent of skating.  Many others have written about Marty's impact on North American skiing and the sport as a whole (here's a fun Fasterskier interview by Nat Herz '09), so I'd like to say a few words about what Marty meant to Bowdoin Nordic.

When Marty took over the program in the fall of 1999, Bowdoin Nordic was a pretty small operation - the team had modest resources and the single coaching position was very part-time.  Marty immediately started doing what he had done for his whole career - he advocated relentlessly for his athletes.  He pushed constantly for the college to provide the support and particularly the funding needed to build a legitimate varsity ski program.  Whenever he ran into a brick wall, he either found a new way forward or (more often) plowed right through.  He wasn't always tactful and he stepped on some toes along the way, but bit by bit he professionalized Bowdoin Nordic.  He pushed his skiers just as hard - I was Marty's assistant in that first year (a new position created at his insistence), and I remember so well the energy and excitement crackling around the team as he challenged them to train both harder and smarter, and to walk into every race believing that they belonged.  He asked a lot of his athletes, and more often than not they delivered.  And despite his tough, uncompromising demeanor, Marty managed to maintain the fun and positive atmosphere that has always been so integral to Bowdoin Nordic.  He respected his athletes and genuinely loved working with them - he always told me, "they keep me young."  Talk to any alum from this era and you'll hear all manner of Marty stories as part of a host of fond ski team memories - the relationships he built were real and strong.

By the time Marty retired in 2007, the program was thriving and, as importantly, was set up for future success - all the pieces were in place for continued progress.  Everything we've accomplished in the 18 years since I took over has been built on the incredible foundation that Marty left for us.  He was the right person for Bowdoin Nordic at the right time - I don't know if anyone else could have been as effective of an advocate for a program desperately in need of a champion.  He was a great mentor to both Leslie and me, and he's the reason that both of us are here now coaching at Bowdoin.  Even after all these years I still find myself revisiting and reworking old Marty ideas, or finally understanding something that Marty tried to tell me 10 or 20 years ago.  Marty was a gift, and I'll always be grateful for everything he did for our program and for me.  Thank you Marty, and rest in peace - you will be missed.

Regionals 2025

Regionals is always a special carnival - a final chance at NCAA qualifying and personal bests, and one last dance for the seniors.  This year, UNH hosted Regionals at Jackson - a great venue for racing and spectating, with lots of ups and downs, constantly turning trails, and of course the Wave, a super fun downhill with lots of bumps and rollers.  Day 1 was a 7.5k classic on an abbreviated course that cut off some of the biggest hills - lots of double poling and short punchy climbs.  Emma finished 5th, just 3 seconds from the podium, with Jori 13th and Gillian 19th.  On the men's side, Will scored a solid 20th place finish - it's been fun seeing him establish himself this year as a consistent top 20 threat.  Adam finished 26th, with Catcher in 40th.  Michael nudged his PR up by one spot in 54th.  No showstopping performances, but a decent day overall.  That night we had a great dessert ceremony to honor our seniors, Adam and Grace.  We shared some thoughts and memories about what these two special people have meant to our team, and Leslie led an impromptu Taylor Swift performance - good times.  Many thanks to Debbie Carlisle and Rachel and Craig Mattern for organizing!

Next morning was cold and sunny and perfect.  Things heated up fast, and by the time the races started we were into classic Regionals mode with warm temps and bluebird skies. The women's mass start once again became a tactical affair, with a group of 20+ athletes skiing together for the first 10k, including Emma, Jori, and Gillian.  On the first big climb of the final lap, Emma made a decisive move to shatter the pack and open up a few seconds gap.  For the rest of the race, she stayed just a bit ahead of the chase group - they kept pushing hard, but she never let up.  She came out of the woods with enough of a lead to cruise into the finish and claim her second win of the year - amazing!  Meanwhile Jori and Gillian had stayed close behind, fighting for position as the pack strung out.  Down the final stretch they held off some hard charging skiers to claim top 15 finishes - Gillian 14th, Jori 15th.  Gillian came into this race needing a miracle finish to qualify for NCAAs, and she almost got it - just 9 more seconds would have done it.  It's a bit sad to come so close and just miss, but she ended with her best race of the season to cap one of the most successful first-year seasons in Bowdoin Nordic history - we can't ask for anything more than that.  Keira closed out a great first-year season of her own in 30th, with Kira just behind in 32nd and Grace in 35th.  This was an exceptional performance by Grace - she had dropped off the pace of the Kira/Keira pack after one lap, but she skied with incredible determination to close the gap and get herself back into the mix.  In my opinion, this was her best collegiate performance ever - such a nice way to end her career!  In the men's race, Adam was fighting to extend his career - like Gillian, he needed a near miracle to qualify for NCAAs, and like Grace, he had gotten gapped by the start of the second lap.  He put in a big surge to ski up to the lead group and settled in, skiing comfortably as the pack dwindled.  By the start of the final lap he was in a great position, but he still had way too much company, with at least 10 other skiers in contention for a top-5 finish.  Somehow he kept picking up places, and on the final climb he made a push to get himself into 5th.  By the end of the Wave he was still in 7th, with a host of skiers just ahead and behind.  In the final sprint, he was able to pick off one more place, earning 6th by a lunge.  While all this was happening, the other guys were fighting hard.  Will had some bad luck when another skier broke his pole - he lost his group and drifted back a long way before getting a replacement, finishing 33rd.  Lars ended up skiing alone early on, but was able to move up gradually for a solid 37th place finish.  Caleb scored a PR in 49th and Michael tied his in 54th, with Catcher closing it out in 56th.  After the dust had settled, we had a few minutes of anxiously checking live timing and trying to do math on the fly to figure out if Adam had qualified for NCAAs.  Luckily, the list was updated shortly after the race to end our suspense - after a quick double check to make sure it was real, we realized that he was in!  What an amazingly clutch performance - it took the best race of Adam's life at just the right moment to lock up his championship spot.  One tenth of a second slower and he wouldn't have made it.  Such an exciting finish to a great day.  As a team, we finished the weekend in 5th.  We wrapped up the weekend with the EISA season awards - Emma was named First Team All-East for the second year in a row!

With that, we're officially done with the 2025 carnival season.  It's been a good one despite a lot of ups and downs with weather, illness, and injuries - this team is such a great group of people, and they've been a lot of fun to work with.  We'll take some time to reflect on the season soon enough, but for now we're fired up for post-season racing!  Emma, Jori, and Adam are all headed to NCAAs at Dartmouth next week.  Catcher and Keira will be racing at JNs over Spring Break, and several others are jumping into the Rangeley Loppet this weekend.  More updates to come!

Midd Carnival and Nordic Combined Junior Worlds

Everyone loves the Middlebury Carnival (or at least I do).  What's not to love?  A well-designed course winding through Vermont woods and hills; fun twisty downhills and challenging climbs, but all very skiable; good snow and good snowmaking; and of course our team's favorite lodging spot, the Porter Mansion at the Middlebury Inn.  It's a great setting for ski racing, and our team always has a great time.  This year we had a special treat in the form of a double classic weekend - because the Bates Carnival sprint was changed to skate, the Midd sprint was changed to classic to go along with the scheduled 10k classic.  For a minute it looked like the weather would make the coaches' lives miserable - once again we had a nasty storm on our travel day, and this one included some rain.  Fortunately, it tapered off in time for us to drive over on Thursday afternoon/evening; better yet, the rain was light enough to leave the snow largely untransformed, and we continued our run of good clean hardwaxing.  Friday was a classic sprint - our performance wasn't amazing, but it was much better than our early season sprint.  Sadly, none of our men qualified - Lars was 29th for EISA, but didn't get to race heats due to some open racers who finished ahead of him.  Eli had a solid race in 41st, with Adam 45th and Sawyer 51st.  The women fared better - Emma qualified 5th, Jori 14th, and Kira 30th - her first time making the heats in a college sprint!  Keira missed qualifying by just half a second, finishing 32nd.  The heats were super fun to watch - Jori won her first round with an impressive running sprint up the last short hill into the stadium, and Emma led the whole way to cruise to a first round win as well.  Kira wasn't able to advance but had a great time chasing the group up hills and around turns.  Jori and Emma were paired up in the second heat - Emma again used a powerful double pole to take the heat win, while Jori kept it close in fourth.  The other semifinal came in faster, so she was knocked out of lucky loser contention and ended her day in 8th.  The finals were super competitive and the group stayed together through all the twists and turns - Emma double poled past almost everyone on the final climb, but wasn't quite able to overtake the leader, finishing 2nd for the day.  Fun stuff and a good momentum builder for the next day.  That night we enjoyed a fantastic potluck dinner courtesy of the team parents - so fortunate to have this kind of support!  We couldn't linger too long, though, because the team had important business back at the inn - Bowdoin Nordic alumni will be glad to know that the team is still carrying on the tradition of running around the Porter Mansion in their bathrobes.

Saturday was cold, with nice hard tracks for another perfect classic skiing day.  This race was combined with an Eastern Cup, so lots of excitement and lots of skiers on the trails.  Will led the men as the 26th EISA finisher, with Adam 29th and Catcher tying Lars for the last scoring spot in 40th.  Ollie had a nice race to finish 52nd - he's had some ups and downs with health and training this season, and it was so good to see him finally racing with better energy.  Michael also scored a nice PR in 55th, continuing his improvement in classic striding.  We were able to put five women in the top 30 in the women's race - Emma 4th, Jori 16th, Gillian 19th, Mirra 26th, and Keira 27th.  Grace also posted a season-best 44th.  These finishes were a great sign of depth, and also a sign of how much this group has accomplished that most of them walked away feeling like the race was only OK.  We'll continue chasing those high expectations!  We did get another podium on the day - Gillian was the top junior in the Eastern Cup!  That's kind of a big deal, given how competitive the New England JNQ field is - also a strong statement about the qualify of EISA skiing.  For the overall carnival we were 6th - a good solid weekend, if not our best.  Looking forward to a big finish at Regionals in Jackson next week!

While the rest of the team was skiing at Middlebury, Caleb was over in Lake Placid competing at the Junior World Championships for nordic combined!  This was tricky, since he's done no jumping all year aside from the qualifying competitions in December (and a couple practice jumps the day before the championships started).  Nonetheless, he was able to put up some respectable results, helping the US to a 10th place finish in the team sprint and finishing 30th in the 10k individual race.  So cool to have one of our skiers racing at a major international championship!  Looking forward to seeing how his combined career develops in the coming years - for now, we're exciting to have him back for Regionals.

Mid-Season Action

 The middle carnivals are done, just like that, along with some non-college races - lots going on these past couple weeks.  Here's a rundown:

St. Mike's Carnival:  Back at Sleepy Hollow for the first time in three years, and it didn't disappoint - nice fresh snow on rolling trails winding through a hardwood forest.  Classic Vermont skiing with an old-school feel - love it.  In the 10k classic Adam led the men in 12th, with Will 18th and Lars 35th.  Caleb also scored a personal best in 51st.  We put 5 women in the top 30 - Emma 2nd, Jori 11th, Gillian 22nd, Keira 25th (first top 30 finish for Keira!), and Mirra 30th.    Good solid start, but the real excitement was the 3x5k classic relay.  Will got our first team off to a strong start, 5th at the tag, and Adam went back and forth with some other teams and ended up tagging off still in 5th.  Lars was in a tight battle with some really strong skiers on the third leg and skied probably the best classic race I've seen from him so far, bringing the team to a very respectable 8th place finish, just seconds from 5th.  Our second team of Caleb, Catcher, and Michael finished 17th, with Michael showing off some really nice striding - a nice payoff for all the hard work he's been doing this winter.  Jori got the top women's team off to a fast start - she was at or near the front of the group pushing the pace for most of the first leg, and she tagged off in 4th.  Gillian showed some impressive poise skiing against a strong group of experienced skiers - she kept it close and tagged off in 5th, 10 seconds from the lead.  Emma made a pro move right away, putting in a strong surge to catch the lead group by the end of the first kilometer.  From there, she skied in a group with UVM and Dartmouth.  Late in the first lap she went to the front and tried to drop the others, but they stayed tight.  With less than 1k to go, Dartmouth pulled away, and although Emma couldn't quite match the pace, she outlasted UVM to bring our team into 2nd place - our best relay finish ever!  Meanwhile, our second women's team put together an outstanding race of their own.  Mirra kept the team in the mix despite the furious pace set by Jori and the leaders, and Kira and Keira showed off some beautiful striding to wrap up an 11th place finish - I'm pretty certain that this is our best second team finish ever.  It was a nice finish to a lovely day of skiing, and even more lovely to see our team on the podium.  As a team, we were fifth for the carnival, just three points out of fourth.  Many thanks to Gillian's parents, Stephanie and Josh, for hosting our team for dinner, and also to alumni wax testers Carson and Zach!

Quarry Road Eastern Cup:  That same weekend, a few of our skiers raced the Eastern Cup at Quarry Road.  Grace posted a 9th place finish in the 10k skate, with Sawyer leading the men in 26th.  The next day was sunny and very cold - perfect for a 10k mass start classic!  Grace crushed it again, finishing 5th, with Francie right behind in 13th.  Ollie was our top men's finisher in 24th, continuing his comeback from a combination of injury, illness, and fatigue over the last few months.

Dartmouth Carnival:  We got a big storm on Thursday that snarled up our travel plans a bit - the team ended up taking a bus to our hotel that night, and the coaches drove the vehicles over either before or after, with a big assist from Bowdoin AD Tim Ryan.  The nice relaxing bus ride left our skiers full of energy for the 7.5k classic, and thanks to some timely wax testing help from alumni Mia, Carson, and Ingrid, we managed to get decent skis for them on the fresh snow.  Emma took another 2nd place finish, showing off her much-improved striding technique, and Jori followed it up in 9th with Gillian 18th to help the women to a second place finish!  Will led the men in 19th, with Lars setting a PR in 25th and Adam 28th.  Catcher also scored a huge personal best, finishing 33rd.  After a lovely dinner hosted by the Miller family and prepared by our three wax testing alumni, we came out ready to crush the 20k skate.  Emma, Jori, and Gillian all skied in the lead pack for most of the race - such a thrill to see our crew up with the leaders!  Somewhere in the second half of the race Emma decided to break it up - she went to the front and pushed the pace, stringing out the group and gradually dropping all but four other skiers.  Try as she might, she wasn't able to open up a gap, and although she was right with the group up the last hill she couldn't outsprint them, finishing 5th - not as exciting as some of her recent races, but still an outstanding finish!  Jori (15th) and Gillian (16th) completed the scoring for us, with Keira (27th) also in the top 30.  Kira and Grace also had really special efforts - Kira was clearly exhausted two laps into the race, but she kept fighting and held on for a really solid 37th place finish, while Grace had an unfortunate fall on the first downhill that left her at the back of the pack but was able to ski her way back to 54th.  Our top men followed the same playbook, with Adam and Will in the lead pack until the last few kilometers.  Adam scored his first ever top 10 finish, outsprinting a Dartmouth skier to finish 8th, and Will hung in there for his third straight top 20 finish in 19th.  Lars put in a solid 36th place finish, helping the men to a 6th place finish on the day.  It's been exciting to see the men emerge from a slow start , and Lars has been a major part of that.  As a team, we finished 4th - our best carnival showing of the season!  Huge thanks to the many people who helped make this carnival possible - the Millers, Tim Ryan, and of course our many alumni who showed up to test wax, cook dinner, and cheer.  This was a really special community effort, and we appreciate all of our supporters so much.

Meanwhile, Francie and Ollie ventured up to Orono to compete in the Great Caribou Bog Race.  They both won the 10k event, and received an interesting railbed based trophy that I have yet to see.  It takes a little extra motivation to get out the door for a humble local race halfway across the state - great work by Ollie and Francie to make it happen.  Very glad to see smaller events like this thriving!

Next up for us is a double classic weekend at the Middlebury Carnival.  Should be another interesting travel situation with another big storm coming - we'll get there one way or another.  Looking forward to a great weekend!

 

SLU Carnival - History Made!

The St. Lawrence Carnival was worth the drive - what a special weekend for our team!  Luckily for us, this carnival took place during Winter Break, so we were able to leave earlier in the day and roll into Lake Placid at a reasonable hour.  The next morning, the venue was in perfect shape for a 20k mass start skate - plenty of snow and nice wide, well-groomed trails.  Our day got off to an exciting start with the women's race - Emma jumped in with the lead group, with Jori close behind.  The field strung out pretty quickly on the long climbs that Mt. Van Hoevenburg is famous for, but there was still a surprisingly large pack skiing together at the end of the first lap.  Somewhere on the second lap, Ava Thurston of Dartmouth broke away, with Emma in a small chase pack a few seconds back.  By the 15k mark, Emma had bridged the gap, and on the first long climb she took the lead.  For the rest of the race she stayed just barely ahead of Ava and a few other chasers - every time it looked like they were going to catch her she found a little more in the tank.  From my place high up on the course I could see two little specks coming down the final hill, but I had no idea what was going on (pretty standard, really).  I held my breath and watched as one ant-sized figure crossed the line ahead of another, and exhaled in relief when I heard the announcer make it official - Emma had won!  This was a huge moment for Bowdoin Nordic - our first individual win ever in an EISA carnival.  When I became head coach of this program in 2007, the idea that one of our skiers could win a carnival was a nice daydream, but most definitely only a dream.  In the years to come we earned a podium finish here and there, including a couple 2nd place finishes by Kait Miller '14 and Emma herself, but a win was always a bit too much to hope for.  Now it's finally happened - congratulations to Emma, and to everyone who's supported our team over the years!

During all of this excitement, lots of other great races unfolded.  Jori scrapped her way to 13th, and Gillian continued her amazing run with another 17th place finish.  Francie had an absolutely fantastic race, finishing with a personal best of 49th - not something we could have ever dreamed of just a year or two ago.  The men followed up with a solid race of their own, highlighted by Adam's career-best 11th place finish.  This was a great display of perseverance - Adam had a weird feed mishap that left him coughing and dazed going into the second lap, and for a while it looked like he was going to fade badly.  But he pulled it together and skied his way back into the mix on the third lap, and then put down the fifth-fastest final lap of the whole field, gaining eight places to finish just outside the top 10.  Will hung in there to finish 27th, and Michael scored for the team for his first time ever in 66th.

The next day's 7.5k classic was combined with an Eastern Cup - always a bit chaotic, but also fun to see all the club teams and junior racers.  Again, conditions stayed nice all day, and we got to use hard wax - not something we ever take for granted in the northeast, especially these days!  Emma again led the team in 8th, with Jori steady in 12th and Gillian 23rd (for EISA).  Keira scored a nice milestone in 30th - her first ever top 30 finish!  On the men's side, Will continued moving up with a 21st place finish, just ahead of Adam in 22nd.  Catcher (48th) and Caleb (63rd) scored the best finishes of their young careers.  As a team, we finished 5th for the nordic portion of the carnival - a good solid showing.

We're now almost two weeks into the new semester - quite a change of pace from Jan Camp.  We've had just enough snow to ski locally - piecing it together with loops around the athletic fields and golf course rambles, with a few trips to Quarry Road as well.  Last weekend was off, so we did a nice fast classic time trial to stay sharp.  Now we're on the verge of the St. Michael's Carnival at Sleepy Hollow, and a few of our skiers will be doing the Eastern Cup at Quarry Road this weekend.  Lots more great racing to come!

Pre-Season and Bates Carnival

Over the last few weeks we've had all kinds of good racing going on - some individual pre-season racing and some team stuff.  Here's a quick rundown:

- Biathlon Junior Trials:  Mirra qualified for Junior Worlds!  The trials were a three-race series at Soldier Hollow - after a slow start on Day 1, she came back strong to finish as the second junior on Days 2 and 3.  Not bad for a full-time college student with no access to shooting training in the fall.  She'll be headed to Sweden in late February for the championships.

- Nordic Combined Junior Trials:  Caleb might have qualified for Junior Worlds!  He finished first and second in a pair of qualifying races at Lake Placid - whether he'll get the nod for Worlds is still up in the air (pun intended), but regardless this was a nice chance for him to keep in touch with combined and tune up for carnival season.

- Senior Nationals:  Natalie and Emma competed at Senior Nationals in Anchorage against a huge field of the top college and junior skiers along with the post-college SuperTour crowd.  Natalie got stronger race by race and capped off her week with a 50th place finish in the 20k classic.  Emma qualified for heats in both sprints and finished 16th in the 10k skate and 18th in the 20k classic.  Right now she's an alternate for U23 World Championships in Italy - we'll know soon if she'll get a spot.  Thanks to Natalie's parents for hosting them both all week, and also to APU (Natalie) and Mansfield Nordic (Emma) for providing waxing support!

- Jackson Camp:  Right after New Year's, most of our skiers met up in Jackson to for our first team practices of 2025.  There was some beautiful skiing up on the Prospect Farm trails, and a nice little snowmaking loop down in town, and we made good use of both of them.  We also had a great time trial with skiers from UNH, Colby, and Bates - perfect way to sharpen up for the races to come.  Thanks for Jackson XC for accommodating our time trial and doing a lot of hard work to make skiing possible with minimal snow!

- Bates Carnival:  Once again, the story of the weekend was low snow.  Black Mountain had just enough snow to pull off a short race loop, thanks to a ton of work by the legendary Chisholm Ski Club.  The opening skate sprint was pretty rough for our team, but we had a couple individual highlights - Natalie qualified 28th and ended the day in 29th, and Lars qualified 12th and finished 27th.  First ever top 30 finish for Lars!  That night, we regrouped with an amazing dinner hosted by the Shifrins, and we went to bed fired up for the 8.5k skate the next day.  This race also doubled as the Chummy Cup, so there was a little extra at stake.  The men got us started with a solid effort, led by Adam with a career-best 14th place finish, but we were still trailing Colby by a fair bit in the Chummy scoring heading into the women's race.  Fortunately, the women found their form just in time and had an amazing race!  Jori led the way in 7th, Gillian scored her first-ever top 30 in 17th, and Mirra set a new PR in 18th - good enough to sweep the Chummy podium and claim the cup for the first time since 2020!  The whole women's team skied incredibly well - it was so much fun to see them show off their depth with strong races for everyone.  We had several skiers claim All-State honors:  Adam 2nd, Will 7th, and Sawyer 9th for men, and Jori 1st (her third straight state championship), Gillian 2nd, Mirra 3rd, and Kira 10th for women.  It was a really special day, and a great confidence builder to start the season.

Quite a busy start to the year - all fun stuff and exactly what we train for.  Can't wait to see what this team can do next.  Next up is the St. Lawrence University Carnival in Lake Placid - 20k mass start tomorrow!