Recent Races and Photos

Catching up on some non-carnival racing from the last couple weeks.  Last weekend, we had a small crew at the Eastern Cup Finals in Waterville - the last chance to score points for JN qualifying.  Our big highlights were Jackson crushing the 15k classic mass start and Shelby burning up the 5k skate after a strong classic race the day before.  Both of them have qualified for JNs in Fairbanks - a huge accomplishment in the toughest division in the country.  Congratulations Jackson and Shelby!  Tyler is still in the running as well - we'll know for sure after this weekend.

Eastern Cup Results

The week before, several skiers headed up to Rumford for the John Roderick Memorial Race, which took place just after the blizzard.  Mike stole the show by winning the 15k, and the rest of the crew also skied well despite having to plow through the soft, fresh snow.

John Roderick Results

Here are some photos from the John Roderick race, courtesy of Becky Webber:

Lastly, a pair of Bowdoin Nordic alums ran into each other at the Boulder Mountain Tour in Idaho a couple weeks ago - Spencer Eusden '12 and Angus Badger '89.  I'm happy to report that Angus won his wave - he's still got it!

Middlebury Carnival Recap

Middlebury is one of our favorite race destinations on the EISA circuit - fun trails, beautiful setting, cool lodging, and great donuts.  Perhaps because of this, we generally race well at the Midd Carnival.  Despite some mishaps, we continued that trend this weekend.  We had some messy conditions for the 5/10k classic - icy, transformed snow, with just enough wet, fresh snow on top to make it sticky.  For the women's race, zeroes were working OK but not great, and we only had 2 pairs available anyway, so we had to scramble to figure out the wax.  Our klister/hardwax combination worked as well as anything out there - a bit slow, but good enough to give our skiers a chance to be competitive.  Hannah had the race of the day, a career best 18th (16th for EISA skiers).  She's had a fantastic season so far, making an impressive comeback from her ACL injury, and this was the icing on the cake.  Kaitlynn led the team in 8th, despite so-so kick on her zeroes, and Emma had one of her best races of the season to finish 46th.  On the men's side, James skied extremely well to finish 33rd despite slightly draggy skis, and Kevin was solid in 41st, his best classic race of the season.

Temps cooled off nicely for Saturday's skate, leaving us with fast snow.  Unfortunately, the thin coverage meant that the many winding downhill turns (really fun, by the way) quickly got skied off down to ice.  This led to some excitement in both mass starts.  Kevin and James both got into good position out of the start before running into trouble.  Kevin got taken out when a skier in front of him crashed; he later fell again and actually hit his head on an exposed snowmaking pipe - tough way to start a race.  For a while, he seemed to be skiing in a daze, but he pulled it together and went charging through the field.  By the end of the race, he'd worked himself up to 30th - a remarkable performance.  It's always frustrating to look at a race like this and wonder what might have been, but it's also important to accept the occasional moral victory and just be proud of the effort, even if the result wasn't what it could have been.  James had some mishaps of his own, taking his equipment breakage misfortunes to an absurd level.  Shortly after the start, the binding plate on one of his skis broke when another skier stepped on it, leaving him scootering into the stadium on one ski.  Wilson happened to be on hand to give him a replacement, and he started working his way back up just like Kevin.  Unfortunately, a few kilometers later he broke the binding on his other ski - what are the chances?  At this point, he was pretty far out in the woods, and there wasn't much to do but drop out.  Throughout all of the chaos, Riley was able to stay out of trouble - he skied smoothly throughout the race to finish 46th, one of his best results of the season.  The women's start was a bit cleaner - no major trouble as far as I could tell - but things got hairy on some of the technical turns.  I was near one turn around the 2k mark, and the carnage was impressive - wave after wave of skiers skidding on the ice trying frantically to avoid a big tree on the outside of the turn, with several sliding off the trail into the woods and often taking out others in the process.  I was both proud and relieved that all of our skiers made it through on their feet.  Kaitlynn started out in a decent position in the teens, but she looked tired from the start, and I was worried that she'd fade back into the middle of the pack.  She pushed hard and found the energy to hold her position, finishing 12th for EISA - not her best result, but a great effort.  Hannah had another fine race, skiing conservatively at the start and steadily picking off skiers to end up in 28th.  Eva skied steadily as well to finish 34th.  One thing that was fun to see was that Hannah M and Lucy were able to get into a battle with a group of St. Mike's skiers.  Younger developing skiers often end up skiing alone in these long races, but these two were able to find some competitors out there and push each other to the finish - a great learning experience.

RESULTS

Here are some photos from the skate race, courtesy of Cathy Hoose:

Dartmouth Carnival

All kinds of snow happening around New England these days - sadly, it didn't come in time to keep the Dartmouth Carnival from being relocated once again this year - this time to Craftsbury.  Always sad to miss a chance to race at Oak Hill, but Craftsbury is pretty fun too.  It was gorgeous this weekend, with several inches of new snow on the trails and in the trees.  For yesterday's classic race, the snow was cold and dry, but also soft, which added a little complexity to an otherwise straightforward day.  The team handled the conditions well, and it turned out to be a great day for us.  Kaitlynn broke her own team record again by finishing 3rd - outstanding!  The most amazing thing about this performance was that it almost didn't happen - she woke up with a crick in her back that left her barely able to move.  Fortunately, she got some help at the race venue from renowned Craftsbury coach Pepa Miloucheva - Pepa did some sort of Mr. Miyagi treatment that fixed everything, and the rest is history.  She had pretty good backup from the rest of the team as well - Hannah set a classic PR, finishing 25th for EISA, and Shelby had a PR of her own in 40th.  As a team, the women were a solid 6th - one of our best days ever.  The men were solid as well, led by James in 24th and Jackson in 40th - classic PRs for both of them.  Riley also tied his classic PR in 42nd, his best race of the season.

We had another cold day for today's 3x5k relay.  The snow was still dry and hadn't set up much - the soft, slow snow, along with several challenging climbs, made for an unusually tough 5k.  The men had another strong day - Jackson, James, and Kevin combined to finish 11th, one of our best relay performances in years.  Another highlight from the men's race came from Wilson (now the Bates assistant coach), who jumped into the race to ski the 3rd leg for Bates's second team - he held it together and nicely represented both Bowdoin alumni and coaches everywhere.  Our top women's team (Shelby, Hannah, and Kaitlynn) ended up a respectable 15th.  The second team of Tess, Eva, and Emma skied extremely well and gave our first team a run for it, finishing not far behind in 16th.  The day ended with the traditional Carnival Crush presentations - all sorts of wacky hijinks, including a pair of hand-knit underpants that Riley gave to one of the Laval girls.  Those crazy kids.

RESULTS

Thanks to all the parents who braved the storm and the cold to feed and support the team!  Lots of parental cameras out there as well - no doubt there are some good photos floating around.  For now, here are 2 from Deb Miller:

 First-ever Bowdoin podium (or, as SLU assistant and Fasterskier reporter Adam Terko called it, a "Bowdium").  This was one of the more creative podiums I've seen - the third place step was a short log that required a bit of a balancing act.

Bowdoin women and Dartmouth men - they exchanged some sort of mutual Carni Crush gifts involving ice cream and a massive Rice Krispy treat.

UVM Carnival & Eastern Cup

Another busy weekend at Trapps - the annual UVM Carnival/Eastern Cup combination.  As has been the norm for this season, snow was once again thin after last week's massive thaw and rainstorm - I've never seen Trapps with so little snow.  Somehow, they pulled it off - the loop had a little ice and a few rocks, but was surprisingly good (and a full 5k!).  Saturday was sunny and cold for the 5/10k skate.  Kaitlynn led the way in 9th (for EISA) - right in the mix with a bunch of skiers just back from racing in Europe at U23s/World Juniors.  It was impressive to see her right on the heels of some of the best juniors and U23s in the country.  James had a big race as well, with a PR of 23rd place, and Alec showed that he had his ski legs back with his best performance since coming home from South Africa.  We were hoping for some snow overnight, but we didn't get it, and we were left with a mix of icy transformed snow and manmade snow for the classic race.  The tracks had set up amazingly well considering how thin the snow cover was, and the skiing was quite good.  The conditions were right on the line between klister and hardwax - we decided to lay down some binder and go with hardwax for the women.  It worked out OK but could have been better - most people had adequate kick, except for Tess, who unfortunately had to do a lot of double poling.  So-so skis didn't stop Emma from a stunning performance - she finished as the 36th EISA skier, a huge PR.  She was passed by a Middlebury skier early in the race and managed to hang with her for several kilometers, which was great to see - many of our skiers haven't had much experience with catching a ride after being passed, and it's a big confidence builder when it happens.  A really exciting race to watch, and a major milestone.  Eva also had her best classic race of the year in 38th.  For the men's race, we decided to switch to klister covered, but testing our klister options took some time and put us behind schedule.  Fortunately, Steve DeAngelis was in attendance, and we recruited him to help out.  He pretty much saved the day - we couldn't have gotten everyone's skis ready on time without him.  Better yet, it turns out that Steve is a klister artist - amazingly smooth and even klister applications.  Not that surprising considering that he's probably klistered up thousands of skis in his tenure as coach of the Maranacook HS team.  The men ended up having great skis, and results were strong overall.  Riley and Tyler skied particularly well and tied down to the tenth of a second - best race of the season for both of them.  Jordan had an excellent classic race for the second straight weekend, despite being seeded far back and having almost no one to ski with.  Overall, a very good weekend.

FULL RESULTS
EISA RESULTS

We had a lot of help this weekend.  In addition to Steve's heroics on the wax table, Drew and Sierra were a big help both days, brushing out fluoros and applying binder like pros.  A big crew of parents laid out an excellent spread for the team, and Deb and Hannah Miller continued their annual tradition of hosting several of the women and cooking a delicious dinner for the whole team.  We also were lucky to see old friend Erin Hatton, who came over from NY to jump into the races and hang out with the team.  Thanks to all of you for such fantastic support!

Dartmouth Carnival coming up.  It's been moved to Craftsbury - we're off tomorrow.

Here are some photos from Deb Miller:

Colby Carnival

More history made at the Colby Carnival last weekend, both by Colby and by us.  For the first time ever, Colby hosted a carnival at their new ski venue, Quarry Road Recreational Area.  It's a great little trail system just a few minutes from their campus (I'm insanely jealous).  Like everywhere else in New England, Waterville got hit with a nasty thaw a couple weeks ago, so they were hurting for snow, but with a little snowmaking and a lot of hard work Colby was able to pull off the carnival.  They even got their president to forerun the race - outstanding!  It was fun to race at a new venue despite the limited snow, and I'm looking forward to bringing the team back to Quarry Road in future years.

The races were OK, too.  Saturday's 6/10k classic was held on a 2k loop with some short, hard climbs and a couple technical downhills.  The combination of coarse, transformed snow and aggressive manmade snow was super abrasive, a problem exacerbated by one particular sharp downhill turn - too much skidding around this turn, even just once, would trash your kick wax.  We put on a klister binder and various layers of hardwax in the hopes of keeping wax on the skis.  Things got off to a good start in the women's race, as Kaitlynn set a new team record with a 4th place finish - best ever result by a Bowdoin Nordic skier!  Hannah posted a career-best classic finish (28th for EISA skiers), with Shelby completing the scoring in 49th.  Emma had a fantastic race as well - she handled the downhills well and absolutely crushed the flats with her powerful double poling.  Unfortunately, she tripped and broke a pole mid-race, which cost her a good amount of time - even so, she posted a strong result in 64th.  The men had a couple extra laps and were more vulnerable to wax wear, and some of them ended up struggling with kick on the variable snow.  Still, they hung in there with decent results - James led the team in 39th, with Jackson in 46th and Henry in 47th, continuing his comeback from illness over Winter Break.  Jordan had perhaps the race of the day for the men - he slipped a bit early on, and was caught by the SLU skier one bib behind him.  However, he showed great determination, making the wax work and hanging on for a few laps before passing the other skier back in the last kilometer.  This race also doubled as the Maine State Championship (aka, the Chummy Broomhall Cup).  We finished 2nd behind Bates, tying our best ever finish from 2 years ago.  Kaitlynn claimed the title of State Champion, with Hannah (5th) earning First Team All-State honors.  Shelby (10th), James (7th), and Jackson (10th) all earned Second Team All-State status.

With no need for track-setting, the course was expanded to a 4.2k loop for Sunday's 15/20k skate.  This was good (fewer laps, less crowding) and bad (the added sections were a bit thin, with some rocky and icy patches).  Mass start races always have potential for chaos, and this one didn't disappoint - with the big field (around 100 skiers in each race) and the fast, technical downhills, there was some carnage - lots of crashes and pole mishaps.  Our team survived and posted some great results.  Kaitlynn jumped into the lead pack right away and skied with a group of 15 or so for several kilometers.  As the race went on, the pack dwindled, until eventually she was skiing at the back of a group of 5.  With 5k to go, a UVM skier made a move and strung things out just slightly.  Kaitlynn was able to move up into 4th on the last lap and finished just a few seconds behind the lead trio - an absolutely thrilling race that somehow didn't seem at all surprising (it's funny and very unfair how quickly we start to see amazing performances as routine).  Once again, the rest of the team came through with solid results.  Hannah lost a pole early and dropped back several places, but got a replacement and rallied to finish 29th for EISA, with Eva right behind in 32nd (scoring her first NCAA point, since a couple non-carnival team skiers were in front of her).  Shelby and Steph also both had what might have been their best collegiate races ever, finishing 41st and 58th, respectively.  The men's race had a nice clean start, but things got rough after that, with all sorts of mix-ups.  Our guys had their share of troubles - Kevin and Henry both got taken out in crashes, and James lost a ski when another skier stepped on it.  Nonetheless, they hung in there and did a great job of making up lost ground throughout the race.  Jackson skied a great race, moving up steadily to finish in 36th, with Kevin (40th) and James (46th) close behind.  Overall, a very successful weekend for our team.  We finished 8th for the nordic portion of the carnival, our best team finish in a while.  Also, after just 2 carnivals we now have 6 skiers with NCAA points - another team best.  A very exciting start to the season!

RESULTS

Thanks to all of the team parents who showed up to support the team and provide delicious lunches on another very cold weekend!  We also owe a special thanks to our three volunteer assistants.  Sierra showed up to cheer both days and took video of Saturday's classic race, and old friends Drew Gustafson and Scott Longwell were tireless wax techs.  Drew and Scott applied countless layers of klister binder on Saturday, and followed up with kick wax application as well.  Scott came back the next day to help us apply fluoros for the skate race.  We had 18 skiers racing this weekend, and we never could have gotten everyone's skis ready in time without their help - we had as much success as we did largely due to their help.  Thanks Scott, Drew, and Sierra!

Here are some photos from Saturday's classic race.  This one is from Steve Fuller of Flying Point Road:

These are courtesey of former Bowdoin Nordic skier Rainer Kenney:

Race Photos

Here are some photos from the last 2 weekends, courtesy of Cathy Hoose (Lake Placid) and Patti Lynn (Rutland).  Thanks Cathy and Patti!

SLU Carnival - Lake Placid

Mtn. Top Eastern Cup - Rutland