Regionals 2016

Our season ended with a beautiful weekend in Middlebury at the Eastern Regional Championships - our final carnival of the year.  Because of a massive rainstorm on Thursday, the races had to be pushed back to Saturday/Sunday to give the organizers time to put the course back together.  Amazingly, the folks at Rikert were able to till up the ice and push around some manmade snow until we had a pretty decent surface for racing.  Saturday's skate was still tricky, though, with icy patches causing carnage on some of the turns - Sam and Jake both had crashes, with Jake breaking a pole.  Overall, though, it was a good day.  Mac was just outside the points in 31st, closely followed by Sean.  Wil caught a ride from a skier two bibs back and was able to hang on for most of the second lap, ending up as our third scorer for the day.  This was his first race in almost a month after a lingering illness, so it was a pretty impressive comeback.  Hannah Miller had the race of the day - like Wil (and a couple others), she had a nagging cold that cost her a lot of training and racing in February, and she was still fighting it during these races, but she was able to dig really deep and grind out an 18th place finish - really a remarkable effort.  Ellie was 34th for one of her best finishes ever - she was just 14 seconds from Hannah, which shows how incredibly close the times were.  Marshal was a big part of our success for these races - he helped us out with testing and fluoro application, which allowed us to do a more thorough job of testing several different options to get the fastest skis possible.  That night, we had a wonderful dinner at the Groves house, with several parents in attendance - it was great to combine family time and team time!  The skiers finished their evening with the usual Middlebury Inn shenanigans - hide and seek and Piggly Wiggly (a game I still don't really understand and am not sure if I want to).

Temps continued warming up for Sunday's mass start classic race - sunny skies and perfect klister skiing!  Sean had a fall early on and had to work his way up from way in the back, but somehow he got himself right back to his usual spot to finish in 19th.  It's been an excellent season for Sean, with top 20 finishes in every classic qualifier and a top 10 in the Bates sprint - certainly one of the best seasons ever by Bowdoin Nordic first-year.  Mac, Sam, and Jake worked together brilliantly - they started out toward the back but right in contact with a big group, and then moved up steadily.  It was really exciting to watch Sam hanging right onto Mac through the middle kilometers, skiing well above his usual level.  As they came out of the woods for the final time, Mac had pulled into 35th, with Jake and Sam close behind in 42nd and 43rd.  We later found out that another skier had stepped on Sam's pole on the final big climb and broken it - he had to ski the last kilometer or so with one pole, which surely cost him a couple places.  Still, it was a huge PR for him.  He's been skiing really well all year long and has been just shy of great races several times, so it was really satisfying to see him finally break through.  Things got really warm for the women's races, to the point where lots of people were racing in t-shirts, and we broke out our warmest klisters.  H. Miller had clearly spent her reserves the day before, but she still gave it a great effort to lead the team in 34th.  Ellie skied with a lot of spring on the climbs and a nice big double pole on the flats to finish 46th - probably the best classic skiing I've seen from her.  It was fun to see the three seniors in their last college race ever - all three of them were battling hard, and they all skied well in both races for a strong finish to the season.  A perfect day to end a career - gorgeous spring skiing and a nice long mass start!  I should also mention that Marshal was once again a great help to us on the wax table, joined by August for this race.

All in all, Regionals was a lot of fun - a really nice way to wrap up the season.  It's been a good season overall, despite the really disappointing snow situation and the outrageously persistent illnesses that many of our skiers had to deal with.  I feel really lucky that we had such a cohesive and positive group to navigate one of the toughest winters I can remember - a different kind of group could have easily broken down in the face of all this trouble, but our skiers hung in there and kept supporting each other and kept having fun.  A huge thanks to all the parents, who were magnificent as always - I know how lucky we are to have such great parents, and every year I'm thankful for their support.  Now, just like that the Bowdoin Nordic season is over.  There's lots more excitement to come, though - several of the skiers are headed up to Quebec City this weekend to watch Kaitlynn race in the World Cup events, and people will do a few more races (marathons and/or SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury).  More updates to come!

Here are some photos from Everett Marshall, Doug Hands, and Meg Groves:

Williams Carnival 2016

Another week, another relocated carnival.  This time it was the Williams Carnival - moved from Prospect to Lake Placid.  What a crazy winter this has been!  I remember a time when Prospect was the backup for other venues because they always had more snow than anyone else.  Fortunately, the jumping complex in Lake Placid had a nice 2.5k loop of artificial snow, so we made the long drive to NY after Thursday classes.  The early vans were able to stop at Rikert for an evening ski on our way through VT, and we followed this up with a great dinner at the Groves household - many thanks to Laurie and Meg for breaking up the drive with their great hospitality!

The next morning was pretty relaxed - due to other events at the jumps, our races (10/10k skate) didn't start until the middle of the day.  The course was in good shape - fast, transformed snow, with some long climbs and long descents.  Unfortunately for us, most of the women were a bit under the weather, but they hung in there, with H. Miller in 36th and Ellie 41st.  Lucy did a great job of working the climbs and finished 52nd, her best race of the season.  Jake found a new gear and finally broke into the top 30, finishing 28th to claim his first-ever NCAA points.  Sam also had a notable race - he was really energetic and had put himself in position for a big PR before a crash on an icy hairpin turn dropped him back several spots.  We finished up the day with a nice dinner in a private room in Lake Placid's finest pub, followed by a rousing song identification challenge - the whole team was quite good at this game, and the Minnesota boys (Sam, Marshal, and Sean) in particular proved to be unstoppable.

Saturday's 5/5k classic was a pursuit - the first time EISA has done a pursuit since I don't know when.  The weather was challenging - a little snow overnight, followed by a tiny bit of rain, followed by gusting winds and sun appearing and disappearing throughout the morning.  We played around with different klisters all morning - just as we would find something that worked well, the conditions would change just enough to render it obsolete.  Some of our skiers ended up on zeroes, and some on klister, with variable results - serviceable but draggy for the women, and decent for the men.  Sadly, the nagging sickness and fatigue continued - only Lucy, Emma, and H. Marshall made it to the start line, and Hannah was clearly just toughing it out.  Lucy again led the women with a very solid effort, finishing in 48th overall.  On the men's side, Sean moved up several places to finish 32nd, with Jake right behind in 34th.  Overall, it was not our best carnival, but I felt like people skied well given the challenges we were up against, and I think we're in good position to finish strongly at Regionals this weekend if we can just get everyone healthy!  Thanks to the parents, who really outdid themselves this weekend with a tasty and healthful post-race spread both days - you guys are the best!

Here are some photos from Everett Marshall:

Dartmouth Carnival 2016

Quite an unusual weekend we just had!  The Dartmouth Carnival (moved to Craftsbury) was scheduled to be a one-day affair (15/20k classic), which is unusual by itself, but for a while it looked like it would be a zero-day affair.  The forecast for Saturday was grim - super cold temps and very high winds - and we spent the whole week wondering if we would actually get to race.  We drove over to Vermont on Friday afternoon and went through the process of preparing for a race, but the whole time the weather warnings became more and more apocalyptic, and it was hard to shake the feeling that it wasn't going to happen.  On Saturday morning, it was indeed very cold, but the winds were minimal, and that made all the difference.  With temps just above the FIS legal limit, the jury decided to go for it, and off we went.  The men's field stayed close throughout the race - a lead group got away, with a couple people eventually going off the front, but the various chase packs weren't far back.  Sean hovered in the 20s before moving to the front of his group late in the race - he made the final sprint look easy and locked up 18th for the third straight classic race.  Mac and Jake skied together the whole race - they made a big move to get to the front of their pack and finished in 29th and 31st, respectively - Mac's first NCAA points ever, and a PR for Jake.  The men finished 6th overall - I'm pretty sure this is our best men's finish in several years!  The women's race was even colder, as temps dropped steadily throughout the day, but fortunately still legal at the start.  With several elite skiers (including Kaitlynn) in the race, the pace was brisk - a group of 10 or 12 quickly went off the front, and the rest of the field strung out behind them.  Still recovering from being sick the week before, H. Miller didn't have her usual snap, but she skied smoothly and hung in there for 41st.  Ellie was feisty out there and really battled on the hills to set a classic PR of 45th.  Overall, a very courageous effort by everyone - a 15/20k race is tough enough by itself, and with these extreme conditions it was really a daunting task.

Here are some photos from Everett Marshall:

After the race it was time for the annual tradition of Carni Crush - much loved by the skiers and tolerated by the coaches.  Despite the cold, the skiers milled around in the stadium doing their Crush presentations - reading poems, doing dances, and generally having a good old time.  As far as I can tell our skiers showed off their talents in a creative and generally appropriate manner, which is good.  A fun and successful weekend for all.  Thanks to Tara Whiton for joining us as a volunteer assistant this weekend - she did great work helping us with waxing and feeds.  Extra thanks to the parents this week - in these conditions, it's extra tough to stand around and cheer, take photos, and set up food tables.  These are also the conditions where the skiers need extra support, so thanks to all of you!

UVM Carnival/Eastern Cup/SuperTour

Quite a lot going on at the UVM Carnival last weekend!  With the absurdly warm weather continuing, Trapps lost so much snow that they had to move the races to Craftsbury (ironically, a mini-blizzard hit the coast of Maine just as we were leaving, so it was pretty sad to drive out of all that lovely snow into the bleak brown landscape of NH and VT).  The folks at Craftsbury did amazing work to squeeze a 2.5k loop out of very limited space and snow - a lot of loops back and forth in the 2 main fields, and a nice rolling segment out in the woods, all covered by mostly manmade snow.  Since the carnival doubled as an Eastern Cup and tripled as a SuperTour, there were lots and lots of people sharing this very small space - a bit hectic but also a busy and fun atmosphere.  The frozen granular snow and lack of big climbs made for a really, really fast race and super tight times on Saturday's 5/10k skate.  Ellie took an aggressive approach to this race and it paid off - she started out fast and pushed hard the whole way, and was rewarded with her first NCAA points ever in 27th.  Amazingly, she was just 8 seconds from being in the top 15 - a really, really close race!  This was a real breakthrough for Ellie, and very exciting for all of us to know that our skiers can be right in there with the best.  The whole rest of the team skied well also - I was really happy with how everyone looked.  Sean scored his first NCAA points in skate (25th), Hannah Marshall skied her best distance race ever (in my opinion), and Mac bounced back from a few sluggish weeks to set a distance PR of 34th.  A delicious dinner at the Miller household with several other team parents in attendance put the cap on a really nice day.

On Sunday we were loaded for bear (ie, klister), but the predicted snow showers were heavier than expected, and there was some real accumulation in the tracks throughout the morning.  We tested a number of options and made a last minute call to go with hard wax for the women.  With such a gently rolling course, we didn't dare to slow the skis down with klister in pursuit of perfect kick.  Fortunately, the women were up to the task - they did a great job of making the kick work and had nice fast skis.  Lucy broke out to finish 2nd for our team - her first time ever scoring points for the team!  As the new snow got skied in and the showers subsided, we switched back to klister for the men, but we stuck with a colder klister than the temps would normally require in the hopes of getting fast skis with just enough kick.  Again, the men made it work, and we had some really nice performances.  Sean led the way in 18th - he continues to set a new standard of excellence for Bowdoin Nordic first-year skiers!  Mac bettered his own PR from the day before in 32nd, just barely missing his first NCAA points, and Jake was right behind with a personal best of 34th - another strong performance in what has been a remarkably consistent season for Jake, with no finishes lower than 38th.  Once again, the whole team skied well and looked very strong.  The best thing I noticed was that our skiers are steadily improve at working the course and grabbing seconds here and there.  Tess did a fantastic job of working the transitions, August experimented with a very aggressive sitting tuck, and lots of people took the opportunity to catch rides off the many skiers coming and going on their various laps.  Very good stuff that will continue to add up and yield better results.

One other cool thing about this carnival was that we had a couple of alumni joining us in the races.  Spencer Eusden '12 was in town for the SuperTour with his Sugar Bowl Academy teammate Emily Blackmer, and Erin Hatton '12 jumped into the classic races.  We helped these guys out with waxing, and they did a great job of holding their own against all the fast HS and college kids.  It's really great to see Bowdoin Nordic alumni staying in the sport (and extra nice to have a chance to wax their skis one more time to make up for all the times I didn't get it right when they were in college!).

The only blemish on the day was sickness - we had 3 skiers who were under the weather and unable to race all weekend, which was obviously a bit of a letdown.  I also got a bit sick on Sunday, which was not fun on a busy klister day.  Fortunately, Tim was on top of his game and was extra efficient in testing and application to make up for my total lack of energy.  Overall, it was a great team effort, and we were well supported by a great crew of parents - a very successful weekend that has us all excited about the second half of the season.  With snow still thin across New England, we're headed right back to Craftsbury on Saturday for the 1-day Dartmouth Carnival - can't wait!

Here are some photos courtesy of Everett Marshall and Kaitlynn Miller: