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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: Collegiate Racing

EISA Racing Begins at Colby Carnival

Warm temps and rain forced some alterations at the Quarry Road ski trails. This view of the makeshift stadium gives a glimpse of ski conditions

The Farmer’s Almanac predicted a bitter-cold winter for the 2013/2014 ski season. Whether or not you believe in the popular book’s fables and speculation, the forecast hadn’t been far off for much of the New England winter thus far.

All trails were open and freshly groomed a week and a half before the Colby Carnival, the opening event of the EISA Collegiate Nordic season. The Quarry Road Recreation Area in Waterville, Maine was looking to be in prime shape. After opening the previous Carnival season in Lake Placid on shovel-assisted trails and trucked-in snow, many EISA skiers were looking forward to getting the 2013/14 season off to a more wintry start.

Unfortunately, warm weather and rain began to spell trouble for Colby’s ski area with just over a week until the first race. With overnight temperatures too high for snowmaking, organizers waited and watched as the course gradually deteriorated. The most severe damage occurred in the stadium area, which ultimately led to a change of format: Saturday’s mass start freestyle races would need to be shortened and changed to the individual-start format.

Despite the disruptive weather, the trails at Quarry Road were surprisingly resilient. With some impressive planning and grooming, the races were held on a 2.5 kilometer loop that incorporated much of the original 5k homologated race course, including a long “A” climb and a tricky s-turn descent. Friday’s 5 and 10 kilometer classic races would be run as planned.

FRIDAY: 5/10k Classic

In weather and snow conditions more reminiscent of late-March spring skiing than January race season, rain and softening tracks made for a classic New England day of interesting klister and wax combinations. Intermittent burst of rain kept technicians and racers on their toes throughout the day, and the emergence of the sun near the end of the men’s race changed the course further.

The EISA season gets underway for the women in Friday’s 5k classic

In the women’s race, Anja Gruber provided some consistency among the madness of the previous week’s weather changes and course alterations. The UVM skier, and 2013 NCAA Champion in this same event, picked up where she left off on Friday. Gruber took first place, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Dartmouth’s Annie Hart. Gruber’s teammate, UVM’s Stephanie Kirk, finished in third place.

The UVM women eked out a narrow 2-point victory in the team score over the Big Green. Thanks to some impressive skiing by newcomers Amy Bianco (7th) and Olivia Amber (11th), as well as veteran Lizzie Anderson (14th), the Colby women notched third place in the team score at their home carnival.

Conditions were softer and the corners a bit icier for the men’s race, though that clearly didn’t slow down Dartmouth’s Silas Talbot. Talbot finished over 34 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, Middlebury’s Ben Lustgarten. Racing as a guest, Maine Winter Sports Center’s Welly Ramsey finished in third overall, though points for third in the collegiate race were awarded to Dartmouth’s David Sinclair.

Talbot and Sinclair, along with Jan Ketterson (11th), were able to put Dartmouth ahead of UVM in the team score, while UNH finished third.

SATURDAY: 10/15k Freestyle

Though colder temps moved in overnight, the effects of Friday’s races were evident on the course during Saturday’s skate event. During the classic races, 188 competitors raced a total of 558 laps of the 2.5k course. Corners were icy, with some patches of slick trail hidden by a faint layer of sugary snow. Volunteers and race organizers shoveled as best they could to keep conditions safe and fair for all competitors.

Women raced a total of four laps, and UVM’s Linda Dandvind-Malm gave the Catamounts another individual victory. Despite slowing down a bit with the third-fastest split on her last lap, Dandvind-Malm held on to win the race ahead of Dartmouth’s Annie Hart, who took home her second runner-up placing of the weekend. Friday’s winner, Anja Gruber, raced the fastest final lap to nab the last spot on the podium and help the Catamount women to their second team title in as many days.

The men’s race, at 6 laps total, meant there was often larger groups of skiers racing together in packs. As early seeds raced their middle laps, later seeds began their races, leading to a somewhat crowded course during the middle of the event.

Multiple laps means multiple packs: Middlebury teammates Ben Lustgarten (71) and Patrick McElravey (41) ski together. UMPI teammates Zach Veayo (16) and Andrew Nesbitt (53) follow

Last season, UVM’s Scott Patterson made a show of every distance skate race, putting massive gaps on the field and skiing away solo for the win. The multiple laps and short course at Quarry Road didn’t allow Patterson to be as visually dominant as the last year, but it was evident from early on that little had changed in his strategy. Patterson went hard from the start and piled up time on his competitors, skiing to a commanding minute-plus victory over newcomer Patrick Caldwell of Dartmouth. Consistent in his form and in his technique versatility, Ben Lustgarten (Middlebury) again finished on the podium in third.

UVM took top honors in the team title on Saturday, followed closely by Dartmouth. Led by Akeo Maifeld-Carucci in 5th place, the Harvard men’s team placed their scoring trio (Maifeld-Carucci, Anthony Ryerson III and Chris Stock) in the top 24 to secure third place for the Crimson.

In a cruel but overall positive twist, snow moved into the East Coast on Sunday and Monday, bringing more traditional winter weather to the area. This should set up conditions well for the next stop on the EISA circuit. On Friday the UNH Wildcats will host individual-start classic races, as well as the first mass-start freestyle event of the season, in Jackson, NH.

Results from the event can be found at Bart Timing

Many photos by Steve Fuller can be found at Flyingpointroad.com (all sales of prints go directly to the National Nordic Foundation)

January 20, 2014
EISA Regionals: Patterson Stays On Top, O’Connell Rounds Out 2 Impressive Weekends

RUMFORD, Maine – After two consecutive years of hosting US Nationals on thin snow and shoveled courses, racers got to compete in a championship event last weekend that included the true competition network of trails at Black Mountain of Maine.

This year the Bates College Carnival, which doubled as the EISA Regional championships, got underway Friday with bright sun and rapidly warming temperatures. The wax of choice for most became klister as the women’s race neared. Benches and tents were set up trackside, and the pulsing buzz of blowtorches filled the warm air. The long climb to the course’s high point necessitated good kick, but too much icing from stepping outside the tracks would mean a long sticky run down into the stadium.

Friday: 5/10k Classic

Dartmouth’s Mary O’Connell on her way to her second victory in a row in the women’s 5k classic

Some splits showed Middlebury’s Annie Pokorny with a lead at the aforementioned high point, the top of a brutal hill with direct sunlight that climbed the back side of Black Mountain’s infamous “High School Hill”. By the finish of the race, however, it was Dartmouth’s Mary O’Connell who was the champion by a mere 1.7 seconds.

Third place went to Emily Blackmer, another young Dartmouth skier having an impressive season.

The men’s race featured three favorites starting one bib after another. Benjamin Lustgarten, Sam Tarling and Scott Patterson held bibs 61, 62 and 63, respectively. Despite their close proximity to each other on the start list, the three racers skied remarkably individual events. Only 8 seconds separated 1^st from 3^rd, as none of those three men were able to pull away or catch the skier ahead.

At the conclusion of the race it was Patterson who took the victory, ahead of Tarling and then Lustgarten. Though they are all distinctly different in stature and skiing style, these three men have consistently paced the rest of the field in classic races all season.

Cheered on by his brother Eric and his Middlebury teammates, Ben Lustgarten races to 3rd place in the 10k classic

Saturday: 10/15k Freestyle

Saturday’s mass-start freestyle races, 10k for women and 15k for men, were again warm, though the sun was not present as a dusting of snow fell atop the course throughout the morning.

The course was slightly modified from Friday, featuring the long climb up the the high point once again, before now swooping immediately downhill in order to climb straight up the main section on “High School Hill”.

“The course was absolutely brutal,” remarked Colby skier John Dixon. “There was very little rest between the A-climb and High School Hill, so by the time you hit the steepest sections you had been climbing a long way already.”

O’Connell and Gruber begin to pull away from the women’s field in the 10k freestyle

Not a problem for the skiers in this field. After winning her last two carnival races in a row, Dartmouth’s Mary O’Connell sought to break up the field once again and charge to victory. In the last freestyle race at Middlebury, it was Anja Gruber of UVM who fought to regain contact before slipping on the final lap. This time, Gruber would have none of the yo-yoing that hindered her in the previous mass start. The UVM skier stuck right on O’Connell’s heels, and together the two separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

They stayed together, in fact, until the very end. In a sprint to the line it was O’Connell who claimed her third victory in a row. UVM was able to celebrate a double-podium performance, as Linda Danvind-Malm took third.

In the men’s race, Scott Patterson did what he has done for an entire season now: gap the field by a wide margin and look calm doing it. In similar fashion to last weekend’s skate race, it was Sam Tarling and David Sinclair, both of Dartmouth, who attempted to hang with Patterson’s now-signature turn of pace. Also in similar fashion to the most recent skate race, Tarling was able to hang on long enough to secure 2^nd place, while Sinclair was eventually swallowed up by the large chase pack encompassing places 3 through 13.

Taking that third spot ahead of the rest of the field was Dartmouth’s Silas Talbot. Along with Scott Lacy in 4th, the Dartmouth men went 2-3-4 in the event. Black Mountain’s long, straight finishing stretch once again lent itself to many memorable sprint finishes as skiers fought for top places in the last race of the season.

Scott Patterson and Scott Lacy lead out the start of the men’s freestyle race

In a unique post-race concept, the competitors in the men’s field waited together until the full conclusion of the event before taking to the course in a giant group. Regardless of finishing place or team affiliation, the skiers of the EISA were all out as one to celebrate the end of the season. This “mass cooldown” was a great spectacle, and a show of camaraderie that this reporter hopes will be a new final-carnival tradition for years to come.

The men’s field skis together after the conclusion of their race Saturday

The men’s field takes a more low-key ski up “High School Hill” after their race

The NCAA Championships, hosted by Middlebury College, begin March 6th.

RESULTS

February 25, 2013
Traditions Stay Alive at Relocated Dartmouth Carnival

Due to low snow in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Dartmouth Carnival was moved to Craftsbury, Vermont this year. Ironically, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, renowned as one of the top snow-making operations in the East, did not need to fire up the guns for last weekend’s races.

Thanks to a dumping of fresh snow from the Nor’easter named Nemo, racers were able to take full advantage of Craftsbury’s challenging 5-kilometer race loop. Though the loop begins on a stretch of snow all too familiar to anyone who spent last winter in New England, the trail soon leads racers into sustained climbs and fast descents, ultimately bringing racers far below the stadium before twisting brutally back uphill toward the finish.

The course was made even more challenging this weekend by the winter storm’s heavy precipitation; Friday’s classic races were held in snowing conditions, slowing the course considerably. Despite the difficulty the fresh accumulation added to waxing, pacing and even just seeing the trail ahead, most everyone in attendance seemed ecstatic just to be skiing while snow was falling from the sky.

FRIDAY: 5/10k classic

Though they were still a few hours removed from Hanover, the home team was left wanting after the very first race of the weekend. Though they placed skiers in places 4 through 6, the Dartmouth women were unable to capture a podium spot in the 5k classic race. Anja Gruber of UVM continued to impress in the classic style, taking the victory by 17 seconds ahead of Middlebury’s Annie Pokorny. Third place went to Kaitlynn Miller of Bowdoin, who had been skiing dangerously close to the podium, or perhaps in this case “Bowdium”, all season. The finish was yet another best-ever EISA result for Bowdoin College.

Though they did not place anyone on the podium, Dartmouth did place their top 3 skiers in the next 3 places. Annie Hart, Corey Stock and Mary O’Connell finished 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively. The trio’s depth at the top end of the field led Dartmouth to a victory in the team score.

The men’s race saw another UVM skier atop the podium, as Scott Patterson collected his first classic-style victory of the season. Though he has been nearly untouchable in the freestyle technique so far this year, Patterson had finished 5th and 2nd in the two earlier classic races this season at Colby and UVM.

Finishing behind Patterson were Dartmouth skiers Sam Tarling and Silas Talbot who, along with David Sinclair in 5th place, were barely able to give the Big Green the top team score, 2 points ahead of UVM.

Vermont’s Dylan Grald finished 4th, as a familiar list of schools packed the top-10. Aside from Middlebury’s Ben Lustgarten in 7th place, the top-10 consisted entirely of skiers from Dartmouth and UVM.

Saturday: 3x5k Relays

Even after the conclusion of Friday’s races, the snow continued. Though the storm let up in the early hours of the morning, racers on Saturday were greeted by thick, soft and dry powder for the 3×5 kilometer freestyle relays. Once again, the going would not be easy.

Middlebury’s Austin Cobb led the pack through the first section of the course as the men’s field settled in past Craftsbury’s large open stadium area. During the second half of the scramble leg, Dartmouth skiers Erik Fagerstrom and Scott Lacy pushed ahead to tag off to their Big Green teammates with a bit of a lead. Their effort was successful, if only briefly.

Austin Cobb (MIDD) leads out the start of the men’s 3×5 relay at the Dartmouth Carnival

On the next leg UVM’s Rogan Brown caught up to the two Dartmouth teams, while behind them Scott Patterson furiously fought (and succeeded) to also make contact with the leaders. This lead pack of four teams would be at the front for the remainder of the race.

Behind the storm of green and black suits at the front, Middlebury’s Dylan McGarthwaite skied an impressive leg to bring the Panthers up into 5th overall, which represented 3rd place in the team standings (only the top team of each school counted for team scores).

On the final lap the group of UVM and Darmouth men still held an advantage over the field. As the racers headed to the low point of the course many wondered if a sprint to the finish was imminent.

Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling put those questions to rest, putting on a big surge in the last few kilometers. Tarling created a gap large enough to allow him to cross the line smiling and waving a Dartmouth flag to the home crowd.

To give the Big Green even more to cheer about, Dartmouth’s Steve Mangan crossed the line next. UVM took places 3 and 4 in the overall standings (2nd in team scores) while Middlebury finished 5th overall to secure 3rd place in the team standings.

Steve Mangan and Sam Tarling celebrate the Dartmouth victory

The women’s relay stayed together early, as a relatively large pack was still skiing within sight of one another approaching the top of “Coaches Corner” at the 4k mark. Familiar suits were at the front, however, as UVM’s Linda Dandvind-Malm and Dartmouth’s Annie Hart towed the rest of the field in their wake.

Leg 1 of the women’s relay near 4k, with familiar suits up front

By leg 2, an order began to form that would hold for most of the race: Dartmouth in front, chased by UVM and UNH. With wider gaps between racers than the men’s relay, the women’s race was all about chasing down the team ahead of you. With the top three teams, however, there was little shuffling at the front as Dartmouth, UVM and UNH each crossed the line, in that order, with about a minute between teams.

Post-race traditions

Dartmouth skiers donned traditional garb to cheer on the racers Saturday

Aside from racing, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival is also home to a few other notable traditions. On Saturday, Dartmouth skiers and fans donned knickers and school sweaters to cheer on the racers. Dartmouth’s green suits were quite prevalent during the races, and the green sweaters and knickers were just as prevalent in the post-race festivities.

One of the more unique post-race festivities at the Dartmouth Carnival is the annual “Carni-Crush” exchange that takes place after the conclusion of racing on day 2 of the Carnival weekend. Though the Carnival did not fall on Valentines Day this year, the tradition of teams and individuals giving out valentines to other racers was not one to miss. Skiers wrote poems, sang songs, and organized dance routines to show express their love for their friends and competitors. Some were sincere, others were crude, and most were cringe-worthy, but everyone was having a blast in the relaxed post-race atmosphere.

The Middlebury women wore cheerleader outfits and held a mini pep-rally for the Williams men

The Harvard men used the P.A. system to perform a song-and-dance number/strip-tease for the SLU women

EISA Racing continues next week with the Middlebury Carnival, featuring new and updated courses at the Rikert Touring Center.

RESULTS

February 11, 2013