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: Lustgarten

Back from Europe, Championship Skiers Shake Up Results at UVM Carnival

(TO BE UPDATED WITH MORE PHOTOS SOON)

It’s one of the biggest weekends of skiing in New England, combining the region’s top racers with the some of the region’s top facilities: The UVM Carnival/Eastern Cup weekend at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe is a perennially-huge happening in the Nordic skiing scene. The top-notch event is known to draw a massive crowd of racers and spectators alike, and this year was no different.

In what is an old story at this point in the season, warm temperatures once again forced staff and volunteers to modify the twisting and challenging “Morton’s Maze” course in order to enable fluid racing for over 400 racers throughout the weekend. With adjustments made that incorporated a section of the upper 7.5 kilometer course, a 5 kilometer loop was created that snaked through the woods and featured several long climbs and switch-backing curves.

Saturday: 5/10k Freestyle

While temperatures in Stowe were reaching over 50 degrees only a few days prior to the event, the races on both Saturday and Sunday were held in relatively cool temps and solid snow. Saturday’s skate races in particular featured hard, icy trails and conditions well-suited to large, powerful skiers. The hard snow rewarded racers who could apply a good deal of force to the snow and balance on the fast surface.

It is no surprise anymore to see UVM’s Scott Patterson atop a freestyle podium this season. In Saturday’s 10k skate race, Patterson won his fourth EISA freestyle race in a row to give the home team an individual victory on their own turf.

Scott Patterson (UVM) leads Steve Mangan (DAR) during the 10k freestyle (photo: Cory Ransom)

Back from Europe and the U23 World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling finished just under 30 seconds behind Patterson for second place. Tarling, the 2011 NCAA champion in the 10k freestyle at this very venue, finished nearly 20 seconds ahead of Bates’ Jordan Buetow. The 3^rd place showing on Saturday marked Buetow’s second freestyle podium of the season. The Bobcat skier placed 2^nd in the SLU Carnival Prologue two weeks ago.

Two Darmouth skiers, Silas Talbot and Scott Lacy, finished in 4^th and 5^th, respectively, rounding out the top-5 and giving the Dartmouth men the victory in the team score.

The Women’s 5k skate race featured a slew of new faces near the top of the results sheet. No less than 6 EISA women were back in the States after representing the US at both U23 and World Junior Championship events. Annie Pokorny (Middlebury), Corey Stock (Dartmouth), Annie Hart (Dartmouth), Elizabeth Guiney (New Hampshire), Heather Mooney (Middlebury) and Emily Hannah (Harvard) were back in their collegiate uniforms this weekend, and all 6 finished within the top 10 places on Saturday. In fact, Pokorny, Stock, Hart and Guiney swept the top 4 places, in that order. UVM’s Anja Gruber, standout performer of the first two weekends of EISA racing, took 5^th.

Women’s 10k Freestyle Podium L-R: Corey Stock (DAR), Annie Pokorny (MIDD), Annie Hart (DAR) Photo Courtesy C.J. Feehan, EISASkiing.blogspot.com

The win was Pokorny’s first at the EISA level, though her 4^th place finish in the 10k freestyle race at this year’s National Championship gave clear signs of her potential dominance in this event.

For a video interview with Pokorny, visit the EISA Skiing Facebook page (linked below)

As the only school to place 3 skiers in the top 10, the Dartmouth women took top team honors on the day.

Sunday: 10k Classic

Sunday’s classic races began cold as well, but warming temperatures led to changing track conditions throughout the day. Double-set tracks that were initially deep and solid for J2 racers early in the morning began to change as the sun emerged from a haze and a large volume of racers continually skied around the loop. Some sections glazed, others wore down to ice, and others became sugary; finding a kick wax that would succeed along the entire course was not particularly easy, leading some teams to set up gear right next to the start area to allow for last-minute alterations to racing boards.

In the women’s 10k classic race, the new faces returning from abroad once again took 4 of the top 5 spots. Annie Hart (Dartmouth) took top honors, followed closely by Annie Pokorny in second. Annie and Annie were the only two women to stand on the podium in both of the weekend’s races.

Annie Hart (DAR), pictured here in the skate race, won Satuday’s 10k classic (photo: Cory Ransom)

Making the podium yet again in a consistently strong season so far was UVM’s Anja Gruber, who finished third. Heather Mooney (Middlebury) and Elizabeth Guiney (UNH) completed the women’s top 5, while Dartmouth set the top team score.

The men’s race was won by Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling, who improved upon his second-place finish the day prior to take his first win of the season in his first Carnival weekend this year.

With such a large field of racers due to the combined Eastern Cup races, both the men’s and women’s races featured 15-second start intervals. Last weekend’s individual 10k classic winner Ben Lustgarten (Middlebury) made the most of his starting spot one bib ahead of Tarling, as the two skied together for the majority of the race. Their styles and body-types distinctly different, Lustgarten’s small frame might not have even been noticeable behind Tarling’s imposing figure if you were watching the two approach head-on. Despite their differences in stature, however, both skiers ended up on the podium; Lustgarten’s pacing behind Tarling was good enough for 3^rd place.

And sandwiched between the Dartmouth and Middlebury skiers? UVM’s Scott Patterson, who earned his first classic podium of the season. Starting one seed earlier than Tarling and Lustgarten, Patterson spent much more time alone during the course of his race. Though he was not able to pace with the two other podium members, Patterson might as well have been skiing next to them: he ended the day 10 seconds shy of Tarling and under 7 seconds ahead of Lustgarten.

For the second day in a row, two Dartmouth skiers took spots 4and 5 to lead the Big Green to a team score victory. Silas Talbot was 4^th for the second consecutive-day, and Steve Mangan was 5^th.

Overall, the Darmouth and UVM men took 7 spots within the top ten. Along with Lustgarten’s podium performance, Erik Lindgren of UNH and Austin Meng of St. Lawrence University were the only finishers aside from those two schools to crack the top ten.

Racing continues next weekend with the Darmouth Carnival. Due to low snow in the Hanover area, next weekend’s races will take place at the snow-making haven of the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

FULL RESULTS

INTERVIEW WITH ANNIE POKORNY (Courtesy EISA Skiing)

February 4, 2013
EISA Racing at Quarry Road: Colby Carnival Recap

The days of the local ski hill have returned to Colby College. EISA racing took place for the very first time this weekend at the Quarry Road Recreation Area in Waterville, Maine. A large-scale community project which will, upon completion, feature mountain biking trails, snowshoeing, snowboarding and sledding in addition to competition-level Nordic Ski trails, Quarry Road is located at the site of Colby College’s former ski hill just a few minutes from campus.

The Nordic racing trails weave through open fields and climb along a hillside adjacent to the former Colby ski slope. In fact, the T-bar used during the areas initial operation still stands, and sledding takes places on a lower part of the slope that is still clear of trees. The climbs are steep, and the descents are twisting, and the venue weaves in and around itself in creative ways only legendary trail designer John Morton could conceive.

Just across the parking lot at the race venue, Colby’s former Ski Hill is still visible along the ridge. The insert shows the T-bar line for the hill.

The warm temperatures that affected the snow at last weekend’s St. Lawrence Carnival also took a toll on Central Maine’s conditions this week, but once again a combination of hard work, as well as the new snow-making system at Quarry Road, resulted in a network of about 4.5 kilometers of skiable trails.

“These races are the second major event to be held at this new facility,” chief of race Pat Cote remarked to a gathering of coaches, “the first major event being getting these trails ready for racing this week.”

Though the planned 5k competition loop could not be used, tracks were set for Saturday’s classic race on a technical 2-kilometer loop. The full 4.5k loop created for the weekend was used for Sunday’s mass-start freestyle races.

Saturday: 5/10k Classic

Cold temperatures made for solid tracks during Saturday’s classic race. The abrasive snow conditions, as well as multiple corners that necessitated a bit of skidding for many, meant that kick wax was hard to maintain for the duration of the longer men’s race. More than a few bases ended up a bit scratched and shredded from the nature of the course, but conditions were fair for every racer. The decision was made unanimously to send top-seeded skiers out on course first to limit crowding, and the podium had been settled before the first 30 of 93 racers crossed the line.

Ben Lustgarten had been tantalizingly close to the top-3 before, but on Saturday morning the Middlebury Junior made absolutely sure that his first trip to the podium would involve a climb to the very top: his winning margin was nearly half a minute ahead of second-place Scott Lacy, who picked up his second podium of the year. Silas Talbot of Dartmouth also picked up podium number two of his 2013 season in third place.

University of Vermont skiers Jorgen Grav and Scott Patterson finished in 4th and 5th place, respectively, though the Dartmouth men took the victory in the team standings thanks to David Sinclair’s 6th place finish.

See below for an interview with race winner Ben Lustgarten

UVM’s Anja Gruber and coach Pat Weaver. A combo that is certainly working this season

The women’s race saw a few familiar names near the top of the results sheet, with EISA rankings-leader Anja Gruber taking the win for Vermont. Annika Taylor of UNH finished ten seconds behind Gruber for 2nd place.

A few other names near the front of the race might have been more surprising. The final podium place on Saturday went to Dartmouth’s Emily Blackmer, a Senior and relative unknown on the circuit who only raced in one Carnival for the Big Green last year. Blackmer made the most of her first EISA race this season, finishing fourteen seconds behind Taylor to claim 3rd place.

Bowdoin’s Kaitynn Miller continued her incredible Junior season, improving on her best-ever school finish of 5th last weekend by one place on Saturday. Her fourth-place finish was only 6 seconds off the podium, marking another historic day for the Polar Bears.

Isabel Caldwell of Dartmouth rounded out the top five. As the only school with 3 finishers in the top-10, the University of New Hampshire took a narrow victory over the Big Green in the women’s team score.

Men’s 10k Classic Podium L-R: Talbot, Lustgarten, Lacy

5k Classic Women’s Podium L-R: Blackmer, Gruber, Taylor

Sunday: 15/20k Freestyle

Sunday featured exciting mass-start racing, with a bit more carnage and destruction than usual. The snow stayed hard and fast on day 2, leading to a large number of crashes on numerous downhill sections. Orange alpine-style fencing was set up on one corner, and more than a few racers found themselves in the netting before the day was over. For the most part, however, the race favorites stayed out of trouble. On the women’s side, much like the previous weekend of EISA racing, it was UNH and UVM fighting near the top.

The women’s 15k freestyle featured the same three athletes on the podium as the week before in Lake Placid, albeit in a slightly different finishing order. UNH’s Annika Taylor led the way, finishing the mass start with 20 meters of clear snow behind her.

That snow behind was being churned furiously, however, as the fight for second place involved a sprint finish between the Anja and Anya…By a boot-length it was Anya Bean of UNH ahead of UVM’s Anja Gruber.

Taking 4th for the second straight day was Bowdoin’s Kaitlynn Miller, whose consistently fast skiing has made her a threat for the podium in either technique on any day. Dartmouth’s Carly Wynn finished 5^th.

Scott Patterson skiing alone at the front of the Men’s 20k Freestyle

Scott Patterson, who again looked to be untouchable in the freestyle technique, took the win in the men’s race by over a minute. Patterson made his move early, skiing away from the pack solo before the first lap was even completed. Patterson described his race quite simply afterward. “I was just skiing on my own, having fun,” he laughed.

Second place went to Steve Mangan of Dartmouth, and in his second podium-performance in two days Ben Lustgarten (Middlebury) outsprinted Rogan Brown (UVM) for 3^rd place. Silas Talbot took 5^th.

Mangan’s 2^nd place, as well as the string of Darmouth skiers in spots 5 through 8, still left the Big Green just shy of the UVM men in the team score for the race.

Women’s Freestyle podium L-R: Bean, Taylor, Gruber

Men’s Freestyle Podum L-R: Lustgarten, Patterson, Mangan

Overall the new trails at Quarry Road were received enthusiastically by racers, spectators and community members alike. “People in and around Waterville have been looking for a venue like this for a long time and are taking full advantage of it,” said Colby skier Jared Supple.

With top-notch organization, support and motivation, the area seems to have only begun to show its potential.

EISA racing continues next weekend with one of the largest Nordic events in New England, the combined UVM Carnival/Eastern Cup at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT.

FULL RESULTS

Quarry Road Website

Interview with Middlebury’s Ben Lustgarten

January 28, 2013

Tag: Lustgarten

Back from Europe, Championship Skiers Shake Up Results at UVM Carnival

EISA Racing at Quarry Road: Colby Carnival Recap