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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: Rikert

  • Eastern Cup Opener Concludes with Snowy Mass Starts at Rikert

    (Dec. 21 press release)

    On day two of the NENSA Eastern Cup Opener, the courses at Rikert Nordic Center were fast and covered with a dusting of fresh snow. The day was chilly, with temperatures at 25, and flurries throughout the morning and into the afternoon, causing racers to whip out their glasses to see through the snow.

    The Bill Koch League racers got to lead the packs today and they competed in freestyle races, the first of the day. Highlighting the BKL events, and indeed the day, was Olympian and USST member Andy Newell of Stratton t2 handing out the BKL awards. The other racers participated in mass start freestyle races. First, the U16 girls, then the U16 boys competed in a 5-kilometer race, and then there was the 10-kilometer race for the women, and finally, the men, whose race was 15-kilometers, finished off the day.

    Mae Chalmers (14:23) of Stratton Mountain School set the pace for the U16 girls who raced first for the day, with Kirsten Miller (14:27) a close second, and Alia Sanger (14:49) bringing in the bronze.

    The U16 boys were again dominated by Stratton Mountain School, with Russell Boswell (12:22) in first and Adam Witkowski (12:24) in second, and Walker Bean (12:26) from Green Mountain Valley School in third.

    Katharine Ogden (25:43) from Stratton Mountain School again topped the podium for the women, with Erika Flowers (25:48) of the SMS t2 team in second and Jennie Bender (26:18) of NE Nordic finishing in third place.

    Finally, Patrick Caldwell (33:07) of Dartmouth cleared the way for the men’s race, with Gordon Vermeer (34:24) of Craftsbury Nordic and Jack Hegman (34:27) of UVM taking second and third, respectively.

    Although each mass start race tends to be a little hectic, it was definitely rather chaotic for the men’s and women’s races, with pile-ups in both as the racers headed down the first hill.

    Caldwell avoided these tussles, and ended up winning the men’s race by a long shot. “It was really fast skiing out there, the fresh snow didn’t slow it down at all, it was a fun race and a good crowd, and fun to have almost 200 people start at once!”

    “What a great weekend to kick off our 2014-15 EasternCup Series!” said NENSA executive director, Zach Stegeman. “We enjoyed two days of tremendous racing. We had deep an talented fields across the board, and Saturday’s exceptional men’s field boasted impressive points and the unque opportunity for our New England athletes to race with Olympian, Andy Newell. The Rikert Nordic Center crew did an outstanding job preparing the race courses. If you listened to Pete Davis interview Andy Newell this morning, Andy talked about Rikert having some of the best skiing anywhere right now – coming from the World Cup circuit, that is saying something! Frost Mountain Nordic were terrific hosts, putting on an event as sweet as those maple syrup prizes from Sunrise Orchards. All in all, this sets the stage for a great season of racing ahead.”

    Mike Hussey, the director of Rikert Nordic Center did a great job helping to put on the race at Rikert. “The race went great! Thank you Santa Claus for bringing a weekend of great weather and we might have even had a record number of racers for an Eastern Cup Opener, and everything went really smoothly thanks to the Frost Mountain crew, the NENSA crew, and the Rikert crew, and all the volunteers who helped put this on. It was a huge effort, and it was really well done, so thank you all!”

    — Article by: Sophie Hodges

    Links to full results here (scroll down page).

    ***

    (Day 1 press release)

    Rikert Nordic Center & Frost Mountain Nordic Host Successful Opening Day of Eastern Cup Racing

    Rikert Nordic Center and host club, Frost Mountain Nordic pulled out all the stops to put on an amazing race on a pristine day at the Breadloaf campus of Middlebury College. The trails were beautifully groomed, the conditions were impeccable, and the sun decided to show its face as well, making for a lovely day of skiing and a fun time for all.

    The races today started off with a 5-kilometer classic individual start for the U16 boys. Next up were the women, who skied a 5-kilometer classic individual start as well, and finally, the men, who did a 10-kilometer classic individual start. Stratton Mountain School and the SMSt2 Team combined for a Stratton sweep of the top step of the podium to kick off the 2014-15 Eastern Cup campaign.

    Adam Witkowski (14:28) and Russell Boswell (14:31) combined to open the EasternCup season with a one-two punch for Stratton Mountain School, edging third place, Adam Gluek (14:35) from Ford Sayer in the boys U16 race.

    Katherine Ogden (14:55) of Stratton Mountain School set the pace in the Women’s field, with Middlebury’s Heather Mooney (14:59) skiing to second on her home course ahead of Erika Flowers (15:18) of SMSt2.

    In the men’s race, U.S. Ski Team and Stratton t2 Team member Andy Newell (24:44), skied to the top of the podium ahead of Craftsbury Green Racing Project’s Gordon Vermeer (24:57) and David Sinclair (25:04), skiing for Green Mountain Valley School.

    It was a great day for racing, with blue skies, temperatures around 25 degrees, and the sun keeping everybody who was spectating nice and warm. Bill Rogers put it nicely. “How could anyone be disappointed in today, with sunshine all day, beautiful snow for late December skiing, and really first-class competition!”

    There were two racers who joined the ranks from the SMS t2 team, Andy Newell and Erika Flowers. Erika seemed pretty excited to have joined in on the race today. “The course today was pretty awesome, it was fast which made for a quick race, it was pretty speedy out there and sunny, there was definitely some ice around those corners, so you had to ride it on the outside, but it was good practice, and made for a fun day!”

    Ogden, the winner of the women’s 5k classic, had a great race. “My skis were awesome, thanks to and incredible crew of Stratton wax techs and it was just really awesome to ski on the beautiful Rikert trails on a perfect day!”

    Thanks to all the volunteers and race coordinators for a wonderful first day of races!

    — Article by Sophie Hodges

    Link to full results here (scroll down on this page to find results links).

  • 2014-15 NENSA Eastern Cup Series Preview

    (NENSA press release)

    By Sophie Hodges

    We are down to three months away from the next Eastern Cup, NENSA’s signature race series, and it is time to get prepped for all the excitement to come! In case any of you have been keeping up with the Farmer’s Almanac, this year is supposed to be a winter to remember, so lets get excited!

    I personally am very excited for this winter, because we have a new venue, Rikert Nordic Center! For those of you who have not skied there before, I can assure you, it is a wonderful place to ski and a beautiful woodland area, perfect for this year’s Eastern Cup Opener. Rikert is equipped with snow-making guns, and will be properly prepared for the races byDecember 20th. 

    Keith Wilkerson from the Frost Mountain Nordic ski club, co-director of the races with Mike Hussey of Rikert Nordic Center are putting together an exciting weekend of races. Says Keith Wilkerson, ”We’ve partnered with the Better Middlebury Partnership, our local business development group, and the Addison County Chamber of Commerce, to engage the larger community in hosting this event. Middlebury Inn has agreed to be our host hotel and we’re fine tuning the details for a special Saturday evening reception for skiers and fans in town. We’re also really excited about having Eastern Cup racing on Rikert’s homologated course. Our goal is to put on a marquee event.” Looking forward to it, Keith!

    After Rikert’s event, we have weekend number two, at Black Mountain in Rumford Maine! The first day of this weekend, January 17th, is also the Bates College Carnival which looks to be very promising, and according to Becky Woods, “Bates is thrilled to be hosting at Black Mountain and working with the Chisholm Ski Club. The planning is in full swing – it should be a great event. We are excited to have one race day that is a combined Carnival and Eastern Cup!” Thanks Becky, sounds like it’s going to be a great weekend!

    The next in line will be race weekend number three, at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. This is going to be an exciting weekend because on February 6th-8th, Craftsbury is hosting a USSA SuperTour, the Dartmouth Carnival on February 6th and 7th, and the NENSA Eastern Cup on February 7th and 8th. 

    Everything will be super busy, and my advice to you would be to make sure your skis are labeled! Liz Guiney, from the Craftsbury Green Racing Project says that everyone at Craftsbury is “really excited about this event for a few reasons. The first is that the Outdoor Center will be hosting in our new Activity Center, which is spacious and directly on the nordic trails. The skiers will have plenty of room to change, spread out between races, and get warm next to the fireplace. The other exciting aspect of the race weekend is that it is a combination Eastern Cup, carnival, and a USSA SuperTour. This means that the best college racers, juniors, and professional skiers will all be competing together, which will raise the level for everyone involved. It’s going to be a great event and an awesome time to ski at Craftsbury!” Hope to see you all there!

    The final weekend of the Eastern Cup series will be held in both Oak Hill, Hanover, New Hampshire, and the Holderness School, in Holderness New Hampshire. Day one, February 14th, will be held by the folks at Oak Hill, who say, “race committees have met several times and energy is running high! The excellent snow ‘in town’ through the latter half of last year’s xc season left all of us energized about getting outside on skis, and the Eastern Cup is a community-building way of celebrating Nordic skiing and racing.” Day two will be put on by the Holderness School, and it is also the Cheri Walsh Memorial Eastern Cup race. From the race organizers at Holderness: “As always, we hope to use the traditional Cheri Walsh course which we believe showcases fun agile classic skiing in it’s purest form. The best part about hosting the race is that it brings the best skiers in the region to our home club, and allows our ski community to come together and experience ski culture at it’s best. We always hope that a young Bill Koch skier will see the best Eastern Cup skiers and say to themselves, ‘I can do that’.”

    Eastern Cups are open to skiers from all levels, and even draws some of the nation’s finest talent. Katharine Ogden, one of last year’s Gallagher Cup winners says “I am really excited for this new season of racing and can’t wait to race against a new batch of skiers for my fourth year in the Eastern Cup race circuit!”

    Says Patrick O’Brien, also a winner of last year’s Gallagher Cup, “the Eastern Cup circuit is a valuable development tool for skiing in New England because it allows citizen, high school, and senior racers to come together and compete against each other. Skiing is normally a pretty small sport in the US so any time you can get those often separate groups to all compete on the same course you are going to increase participation and make for a higher level competition. A high school freshman can see where they stand agains a World Cup starter or USST member. The Eastern Cup circuit is also critical development path for our junior racers to practice higher level starts before heading to Junior Nationals come March. Having a unified race circuit throughout the winter is one of the reasons New England has historically been one of the strongest regions at Junior Nationals!”

    We are excited to see you all out there, ready to race for the first weekend, December 20th and 21st!

  • EISA Racing Concludes at Middlebury Carnival

    EISA Racing Concludes at Middlebury Carnival

    Ripton, VT

    A weekend of exciting races and great atmosphere encapsulated the 2014 Middlebury Carnival, which doubled as the EISA Regional Championships. The venue and course, familiar to many as the site of last year’s NCAA Championships, did not disappoint. The twists and turns of the Tormondsen Family race course have now seen numerous high-level events, and have not failed to deliver excellent competition.

    This past weekend was no different, with a wild classic race held in rain, sleet and violent wind. A thunderstorm even rolled through the mountains of Ripton after the nordic events, putting a stop to alpine competitions just up the road. Though the conditions created some challenges to organizers and racers alike, the competitions continued to showcase the top talent of the EISA skiers.

    Friday: 5/10km classic

    Klister was the order of the day for most on Friday. A mix of granular snow and wet tracks necessitated solid kick on the long, steady climbs spread across the homologated 5k loop.

    Middlebury's Ben Lustgarten stomps the field with a 50-second victory in the 10km classic
    Middlebury’s Ben Lustgarten stomps the field with a 50-second victory in the 10km classic (Photo: Ian Nesbitt)

    With his final Carnival race at his home course, in his preferred discipline and among his biggest supporters, Middlebury senior Ben Lustgarten did not disappoint the home crowd on Friday. Lustgarten rocketed around the course, putting 25 seconds into the field over the first half of the race before doubling-down on lap two for a 50 second victory over UVM’s Scott Patterson.

    Lustgarten notched a 4th place finish and claimed the honor of top American in the same event and on the same course at last year’s NCAA Championship, and on Friday he again proved his striding and pacing prowess. Lustgarten and Patterson were joined on the podium by UVM’s Jack Hegman, who used a fast second lap to nab the final podium spot just ahead of his Catamount teammate Rogan Brown.

    After posting the 2nd-fastest first lap, UNH skier Eirik Fosnaes faded to 5th place.

    The women’s race saw many familiar faces near the top of the results. Despite being runner-up in what seemed like nearly EISA event, Dartmouth’s Annie Hart was able to finally pick up her first win of the season on Friday, edging UVM’s Linda Danvind-Malm by 6 seconds.

    Hart’s Dartmouth teammate Corey Stock picked up the first podium of her season in third, while UVM’s Anja Gruber had an uncharacteristic off-day on the classic tracks in 4th place.

    Finishing just 5 seconds behind Gruber was Colby freshman phenom Amy Bianco, who skied to the top finish of her young collegiate career thus far with a 5th-place showing.

    Saturday: 15/20km freestyle

    Scott Patterson (L) and Paddy Caldwell sprint to the line on Saturday
    Scott Patterson (L) and Paddy Caldwell sprint to the line on Saturday (Photo: Ian Nesbitt)

    The final event of the EISA season saw shakeups at the top in both the men’s and women’s races, with perhaps one of the most exciting races of the season happening during the men’s competition.

    Halfway through the men’s race, UVM’s skating powerhouse Scott Patterson made what has become a signature move: attempting to gap the field by a wide margin before cruising home alone to victory. Last year several skiers made valiant attempts to stick with the “Patterson break”, most notably Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling. During the 20km freestyle at last year’s Middlebury Carnival, Tarling broke away with Patterson’s initial move, but was unable to keep up and drifted into second place almost a full minute behind.

    This time it was another Dartmouth skier who attempted to latch on to Patterson as he strung-out the field. Paddy Caldwell not only matched Patterson’s initial break, he hung on for the duration and traded leads with the UVM senior throughout the race.

    On the final lap it was Patterson in the lead, with Caldwell waiting to pounce less than a few boot lengths behind.

    Caldwell had executed a tactically excellent race, and he wasn’t about to let it slip away at the line. As the two made their way to the stadium a sprint ensued. With a gap large enough to celebrate with arms raised high, Caldwell celebrated a triumphant victory.

    Patterson may have been dethroned temporarily, but he did not relinquish his freestyle Regional title without a great effort and show: the duel at the front put both Caldwell and Patterson over 40 seconds ahead of third and fourth place, which went to Dartmouth’s Silas Talbot and UVM’s Rogan Brown, respectively. Williams skier Will Wicherski rounded out the top 5 with a fifth place finish.

    The women’s race featured another breakaway, and with it another duel between the top skiers from Dartmouth and UVM.

    L-R: Linda Danvind-Malm, Stephanie Kirk and Anja Gruber sprint for a UVM podium sweep on Saturday (Photo: Ian Nesbitt)
    L-R: Linda Danvind-Malm, Stephanie Kirk and Anja Gruber sprint for a UVM podium sweep on Saturday (Photo: Ian Nesbitt)

    As the race progressed into later laps a leading group of four emerged: UVM teammates Anja Gruber, Linda Danvind-Malm and Stephanie Kirk, along with Dartmouth’s Annie Hart. Behind this lead group was a hard-charging wave of Dartmouth racers composed of Emily Hannah, Carly Wynn, Isabel Caldwell and Corey Stock.

    It looked like the race would be a four-way battle for first until midway up the final long climb of the course. With encouragement from coach Patrick Weaver, the UVM women accelerated in unison and matched strides with increased tempo, immediately dropping Hart and setting themselves up for a podium sweep.

    That inevitable podium sweep was brought home in a sprint finish by Stephanie Kirk, who earned her first EISA victory. Gruber placed second, while Danvind-Malm took home third. All three were ecstatic with the result, which capped a great regular-season campaign  for the UVM women.

    Though the Catamounts swept the podium, the force and depth of Dartmouth was also staggering. Places four through eight all went to Dartmouth skiers, with Hart taking fourth and Corey Stock earning her second top-5 finish of the weekend.

    Results can be found via Bart Timing

    Racing action next moves to the NCAA Championships in Soldier Hollow, Utah

     

     

     

     

  • Johnson Comes Full Circle, Replaces Gardner at Middlebury

    Johnson Comes Full Circle, Replaces Gardner at Middlebury

    Andrew Johnson, a former assistant coach at the University of Vermont and University of Utah, recently accepted the position of head nordic coach at Middlebury College. (Courtesy photo)
    Andrew Johnson, a former assistant coach at the University of Vermont and University of Utah, recently accepted the position of head nordic coach at Middlebury College. (Courtesy photo)

    When you’re a collegiate skier with dreams of making the Olympics, it’s hard to imagine where you’ll end up after your competitive career. But Andrew Johnson thought about it during his three years at Middlebury College and resolved to return to his home state of Vermont.

    It might take some time to get there – a couple years in the US Ski Team’s residency program, five years on the national team itself, two Olympics and two years at the University of Utah – but he’d be back.

    After his third World Championships in 2007, the Greensboro native began assistant coaching at Utah. Johnson spent just over two years at the university and picked up a degree in environmental studies along the way, moving on in September 2010 to assistant coach at the University of Vermont (UVM).

    Back then, that new job was a dream come true for the three-time national champion. Johnson spent the next two-and-a-half years building a career and coaching style in Burlington with UVM head coach Patrick Weaver. Johnson described their approach as similar and simple at the same time, emphasizing team dynamics while creating an environment for any fundamentally solid skier to thrive in.

    Last year, UVM won the NCAA Skiing Championships. Earlier this month at NCAAs at Middlebury’s Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt., the Catamounts challenged the University of Colorado for the team title and ultimately took third behind Colorado and Utah, respectively.

    Andrew Johnson (Courtesy of Middlebury College)
    Andrew Johnson (Middlebury College courtesy photo)

    Fast-forward to Tuesday when Middlebury announced Johnson would be its nordic head coach for the 2013/2014 season. The 35-year-old would have to move about an hour south and leave an institution that helped cultivate his coaching aspirations, but he was back to Middlebury, where he spent three years skiing as a three-time NCAA All-American.

    “I feel pretty lucky,” Johnson said on the phone Thursday. “I spent a bunch of years out West, but I very much consider myself a Vermonter. This is where I want to live. … Even going back to when I skied at Middlebury, I always kind of had in the back of my mind that it would be cool to coach there.”

    Johnson skied for longtime Middlebury coach Terry Aldrich from 1997 to 1999 before relocating to Park City, Utah, to train with the US Ski Team. Meanwhile, Andrew Gardner of Bates College took over for Aldrich in 2006 and served as Middlebury’s head coach for the next seven years.

    At the start of this season, Gardner announced that he’d be leaving the college to start a communications business. It wasn’t an easy decision, Gardner said March 9 on the last day of NCAAs, but he was happy to time it with Rikert hosting the event, which had been in the works for several years.

    “You couldn’t sort of script a better movie ending to a career,” Gardner said after Middlebury, a Division III college, placed 10th in the team standings among D-I schools. On both days of racing, Middlebury junior Ben Lustgarten made the top eight.

    “There’s no manual on how to leave a job like this,” Gardner added. “It’s a siren song every year where you get to spring and you’re like, ‘Oh it’s easy,’ and then you get sucked in.

    Andrew Gardner, head nordic coach at Middlebury College from 2006 to 2013. (Photo: Stella Holt)
    Andrew Gardner, head nordic coach at Middlebury College from 2006 to 2013. (Photo: Stella Holt)

    “I think that happens for a lot of folks,” he continued. “I just know there are other things I want to do and if I don’t do them I won’t get to, so that was kind of the motivation to announce early, that and to give sort of the best possible options for a replacement.”

    That said, Gardner explained he’s not going anywhere and if the new head coach wants him around, he’ll be happy to volunteer while “leaving them enough room,” he said.

    “I’m not moving,” Gardner said. “I’ve got great relationships here so that’s my plan.”

    Johnson, whose last day at UVM was Friday, said he didn’t plan to make any drastic changes once he starts at Middlebury on May 1. He’ll initially get to know the team and said it was important to have consistency in longtime assistant coach Patty Ross.

    “I don’t think there’s anything easy about a coaching change,” Johnson said. “It’s something that needs to be treated kind of gingerly and come in and be sensitive and respectful of how things have been done in the past and not make too many changes right off the bat.”

    He said it was “hard to walk away from a good thing” at UVM, but the university understood the move. He was going back to Middlebury at an exciting time after the college invested in massive facility upgrades, like Rikert. His position would entail a different focus than that of D-I universities with distinct NCAA goals, but Johnson said his coaching wouldn’t change.

    “To me, you’re given a group of athletes … and your task is to help them achieve their goals,” he said. “I don’t think at the root of it that it changes things or changes my approaches or makes my coaching any different.”

    Also on the U.S. Olympic Committee Athletes’ Advisory Council, Johnson was recently elected to a second four-year term. This time around, he’s in the leadership group with five others who help direct the council. Fortunately, that means he gets more of a say with scheduling meetings — usually four or five a year — around his new full-time position.

    “[I] signed up for a bunch of projects a couple months ago thinking I’d have some down time,” he said with a laugh. “Right now I’m hoping to run a couple election processes. This week, it’s probably 15 hours of work, but that’s very high-end for me. … It’s all volunteer.”

  • Photo Gallery: NCAA Championships 15/20 k Mass Starts

    RIPTON, Vt. — It didn’t get much better than Saturday, with sunny skies and spring-like conditions for the last day of the NCAA Skiing Championships at Rikert Nordic Center.

    Colorado University (CU) senior Joanne Reid dropped the women’s field in the 10-kilometer freestyle mass start and teammate Eliska Hajkova hung on for silver, lifting the Buffs ahead of the University of Vermont (UVM) in the team standings.

    In the men’s 20 k freestyle race, the University of Utah took center stage with senior Miles Havlick defending his 2012 NCAA Championships mass-start title. Rune Ødegård placed second to help CU finish on top for its 18th national title, and another Norwegian, Einar Ulsund, finished third for Utah to bump the team to second overall.

    Women’s recap | results

    Men’s recap | results

    For more photos from the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships, visit Flying Point Road Photography. All proceeds go to the National Nordic Foundation (NNF).

  • Havlick Repeats as NCAA Champion, Leads Utah to Silver: ‘It’s Just Perfect’

    University of Utah senior Miles Havlick celebrates his second NCAA title in the 20 k mass start, 0.6 seconds ahead of Colorado's Rune Ødegård (l) in second and Utah teammate Einar Ulsund (r) in third on Saturday at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com. All photo sales benefit NNF)
    University of Utah senior Miles Havlick celebrates his second NCAA title in the 20 k mass start, 0.6 seconds ahead of Colorado’s Rune Ødegård (l) in second and Utah teammate Einar Ulsund (r) in third on Saturday at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com/All photo sales benefit NNF)

    RIPTON, Vt. – Standing with a microphone in hand shortly after winning Saturday’s 20-kilometer freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships, Miles Havlick smiled as he fielded playful questions from the announcer.

    Friends, fans and impressed spectators surrounded him at the Rikert Nordic Center, and as soon as he was done thanking the crowd and his University of Utah teammates, Havlick was bombarded with hugs.

    Miles Havlick (r), the 2013 NCAA 20 k freestyle mass start champion, during a post-race interview with the NCAA announcer on Saturday at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt.
    Miles Havlick (r), the 2013 NCAA 20 k freestyle mass start champion, during a post-race interview with the NCAA announcer on Saturday at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt.

    With watery eyes, the two-time NCAA Champion was either emotional or simply tanked after four laps around Rikert’s deceivingly hard 5 k course – probably a little of both.

    The senior had just defended his 2012 national title in the 20-kilometer mass start, this time in a skate race. Skiing up into the stadium with six others less than half a kilometer before the finish, Havlick rose from a possible podium contender to a repeat champion, passing Dartmouth College’s Sam Tarling and catching Rune Ødegård of the University of Colorado, who won Thursday’s 10 k classic individual start.

    In edging Ødegård by six-tenths of a second in 50:13.4, Havlick led a trio of Utes in the top five. With Norwegian teammate Einar Ulsund in third (+1.0) and Swede Niklas Persson in fifth (+3.1), Utah captured second in the final team standings (43 points behind NCAA champion the University of Colorado) and bumped the University of Vermont (UVM) to third.

    “It’s hard to do it again,” Havlick said of his second-straight NCAA mass-start title. “Just an awesome team this fall, all new guys. I was the only one returning and you never know what to expect, but it was an unbelievable senior year.”

    At breakfast Saturday morning, he said they talked about goals – three in the top five – which they knew would be hard, but wanted to strive for nonetheless. Havlick set the tone early, leading Viktor Brännmark of the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) and Tarling through the first downhill. Tarling took the lead up the toughest climb on the loop, while Brännmark, Dartmouth teammate Silas Talbot, Ulsund and Havlick stuck near the front of the large pack.

    Ødegård pushed the pace on the second lap while Ulsund, Brännmark, Tarling and Middlebury’s Ben Lustgarten chased, along with some 20 others. The group remained some 25 strong through the third lap, in which David Norris (Montana State University) made a move to the front. Halfway through the last time around, it dwindled to seven (with Ulsund, Soderman, Tarling, Ødegård, Talbot, Persson, and Lustgarten).

    Utah senior Miles Havlick on his way to winning Saturday's 20 k freestyle mass start for his second-straight NCAA Championships title. Havlick topped Colorado University sophomore Rune Odegard by 0.6 seconds for the victory at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com. All photo sales benefit NNF)
    Utah senior Miles Havlick on his way to winning Saturday’s 20 k freestyle mass start for his second-straight NCAA Championships title. Havlick topped University of Colorado sophomore Rune Ødegård by 0.6 seconds for the victory at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    Havlick had lost contact, but regained it on the final climbs. Following Tarling up the last ascent into the field before the finish, Havlick watched as Ødegård charged to the front. He responded, outsprinting the Norwegian in the final straightaway.

    “It was deafening skiing up that hill,” Havlick said of the crowd near the finish. “Ears just ringing really takes the pain away.

    “It’s unbelievable today,” he added. “You never know what’s gonna happen in a mass start. It’s just perfect.”

    Sharing the podium with his teammates after with their second-place showing, Utah’s skiing director Kevin Sweeney handed Havlick the large trophy to hoist over his head for photos.

    “This championship is one of the most, I would say, competitive that I’ve experienced and I’ve been collegiate coaching for a long time,” Sweeney said. “So for this to finish up the way it did, it’s a true highlight of my career and such a great group of guys. Everybody skied where they needed to. I’m ecstatic.”

    Even though CU and UVM were the favorites battling it out for first, Sweeney knew his skiers could get into the mix. He just wasn’t sure where they’d stack up against strong teams, including Dartmouth, he said.

    “You know they’re gonna be in it, just exactly where,” Sweeney said. “I was very happy to see the race unfold and see our three guys basically in the top 10. I felt good about that.”

    Last year’s 10 k freestyle individual start champion, Soderman placed fourth (+2.6). Mats Resaland of the University of New Mexico was fifth (+2.8), Tarling seventh (+5.2) and Lustgarten notched his second top 10 of the week in eighth (he was fourth on Thursday). Talbot placed ninth and Kyle Bratrud of Northern Michigan University was 10th.

    “It was a hard race because we were like 20 people pretty much the whole race,” Persson said. “You didn’t really know if you were skiing fast enough, if you were gonna end up top five or top 20, you never know.”

    According to Ulsund, the Utes were out for redemption after Thursday’s race, in which Havlick led the team in sixth, Ulsund was 13th and Persson was 15th.

    “We just decided that this should be our day,” Ulsund said.

    Anticipating an attack from UVM’s Scott Patterson, undefeated in eastern carnival freestyle races this season, Ulsund said it never came (Patterson ended up 26th). Meanwhile, the pace stayed mostly consistent in soft conditions on a 40-degree afternoon.

    “Usually we try to switch the lead, but today our tactic was mostly to stay in the pack and do something on the last lap,” Ulsund explained. “I’m a pretty slow sprinter so I was really worried, like, what’s going to happen now? Thankfully, the others were tired and the first three got the gap and that’s what set my podium spot today.”

    Just about as thrilled with his personal and team performance, CU sophomore Ødegård said the Buffs went into the 20 k thinking they were down to UVM. In reality, they were up by 16 points after Joanne Reid and Eliska Hajkova took first and second, respectively, in the preceding women’s 15 k.

    “We went into today chasing and that’s where we want to be,” he said. “When I saw during the race there were no Vermont skiers up in the lead, I knew we had the team victory. It was just awesome to ski around and do whatever I could to finish.”

    As for doing achieving the highest collegiate honors with his American team, Ødegård said, “We have an amazing group. Everyone’s enjoying being together. This week staying at the peaceful hotel, really team bonding all week, everyone had a good time I think and that’s most important.”

    2013 NCAA men's 20 k freestyle mass start podium (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    2013 NCAA men’s 20 k freestyle mass start podium. From left to right: Sam Tarling (Dartmouth/7th), Mats Resaland (UNM/6th), Erik Soderman (NMU/4th), Einar Ulsund (Utah/3rd), Miles Havlick (Utah/1st), Rune Odegaard (CU/2nd), Niklas Persson (Utah/5th), Ben Lustgarten (Middlebury/8th). (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    Men’s results | Team results | Photos

    See also: Reid, Hajkova Land Top Two to Lift CU to NCAA Title

    For more photos from the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships, visit Flying Point Road Photography. All proceeds go to the National Nordic Foundation (NNF).

  • Reid, Hajkova Land Top Two to Lift CU to NCAA Title

    Colorado University, the 2013 NCAA skiing champions. (Photo: Steve Fuller/Flying Point Road. All photo sales benefit NNF)
    Women’s 15 k freestyle mass start winner, Joanne Reid holds up the University of Colorado’s first-place trophy at the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships on Saturday at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt.. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com/All photo sales benefit NNF.)

    RIPTON, Vt. – Joanne Reid knows exactly what it takes to win. The University of Colorado senior has been no stranger to the podium in her four years at Boulder, placing third as a sophomore at the 2011 NCAA Skiing Championships.

    But this season was an exception. In 10 total Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) races, Reid won eight of them. Her unrivaled dominance made the 20-year-old from Palo Alto, Calif., the clear-cut RMISA MVP.

    The question was: how would she fare against eastern-collegiate skiers on what was essentially their home turf at Rikert Nordic Center in Vermont? On Thursday, in the first of the two-day nordic NCAA Championships, Reid placed fourth in the women’s 5 k classic individual start. It was the first time she hadn’t made the top two all season.

    Saturday was a different story. With teammate Eliska Hajkova, Reid was confident they could get out front in the 15-kilometer freestyle mass start and stay there. Just as they’d done all season (including when they swept the podium with teammate Maria Nordstrom at regionals), they planned to feed off each other to achieve what they both wanted: the podium.

    Joanne Reid leads her Colorado University teammates, Eliska Hajkova (4) and Maria Nordstrom (9) early in Saturday's 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Reid won by nearly 27 seconds and Hajkova was second. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com. All photo sales benefit NNF)
    Joanne Reid leads her Colorado University teammates, Eliska Hajkova (4) and Maria Nordstrom (9) early in Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships. Reid won by nearly 27 seconds and Hajkova was second. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    The CU seniors led from the start: Reid in a blue headband, Hajkova in a pink one. The way they were skiing, that was one of a few ways you could tell them apart.

    Changing leads throughout the first and second laps, Reid took charge for good on the third and final loop around a twisty, turning and technical 5 k course. Hajkova remembers her dropping the pack – with Marine Dusser of the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) and Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth College) – on the third of several hills.

    “She kind of went and we couldn’t follow,” said Hajkova, who hails from the Czech Republic. “We were, like, falling apart.”

    About a half kilometer from the finish, Reid entered Rikert’s spectator-packed stadium in first without any contenders in sight. She cruised around the field’s final curve more than 30 seconds ahead, grabbed a CU flag a few hundred meters before the finish, and carved some turns while making her way across the line.

    Reid finished in 38:17.8 for her first NCAA title, 26.8 seconds ahead of Hajkova, who outlunged Dusser for second. The RMISA MVP runner-up, Dusser placed third for the second-straight race at NCAAs, 0.4 seconds behind Hajkova.

    Colorado University’s top-two sweep put the Buffs in prime position against the University of Vermont (UVM) for the combined alpine-nordic NCAA team title. Trailing by 54 points to start the day, CU overtook UVM by 16 points after the women’s race.

    Thanks to some solid men’s performances in the following 20 k, CU rolled to a 43-point victory over the University of Utah (which put three men in the top five) and topped UVM by 56 points. Last year, UVM edged CU for the team win, but in 2011, CU took it.

    “Our girls were not such a surprise because they were consistent and forming all season,” said CU head coach Richard Rokos, who’s in charge of both the university’s alpine and nordic programs. “I was a little surprised that UVM didn’t put a little more resistance on us.”

    Joanne Reid (Colorado University) after winning Saturday's 15 k skate mass start for her first NCAA title at the 2013 championships in Ripton, Vt.
    Joanne Reid (University of Colorado) with her mom Beth after winning Saturday’s 15 k skate mass start for her first NCAA title at the 2013 championships in Ripton, Vt. Beth Heidin won a NCAA nordic title at the 1983 championships. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com)

    With Reid, it was somewhat of a blast from the past. Her mother Beth Heiden skied for UVM and won the 1983 NCAA Nordic Championships. Before that, she was the all-around world speed skating champion in 1979, the 1980 world road cycling champ and a bronze-medalist speed skater at the 1980 Olympics.

    “I saw her at the finish line and it was great,” Reid told BuffZone.com. “It’s cool that we have both now won NCAA individual titles … Every time I go skiing with her, they just list all her awards so now I have one that she has. I just need a few more world championships in other sports now to catch up.”

    Reid’s uncle, Eric Heiden, won five gold medals at the 1980 Olympics, and set four Olympic records and a world best there. According to the CU website, he was the only athlete in the history of speed skating to have swept five events in a single Olympics.

    Colorado University seniors Joanne Reid (l) and Eliska Hajkova celebrate placing first and second, respectively, in Saturday's 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    University of Colorado-Boulder seniors Joanne Reid (l) and Eliska Hajkova celebrate placing first and second, respectively, in Saturday’s 15 k freestyle mass start at the 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    On Saturday, Reid put down a commanding performance of her own and said she couldn’t have done without her teammate.

    “It’s always better if I can have this one right next to me,” she said of Hajkova. “That’s what makes it really complete.”

    After a somewhat relaxed first lap, the CU women led a group of four the last two loops with Dusser and O’Connell, who placed fourth.

    “I was more comfortable in front and I just kept skiing how I felt,” Reid said. “I guess I ended up in front.”

    Hajkova said they had “great skis,” which Dusser noticed early on. The former French national-team biathlete wasn’t having as much luck with hers.

    “I tried to keep my energy and stay behind Eliska,” Dusser said. “But she was a better sprinter. I was tired at the end so she beat me by not a lot, but that’s a race.”

    A 2011 NCAA champion in the 15 k classic, Hajkova said placing second to Reid was about as much as she could’ve asked for after struggling to get healthy since last fall.

    “I couldn’t dream for more,” Hajkova said. “If I had been second to somebody else, and Joanne didn’t win, it would be a little bit sad, but this, I’m just on top of my happiness.”

    Dusser, too, was thrilled with another podium in her first NCAA Championships. Unsure what her plans are next year, she’s hoping to ski another year at UAA, but said it depends whether she can get another scholarship.

    “I would like to stay in Alaska,” Dusser said. “It was out too quick with biathlon and I don’t regret. I really like nordic skiing; I really like the spirit of NCAA race. It’s a lot of fun and people are really nice and I like my team.”

    Thursday’s runner-up, O’Connell finished 33.3 seconds behind Dusser (1:00.5 after Reid). Silje Benum of Denver University was fifth (+1:03.2) and the University of New Hampshire’s Anya Caldwell Bean was another 5.4 seconds back in sixth.

    “Top ten I thought it would be awesome,” Bean said. “But I didn’t really know what to expect.”

    She avoided several crashes, but top contenders like Elizabeth Guiney (UNH), Anja Gruber (UVM) and Annie Pokorny (Middlebury College) did not. Guiney placed 16th, Gruber ended up 21st and Pokorny did not finish after falling on a downhill less than two kilometers into the first lap.

    After hitting a tree in Thursday’s 5 k and knocking her hips out of alignment, Pokorny wasn’t sure she would be able to compete Saturday. Finally able to bend at the waist again that morning, she decided she could.

    “It would’ve been fine if I stayed on my feet,” Pokorny said while watching the men’s 20 k on crutches.

    She completed the first lap, but ultimately did not finish. After an initial look at her injury, Pokorny believed she had bruised her femur.

    Women's 15 k freestyle mass start podium at 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    Women’s 15 k freestyle mass start podium at 2013 NCAA Championships at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Vt. From left to right: Annie Hart (Dartmouth/8th), Anya Caldwell Bean (UNH/6th), Mary O’Connell (Dartmouth/4th), Marine Dusser (UAA/3rd), Joanne Reid (CU/1st), Eliska Hajkova (CU/2nd), Silje Benum (DU/5th), Rosie Frankowski (NMU/7th). (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    As for the rest of the field, Rosie Frankowski of Northern Michigan University placed seventh, Dartmouth’s Annie Hart was eighth, Utah’s Rose Kemp (who also fell) was ninth, and Denver’s Makayla Cappel finished 10th.

    At the end of the day, the happiest coach had to be Rokos. He said getting his alpine and nordic teams to combine for a national title was tricky, especially because of the nature of downhill racing.

    “On the nordic side, it’s a race to go and ski your best and race fast,” Rokos said. “In alpine, all year long we go pretty much the same until NCAA Championship and then we put them in a dilemma, ski fast but finish, and there is no compromise between those things.”

    He told his alpine squad they had to finish and was proud of those athletes for using such discipline. And while UVM beat CU on the downhill runs at Middlebury College’s Snow Bowl, the Buffs made up for it at Rikert.

    “Every single person on the team made a great contribution,” Rokos said of Colorado’s 18th NCAA victory, his seventh with the team since 1991.  “It’s teamwork and it came that way.”

    He also credited the team’s success to head nordic coach, Bruce Cranmer, in his 13th season with the Buffs.

    “Both Eliska and Joanna are in their last year; they were maturing athletically throughout all their career with CU and they have a great coach,” Rokos said. “[He] did a great deal of work with them and it paid off.”

    Women’s results

    2013 NCAA 15 k champion Joanne Reid waves a Colorado University flag after helping her team to a national title. (Photo: Steve Fuller/flyingpointroad.com)
    2013 NCAA 15 k champion Joanne Reid waves a Colorado University flag after helping her team to a national title. (Photo: Flyingpointroad.com)

    For more photos from the 2013 NCAA Skiing Championships, visit Flying Point Road Photography. All proceeds go to the National Nordic Foundation (NNF).

  • EISA Racing at the NCAA Venue: Middlebury Carnival Recap

    EISA Racing at the NCAA Venue: Middlebury Carnival Recap

    In a few weeks the Nordic races of the 2013 NCAA Championships will be held on recently-upgraded courses at the Rikert Touring Center in Ripton, Vermont. The site is home to the Middlebury Ski Team, whose Breadloaf Campus hosted this weekend’s EISA racing.

    Competitors got a chance to test out the new 5k course, which features complete snow-making infrastructure, wide  lanes and tricky corners. The snow-making system proved a worthwhile investment for Rikert this week; only a few miles down the valley, in the village of Middlebury, bright sun and warm temperatures had left the ground mostly bare.

    Snowmaking equipment at Rikert
    Snowmaking equipment at Rikert

    Friday: 5/10k Classic

    As the warming trend continued up at the race venue, teams had their work cut out for them to produce skis for Friday’s classic race that could provide both kick and glide. The course contained bits of everything, and was rapidly changing. Conditions were mostly ice and older snow with a layer of dry powder on top: you likely needed klister to get kick, but if you stepped out of the tracks you were going to be running for the rest of the race. As the course was skied in and temperatures warmed, the loose snow in the tracks became packed down and ‘zero’ skis were getting slick.

    In the end there was a mix of both skis during the races, with benefits and drawbacks to be had from each. Nobody would have perfect skis, but as always the fastest racer would win the day.

    For the women’s race that meant another trip to the top of the podium for Middlebury’s Annie Pokorny, giving the home team an individual win on the day. Though she has been strong regionally, nationally and even internationally in freestyle events this season, this was Pokorny’s first classic technique win.

    Annie Pokorny took the top spot in Friday's 5k classic (photo: Cory Ransom)
    Annie Pokorny took the top spot in Friday’s 5k classic (photo: Cory Ransom)

    Following Pokorny on Friday was Catherine Auclair of Universite Laval. The Canadian school has been making appearances at EISA races for a while now, and are welcomed to the league by all. Though the school is technically not an NCAA institution (and therefore their racers do not count for NCAA rankings, nor is the school allowed to compete at Regional Championships next weekend), Laval has proven itself a strong and competitive team within the region.

    The final podium spot on Friday went to UVM’s Anja Gruber, who has thus far claimed a podium in every classic technique race of the season. With the final classic race next weekend in the same format and distance, Gruber is poised for an incredibly consistent season of stride-and-glide.

    The tricky conditions continued for the men’s race. The tough waxing meant many skiers were spending more time double-poling than they would’ve liked, which is usually not something to be happy about.

    Unless, of course, you are Sam Tarling.

    The Dartmouth senior has proven his strength time and again, such as last year when he chose to go on skate skis during the UNH classic sprint. The course featured a climb to steep that many ruled out double-poling immediately, but Tarling took second in the qualifier there and went on to win the event.

    Tarling’s grit, size and power proved a winning combination on Friday as well. Though he had the 3rd-fastest first lap (UVM’s Scott Patterson led), Tarling took over the lead by the end of the 2nd lap to win by just over 7 seconds. After a rough start, Tarling wasn’t sure how his race would fare.

    “I’m very surprised,” Tarling remarked of his win, “but I’m psyched!”

    Joining Tarling on the podium was Teammate Silas Talbot, who also moved up the rankings from 4th on the initial lap to take the runner-up spot.

    Though he faded a bit over the second half of the race, UVM’s Scott Patterson was able to hang on for 3rd place. Though he is clearly skating on another level this season, Patterson has proven himself to be a threat for the win in either discipline. You could bet he was looking forward to Saturday.

    Saturday: 15/20k Freestyle

    At this point in the season, you know what to expect from Scott Patterson heading into a skate race. The UVM skier has kept his strategy relatively similar for every freestyle event, mass start of otherwise: go out ahead and pile time on everyone else.

    Patterson was gracious enough to let a few others ski with him for the first lap of the men’s 20k mass start Saturday, but soon decided he’d go out for a solo cruise. As Patterson did what he does best, it was a futile fight to keep contact.

    Scott Patterson breaks away from the field at around 6 kilometers. Sam Tarling gives chase
    Scott Patterson breaks away from the field at around 6 kilometers. Sam Tarling gives chase

    Dartmouth’s Sam Tarling and David Sinclair gave chase most aggressively, though after about a lap Sinclair found himself drifting back to a chase pack the eventually held spots 3 through 7.

    Tarling, however, was able to stay within sight of Patterson for a bit longer. Though skiing alone at the front doesn’t seem to phase Patterson this year, it seemed Tarling began to feel the effects. Eventually, Patterson didn’t even need to look back to check on Tarling, though his UVM coaches Pat Weaver and Andrew Johnson continued to provide him with info about his distance and time gaps on the field.

    Whether through fatigue or simply the grim realization that he would not close on Patterson, Tarling began to let the distance between the two grow.

    The race for 1st and 2nd was anticlimactic, but the sprint to the line for 3rd place was more dramatic. Showing a strong return to form, Williams skier Will Wicherski led the chase pack for much of the race. Coming into the final hill, however, it was Middlebury’s Ben Lustgarten and Dartmouth’s Scott Lacy sprinting for the last podium spot. In a lunge 3rd place went to Lacy, as Dartmouth put 2 men on the podium for the second consecutive day.

    The women’s race saw an early break as well, though not by a usual suspect.

    Darmouth’s Mary O’Connell, who had never won an EISA race before, found herself at the front of the pack during the women’s 15k mass start. As O’Connell broke further and further away, it was UVM’s Anja Gruber and Linda Danvind-Malm who gave chase.

    Anja Gruber takes over the lead of Mary O'Connell during the start of lap. O'Connell would eventually retake and hold the lead
    Anja Gruber takes over the lead of Mary O’Connell during the start of lap. O’Connell would eventually retake and hold the lead

    Dandvind-Malm drifted back slightly, but Gruber closed the gap on O’Connell and took over the lead at the 5k mark. The effort to fight back up to the front of the race caught up with the Catamount, however, as O’C0nnell broke away again and skied to the line uncontested for her first victory. Gruber and Dandvind-Malm held onto 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.

    Fourth place went to Annie Hart of Dartmouth, who skied a good portion of the race with a group of skiers from the Pierre Harvey Training Center based out of Mont St. Anne, Quebec. The Training Center and National Team suits of Canada were quite prevalent in both races, as skiers from up north joined the EISA racing for a weekend.

    The final weekend of regular-season EISA racing occurs at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine next week, as skiers fight for their places at NCAA Championships.

    RESULTS

    BreadLoaf Sign

  • Rikert Nordic Center Women’s Day Canceled

    Press release

    RIPTON, Vt. (Feb. 1, 2012) Due to marginal snow conditions, Women’s Ski Day at Rikert Nordic Center will not be held on Sunday, Feb. 5, as planned.

    “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get the weather to cooperate. Since this was the first Women’s Ski Day at Rikert, we wanted conditions to be ideal. Especially with another warm up in the forecast, it seemed the best option was to look ahead to next season and plan for a fabulous event in 2013,” said Petty Lyons, event organizer at Rikert Nordic Center. “We were so excited to have so many terrific sponsors for this first annual event and wish to thank them for their support.”

    Hosted in partnership with the New England Nordic Ski Association, Women’s Ski Day is a satellite event to a popular regional event, held this winter in Maine, now in its eleventh year. The Vermont event was to feature coaching in ski technique from top instructors, along with waxing clinics and a yoga workshop. Proceeds from the event were to benefit the Stride Foundation, a local non-profit devoted to empowering girls and women through mentoring and sports.

    For more information contact Rikert Nordic Center at 802-443-2744.

    Lead sponsors include: Middlebury Inn, Waterfalls Day Spa, Ski Rack, Middlebury Mountaineer, TD Bank, Rikert Nordic Center, Toko, Otter Creek Yoga.

    About Stride: Stride: The Wright Foundation for Female Athletes was founded in 2001 to provide opportunities for girls and women through sports mentoring programs. The foundation’s mentoring programs – Snow Stars Nordic, Snow Stars Alpine and Sisters in Sport – strive to enrich the lives of girls and women. Stride believes that sports can make a difference in the lives of girls and women. The lessons of team work, discipline and winning and losing are ones that female athletes carry off the playing field and past the finish line. Participation in sports should not be segregated along racial or socio-economic lines. Stride’s programs aim to eliminate these barriers and provide valuable life lessons. Stride is a 501(c ) 3 non-profit based in Ferrisburg, Vt. For more information visit www.stridefoundation.org