Tag: Tarling

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

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)

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

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

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

February 18, 2013
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
Johnson, Caldwell, and Patterson top weekend’s combined EC/EISA races

Patrick Johson (MID) crushes the 10k skate; behind him, Jordan Buetow (Bates) races to sixth.

The third weekend of EISA qualifiers were combined with NENSA’s TD Bank Eastern Cup races and held at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont.

The collegiate competitors topped the combined field on each day of individual start races, with only three Eastern Cup competitors cracking into the top ten.

The podium saw no new faces this weekend, as Middlebury’s Patrick Johnson took both men’s races, Dartmouth’s Sophie Caldwell won the 5k classic race, and UVM’s Caitlin Patterson topped the 10k skate.

In the J2 race, Julie Kern (CSU) and Cullen Brown (Durango, CO Nordic) won their respective events on both days of racing.

Stadium at Trapps Family Lodge in Stowe, VT

An overnight snowfall Friday evening added to an already solid base on the homologized race trails at Trapps and light flakes continued into the morning, clearing for the first day’s races and remaining open to sunshine for the weekend’s events. Typical of Trapps, early morning stillness turned to subsequent gusts throughout each day, which kept the air and snow feeling cooler than the reported mid-twenties temps.

Saturday’s classic track set up solid overnight for the women’s mid-morning 5k. Some of the late morning racers were not so lucky; the sun ‘s effect appeared just prior to the start of the men’s race and left many racers with slick skis.

Sophie Caldwell is cheered through the stadium by father Sverre Caldwell

Annie Hart (DAR)

After a double victory last weekend in Jackson Sophie Caldwell continued her winning streak by topping the women’s field with a time of 15:48. Her closest competitor and main rival, Caitlin Patterson, finished second by 7.4 seconds, a time which was only .7 seconds ahead of third place finisher Annie Hart (DAR).

UVM then paved the next three positions, as Amy Glen, Anja Gruber and Lucy Garrec took fourth through sixth respectively. Clare Egan of the Green Racing Project took seventh. Erika Flowers (DAR) earned 8th place while Annie Pokorny (MID) took 9th. UNH’s Tristan Ramey and Elizabeth Guiney took 10^th and 11^th.

The 10k race was also an individual start, but the times for the top three men told a story of an embattled sprint finish. Johnson was in a heated race around the two-lap course with Sam Tarling of Dartmouth and Franz Bernstein of UVM. It took the three men just over 28 minutes to cross the line within 2 seconds of each other. Tarling clocked in a mere .3 seconds behind Johnson, Bernstein’s time a slight addition of 2.3 seconds.

Dartmouth’s Eric Packer and Gordon Vermeer took fourth and fifth places, Fritz Horst (UVM) took 6^th, Justin Freeman (racing for Holderness Nordic and the only non-collegiate racer in the top-ten) took 7^th, Per Lindgren (UNH) was 8^th, Ben Lustgarten (MID) was 9^th, Dylan Grald (UVM) placed 10^th, and Erik Lindgren (UNH) finished 11^th.

Franz Bernstein (UVM)

Sunday’s skate races were both 10k events.

Caitlin Patterson (UVM) photo: Lincoln Benedict

In the women’s race Caitlin Patterson took back the top spot from Sophie Caldwell, clocking a time of 28:16. Caldwell finished in a time of 28:27, and the next four places finished within 15 seconds. In third was Caldwell’s teammate Erika Flowers, who sprawled across the line in sheer exhaustion. Fourth place went to Clare Egan, the only top woman outside the collegiate field. Fifth and sixth went to UVM’s Lucy Garrec and Amy Glen.

The times in the men’s race were just as tightly contested – except for the top spot. Patrick Johnson did not just win the men’s skate, he tore apart the field. Second through 10^th place was spread by only 28 seconds, but Johnson managed to gap the entire field by 42 seconds in an event which took just over 24 minutes.

In second place was Sam Tarling of Dartmouth, while third and fourth went to UVM’s Franz Bernstein and Alex Howe. Mathieu Fortin of Lavall University (Quebec) took fifth, just one second over sixth place Jordan Beutow of Bates. Patrick Caldwell, a J1 racer from Stratton Mountain took an impressive 7^th place in the midst of an experienced field. Eric Packer of Dartmouth placed 8^th, and 9^th place held a tie between Ben Lustgarten (MID) and Justin Freeman (Holderness).

Sam Tarling (DAR) and Ben Lustgarten (MID)

Dartmouth won the team scores for both classic races and the men’s skate race, while UVM took the women’s skate race. Dartmouth won the overall combined team score, adding up 916 points to UVM’s 735. Middlebury was third with 729.

Collegiate Results

Eastern Cup and Combined Results

February 6, 2012