Midd Carnival

Last weekend marked the final Carnival of the year, also serving as the Eastern Regional Championships. Due to some unpredictable weather last week, the racing was postponed to Saturday and Sunday. On Friday morning we headed over to Middlebury, stopping to ski at Rikert before settling in.
On Friday night, we had our banquet, and everyone was looking pretty classy due to the "business casual" dress code. The Academic All-Americans were announced, with a strong crew from Bates Nordic represented. Nat, Abby, Cooper, Smeltzer, Corey, and Lucas all garnered the honors.
Saturday saw the 10/5 km Classic races. The weather conditions were all over the place, and most of our team ended up going on zeroes. They weren' t awesome, but they were the most consistent and predictable. Ultimately, it was a very good day. Beth posted a career-best finish with 9th place on the day, which was awesome to see. Nat continued her strong season with 13th. Kir rounded out the scoring in 23rd. Behind those three, the women skied to a 4th place finish on the day. On the men's side, Senior Cooper lead the way with 17th, besting his 20th place from last weekend's classic race. Captain Harry had a solid race to end up in 27th, and Lucas was our third scorer in 35th.

The Start of the Women's Race (Lincoln Benedict Photo)
On Sunday, the weather was warm and the early tracks were fast. The 15 km Women's race started things off. Nat and Beth once again lead the way, finishing in 13th and 14th. Captain Abby had a strong finish to her collegiate career with 24th, fighting the entire race. Gretch and Megan rounded out the team, in 29th and 38th. For the men's team, Lucas lead the way. He picked up spots through the entire race, and finished a career-best 14th place. Cooper wasn't far behind in 16th. Harry had a solid outing, ending up in 33rd. Danny and Corey ended up in 53rd and 55th. It was a solid end to the Carnival season this year. Congrats to our team for a great season. Nat will be heading out to Steamboat to represent Bates at NCAA Championships, hosted by Colorado-Boulder. She is joined by two men from the Alpine Team in forming the Bates contingent.
This weekend was the last collegiate racing action for Abby, Harry, Cooper, and Smeltzer. They have all given so much to this program over the last four years, and they will certainly be missed when they graduate in May. A special thanks to Captains Abby and Harry for all their hard work this year.