Chummy Broomhall Cup

Natalie out in front early

This past week we've had great skiing at both Lost Valley and Pineland. We were able to get a few good sessions in at each, including some fun downhill practice at Lost Valley. Yesterday, we headed up to Rumford for the annual Chummy Broomhall Cup, the Maine State Collegiate Championships. This year's events were two 10 km mass start classic races. The women went off first at 11 AM. Natalie took the lead from the start and never relinquished it, bringing home the individual State crown. Kirsten had yet another strong race and came in 2nd. Andrea had a great race and ended up sixth, with Megan also in the top ten with an 8th place. As a team, the girls came in first by ten points.
The men's race went off at noon, with the same format. The guys didn't have their strongest outing, with Jordan leading the way with a 10th place finish. Jimmy was close behind in 11th, and Pete rounded out the scoring in 14th. Alex also snuck into the top-15.
Here are some pics from the day....

Megan and Andrea

Caroline in a pack

Sam

1st...

2nd

Start of the men's race

Filly

Lucas is back to racing

Chummy...

Thanks to all our supporters who came out to cheer and provide food for our athletes!!

Colby Carnival

Apologies for this post being a little past due. This past weekend we had a solid couple of days up at the new Bond Brook Trails up in Augusta. It was nice to be able to stay on campus for this Carnival, especially after the long travel to Lake Placid the weekend before. The trails are designed by John Morton, and were fun to ski, though we ended up skiing on a shorter loop due to the "half-pipe" on course.
The races on Friday ended up being changed to 10 km individual start for both men and women. Weather conditions were a little rough, with heavy snow falling all day. The men kicked things off with Jordan and Alex once again leading the way, finishing in 33rd and 42nd, respectively. Pete was our next scorer, ending up in 50th. By the time the women went, the tracks were a little hard to see, but they battled through. Nat led the way with a 6th-place finish, her second top-ten of the season. Kir and Beth were our next two scorers, coming across in 20th and 22nd. The three scores were good enough for 4th.
On Saturday, we had our first relays of the season. The women kicked things off in the morning, with Kir skiing a phenomenal scramble leg, tagging off in 2nd place. Beth skied great and kept the pace keeping the women in 4th. Megan anchored the team, bringing the women home in 4th on the day. The men's team was comprised of three first-years, and they were pretty fired up to ski in their first college relays. Jordan scrambled (another great effort) and tagged off in 3rd, leading a train of about 6 skiers. Filly skied a great second leg, hanging tough with a couple of UVM skiers. Pete anchored, and brought the men home in 8th place, their best finish of the season.
The next couple of weeks we'll be on campus, as there is no Carnival this weekend. Sunday is the Chummy Broomhall Cup, which serves as the Maine State Championships. Colby has won the last couple of years, so our aim is to win it back. It should be a good day: two mass start 10 km classic races at Rumford. Hope to see a lot of support up there!
As always, thanks to all the parents and families who came from near and far to support and feed our racers this past weekend!!

SLU Carnival

This past weekend the team made the trek out to Lake Placid for the college opener, the St. Lawrence Carnival. This year, the event was combined with a SuperTour event, meaning that much of the competition from US Nationals stayed east, and joined in the racing on Friday and Saturday.
Friday's race was held at the Olympic Jumping Complex, and consisted of several laps (5 for men, 3 for women) around a 2 km loop. The guys raced first, with the Freshman foursome of Jordan, Alex, Sean, and Pete all getting their first Carnival starts. It was a tight race, with Jordan leading the way in 42nd, followed by Alex and Sean as the next two scorers. Jimmy, Nate, and Danny also put together solid races. The women skied strongly as well. Nat lead the way with a 7th place showing. Again, it was a close race, the times were within seconds of each other. Megan and Beth were the next two Bobcats in 34th and 37th respectively.
On Saturday, we headed over to the Biathlon side of the cross country trails for the 10 and 15 km skate races. The women raced first, and had a really impressive showing. Kir and Beth finished 6th and 7th, respectively. Gretchen was next in 17th, and Megan had another strong race, finishing in 21st. Ingrid skied to a 36th place, while Sam and Andrea both skied well in the SuperTour race. All around an impressive showing for the women's side. For the men, Jordan once again led the way, finishing in 40th. Alex and Sean were once again the next two skiers, and Pete was just behind them. It was a solid first weekend of collegiate racing, and the team enjoyed a beautiful day of skiing yesterday at Pineland. This coming weekend is the Colby Carnival, with a 15/20 km mass start classic race, and a skate relay.
Many thanks to the McClelland family for hosting the women's team, and to Pete Phillips for letting the men stay at his house. The McClellands were also kind enough to provide dinner for the team both nights we were in Lake Placid. Also, thank you to all the families who brought food to feed our hungry racers (and coaches).
Lastly, a congrats to former Bobcat Haley Johnson, for getting back onto the Biathlon World Cup this past week, and for some strong showings at the IBU cup before that. Check her blog out at http://comeskiwithme.blogspot.com/

US Nationals Recap

After a week of little snow, thin coverage, and a lot of laps, US Nationals came to a close yesterday in Rumford. The organizers and volunteers up there did a tremendous job of pulling off the races, including the men's and women's 30/20 km skate races on Thursday. The courses held up well, and the Bates Nordic crew threw down some impressive results. We started off the week strong last Sunday with some good classic sprinting.
The first distance race was postponed a day until Wednesday to allow for more time to work on the courses. We had 14 people race in the Classic distance, a 10 km for women, and a 15 km for men. The Bobcats skied well on the 2.72 km loop, with Nat leading the way for the women. She was followed closely by Megan, Beth, and Kir. On the men's side, Jordan was the first finisher, followed by Alex and Jimmy.
On Thursday, we had people skiing in all the races. The format for the long races was changed to individual start due to the short loop, and narrow trails. Jimmy skied a great 30 km skate race, a total of 11 laps on the course. He was our only guy in the long race, and skied to a solid finish. In the women's 20 km, Kirsten led the way with a 23rd place finish, and Beth and Megan ended up in 33rd and 34th, respectively. It was great to see all three of them so high up in the results. The day of racing wrapped up with Alex, Pete, Nate, Danny, and Sam competing in the junior races.
On Saturday, we had the skate sprint. A small crew raced, with Gretchen and Jordan making the top-30, and Kir qualifying for the U23 heats. Gretchen qualified 21st, and ended up in a heat with the eventual champion Jessie Diggins, and 2010 Olympian/USST member Liz Stephen. She skied a great heat, ending up fourth. Her finish was enough to bump her up to 17th in the final results.

Gretch following Diggins out of the stadium.

Kir skied through her heats well, ultimately taking 3rd in the U23 B-Final, putting her in 9th.

On the men's side, Jordan qualified 29th, ending up in a tough heat. He skied a smart heat, coming back into the stadium tied for 1st with Leif Zimmerman. He ended up getting beat to the line by both Leif and Dakota Blackhorse von Jess, but his third place finish was good enough to move him up to 15th on the day.

Jordan in his quarterfinal.

We're taking it easy for a couple of days, and will be back to our normal routine on Tuesday. The college season kicks-off next weekend with a joint SuperTour and St. Lawrence Carnival event in Lake Placid. It was exciting to see the team mix it up with the best skiers in the country last week. The team is entering the season in a perfect spot, and poised to have some great results over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

US Nationals Day #1

10 Bobcats got the season going on Sunday at the classic sprint at US Nationals, hosted in Rumford. All around great races for people. Next race is tomorrow, 10 km and 15 km classic races. The snow is a little thin, but they've done a great job getting the course ready. Check out the pics from Day 1, all courtesy of Steve Fuller.