It's quite obvious if you look at the results that we got faster as the season went on. In fact, this was maybe a bit TOO obvious...we did quite a bit of soul-searching after the opening weekends at SLU and Colby, when we knew we weren't performing up to our potential.
Our youth on this circuit is notable: with Eric sidelined with injury, our entire team other than Kelsey is either sophomores or freshmen. As Jared Supple of Colby put it to me at Craftsbury, "you guys are skiing way above where your teams age would suggest." That was right after he posed a less-serious but also relevant question: "What are you guys feeding Austin Meng???"
With such a young squad I got the vibe (from other teams, from our athletic department, from myself even) that this would be a year to refocus and build up..."wait until some of those guys are Juniors," they said. "Wait until that girls team gets another year under them," they said. The general expectation seemed to be that we would step up to the plate and get a few fly-balls, a few base hits, and maybe strike out enough that we'd be pretty amped to change next year.
Instead, I 'd say we struck out very few times. It was rarely due to wax (phew!), in cases due to uncontrollable physical issues (Eric), but never for lack of effort. And we did get a few line drives; Gramps' consistent scoring races, Will taking the big next step of cutting his results places in half, and numerous first-year top-30s from Cassidy and Sienna, plus the heart-breaking but motivational 31st-place finishes earned by Erin and Kyle
What really turned heads was those moments when we really hit it out of the park, most notable Meng's breakout weekend at UVM and Kelsey's battle to claim an NCAA spot...which I think even she is still trying to wrap her head around. Those performances really helped push the team forward. I won't hesitate to mention again that Meng went from having a personal-best skate finish of 42nd last year to getting 11th and 12th in his two best skate races this year. If that's not motivation for anyone, I don't know what is.
As for this weekend...
Friday's classic races were warm and sunny. We had a klister combo going that was about on par with everything else out there, meaning it was definitely still slick. In re-testing the entire course I skied a lap during the girls race and was relieved to see EVERYONE slipping out there; UVM, Dartmouth, Colby, Bowdoin, SLU, etc...
Etown adds a little secret sauce for me to test out
Kelsey led the way in 23rd, followed by Cass in 35th. Props go to Sienna, however, for not coming back for more kick and instead realizing the reality of the klistery situation. Her comment to Ethan and I? "Umm...these don't have much glide."
Meng led the men in 19th, with Will picking up another top-30 in 27th. I was happy to see Will get another top-30, and it's now clear that he is a pretty complete classic skier, having picked up NCAA points in every conceivable type of classic condition this year: solid ice at Colby, blinding snowstorm at Dartmouth, transforming conditions at Middlebury, and spring slush at Bates. Reed also skied to his best collegiate finish in 45th, a clear step-up from where he had been earlier this year.
Will (top) and Reed (bottom) in the classic race
Saturday was Kelsey's last shot at NCAAs. She would've had to pull out a 13th, and ended the day in 19th after fighting strong the whole time. Ending her career on her second-best finish was still great to see. Cass again took 35th, and Sienna took 40th to help the girls to their best team score of the season in 7th.
The men's race got a bit warmer and, thanks to a last-minute topcoat suggestion by Etown, we finally accomplished a goal I'd had all season: give our team skis that made everyone else go "what the $&%* did SLU put on there today?!"
Eric and I stood atop High School Hill, and each time the pack went by we'd radio in to Bob and Ethan where people were. From the top of the hill it is all downhill to the stadium, and each time Meng picked off at least one place, and usually 2. Lap 1? 16th to 14th. Lap 2? 14th to 12th. Final lap? 12th to 11th, apparently whizzing by David Sinclair in the stadium like he was standing still.
Will fought to his best skate finish in 25th, and Gramps ended up 31st...so close to that coveted top-30...I was happy to see that, rather than being pissed and angry at the finish (as he can sometimes be) Kyle was in fact proud of the way he'd skied the race. Who wouldn't be? The kid has "pain tolerance up the wazoo," as somebody said. He went for it so hard on High School Hill (he was in 29th) that he could not physically move his legs to outsprint a few charging kids around him. The guys finished 6th, just 1 tiny point out of 5th!
But the season is not over and results are still not all in. Sienna will head to Fairbanks as a member of the New England team for Junior Nationals, while Etown, Meng and I will get to chill in Middlebury for a week for NCAAs. There are a number of spring races on the way as well, so we are far from done!
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