We held two races this week: The "Higley Hassle" (not to be confused with the Higley Hustle), a full classic sprint with qualifier, heats and all, took place on Friday, and the River Road 7.5/10k skate race took place the following morning.
We encouraged full race suits for all, and Kyle was kind enough to lend out his many complete Gould Academy suits to a few racers. We dug out a few old bibs for use in the skate race, and focused on preparing as we would for a serious race. That meant effective course previews, good warmups, recovery and nutrition between events, etc. Everyone did a great job despite the weather, which featured snow flurries and wet conditions for the sprint, and overcast skies and 34 degrees for the skate race.
DAY 1: HIGLEY HASSLE SPRINT
We are lucky to have Higley Flow State Park just 20 minutes from campus. This campground was closed to traffic for the season, but not closed to rollerskis! The only problem was the pine needles, but after a practice worth of sweeping by Ethan and I, the course was set. "Course brooming" as opposed to "course grooming" you might say. A tricky racecourse with two big climbs and lots of twisty corners was made more challenging by some slippery patches and fading light.
Austin Meng and Erin Perryman took wins in the qualifier. Through the rounds it was clear that sophomore Matt Dier was skiing strong and using his size and big summer of rollerski work to good effect, while Meng played a patient game before striking on the last uphill before the downhill finish. The final saw this matchup create an exciting close to the night, with Meng and Dier breaking away from other A-Final competitors Will Frielinghaus and Phil Marshall early on. Meng's speed on the final hill proved too much for Dier to overcome, as he settled for second, giving Austin the first win of the race series. Frielinghaus cruised home in third.
Men on the start line, with fading light and van high-beam support
The women's race saw multiple tactics play out. Kate Mulcahy raced on skate skis, a move she had planned to try during one of the heats...she ended up having to double-pole the whole thing when the fork on her classic skis broke during the warmup. Kate's skate skis were far faster than Erin Perryman's classic boards on the downhills, but would it be enough?
The downhill finish would have worked in Kate's favor with her quicker skis, but Perryman made her move on the uphills and put enough time on the field to hold on for the win. Kate finished second while sophomore Taren McGray rounded out the podium.
Women's final, illuminated by van lights
DAY 2: RIVER ROAD SKATE
Perryman also took the victory in the River Road skate race the following day, leading splits from start to finish and notching the 3rd fastest historical time. This makes a full sweep of every testing/timetrial/racing event we have done this fall for Perryman. Erin's fitness is certainly in a great place right now. Kate was at a conference and unable to race at River Road, though it should be said that not only are many of her times faster as well, her changes to the periodization of her training have her swinging into top form right when she should be. Last year it seemed some burnout from overtraining/under-resting was occurring, but this year things are back on track and Kate is ready to rock!
The Meng Dynasty won the skate race for the men, scoring the 2nd fastest River Road time in history. Things were not easy for him, however, as sophomore Kyle Curry led splits for the majority of the race. Curry was out for blood and started strong right from the line. His second-place finish on the day led him to the 5th fastest time ever, a full 1:30 faster than his time last year. In fact, the top 3 men were all much faster than their times last year, with Meng 1:07 quicker and Will :50 faster. All results are on equal skis as last year and with nearly freezing temps and therefore cold road surfaces.
Despite missing a key turnaround point at about 9k, first-year Blaine Ayotte also had an impressive time. Blaine (in the full yellow Gould suit on loan from Kyle) used his GPS to continue tracking the full 10k race, and had a very competitive effort in the end. Way to keep the vets on their toes!
Overall "Carnival Simulation" Champs Austin and Erin display their prizes: tacky flea market mugs filled with candy! A new (cheap but fun) team tradition for race prizes
Here's a little video I put together. Thanks to honorary SLUSKI member Reed Likly for joining me to film as I drove the van. We were jamming out to the Absolute 80s! channel on the radio and blasting the music for the racers when this excellent rockin' tune came on (captured on film) so I had no choice but to make it the soundtrack for the film. The song is a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" by Natalie Cole, for anyone looking to add it to their collection! Disco ball required.
RIVER ROAD VIDEO
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