NYSEF Opener

It been a few years since this race really happened for us, but I'm happy to say Mother Nature did her best to bring it back! The last time we attempted to ski this race was in 2010. It was a miniature ice-storm the night prior, and after sliding fully through a 4-way-stop intersection in Potsdam we reluctantly made the call that the trip to Lake Placid would be unsafe driving.

Fast forward to yesterday morning, when a large winter snowstorm brought about a foot of fresh snow to the area. More complicated weather to drive through, but luckily we'd gotten our winter-driving feet wet with a particularly harrowing drive up to Foret during Thanksgiving Camp. We made it easily, albeit only about 30 min prior to the start.

The race itself was a 6k for both men and women. Unsure of snow conditions, the call was made earlier in the week to hold the races at the jumping complex. The course was great: it twisted and circled in on itself, and was filled with elements that really rewarded adept technical skating. The competition was not very deep (besides our team there were a handful of NYSEF racers and the ever-stalwart Peru Nordic Masters), but the tight times within our own team proved it was a hotly-contested race for all.

Here's Kyle Curry's GPS data from the course. Does a good job of showing how much terrain you can fit into a small space. A 1.5k loop that really has it all.

Overall winners were Elizabeth Izzo (UNH) and Austin Meng (SLU). Erin was our top women's finisher in 2nd, while Kate picked up a 4th place result. The SLU men swept the top 7 places, and all finished within 57 seconds of each other. Definitely a group with both speed AND depth.

Laurel heads out of the starting gate

This is one race where the coach can get in on the action and relive the glory days! 

I'd say the most impressive performances came from the younger crowd...Erin has really taken a step up with her racing, pacing and mentality. The freshman duo of Blaine and Calvin started 15 seconds apart and skied virtually the same race, with FIS/NENSA points (I calculate that stuff for fun...) a big step up from their race points last season. Morgan Holland had a really great race as well, and I'd say all three of those guys, as well as Erin, are all in the hunt for the New England JN team this year.

NYSEF OPENER RESULTS

The team is busy with finals this week, but I was able to groom the trails on campus last night so skiing is right out our door until most of us leave for Craftsbury this weekend!

Nighttime grooming action

Etown took some video footage of the race, which I put together below. Since it's a bit blurry I captioned with names of racers to make it easier to tell who is who. 

One final note...if you have not already heard the news, SLU won our bid to host the 2015 NCAA Championships in Lake Placid! Here we go Saints!