Skiing with the Saints

Hi everyone,

This past Sunday, the Saints Ski Team went down to Higley for Ski with the Saints Day! This is the first time we’ve done this, and it was an absolute blast. Children who didn’t know how to ski or were just learning were encouraged to come, and we had a great turnout. We had kids as young as four years old, and those children played games up near the lodge to work on their comfort level with just being on skis with some of our team.

The whole gang! Saints with the kids

Jaden '23 teaching like a pro

Look at them go!

The older kids (age range was probably around elementary school to middle school), and kids who were more experienced on skis, went down the road to work with more of our team. Brian ’22 and Graham ’22 helped to set up an agility course with other SLUSKI members assisting the kids. The kids divided into two teams and practiced turning around cones and skiing uphill. At the end of one relay, each relay team had to drag Brian or Graham uphill, which got the kids in a really competitive mode. They had also set up a “sprint” course near the dumping station where kids would ski the course and finish by sliding through a hula hoop.

Cam '23 and Gabby '21 helping at the agility course

Charlie '23 and Robyn '22 working one-on-one

Overall, I’d say the morning was a success! Almost every child had a smile on their face while skiing, and they looked like they were having fun working with the members of our team. It was impressive to see the children work on their technique, while still having a great time. Our team really enjoyed working with the kids, and we look forward to possibly doing it again!

Kids were delighted to pull Graham '22 and Brian '22 up the main road

Say cheese!

Thank you to Coach Hatton, Coach Townsend, and Emily Siegel for the photos!

Also Ian Thompson '22 raced at the Stowe Derby on Sunday and results can be found here! He said the snow was slow and there were a lot more uphills then he had anticipated. However, he can check it off his bucket list!

Watch out for our next blog from the Regional Championship Middlebury Carnival at Rikert, VT!

See you on the trails,

Gabby ‘21

Mixing it Up at Williams's Carnival and Carni Crush!

Coming into last weekend’s Williams Carnival, the fifth and final weekend of racing before the EISA break week, the Saints had a number of reasons to be excited. With a change in race venue from Prospect (Woodford, VT) to Mt. Van Hoevenberg (Lake Placid, NY), the Saints had a short van ride and home course advantage. Additionally, this weekend would mix the race formats; a 10k classic individual start on Friday and a 5k skate team relay on Saturday, providing a change of pace from skate individual and classic mass starts thus far this season. St. Lawrence University also went on mid-semester break starting Thursday, which meant not missing class for the team. Last but not least, athletes of all teams had Carni Crush performances to look forward to after the races on Saturday.

We had some fun in the relays! (L:R- Natalie, Jordan, Steph, Kate, Robyn, Emily, Gabby, and Jackie - Michelle photo)

On Thursday, course preview day, the excitement continued with extra time to relax in the hotel afterwards and a fancy dinner at the Crowne Plaza.

Relay squad!! (Kate, Robyn, and Emily - Michelle photo)

This is a good time to give a HUGE thank you shoutout to Cris Lussi. Cris Lussi had a daughter compete with the SLU alpine team and is a SLU ski alumna herself. Her unending support of the team shined this past weekend. Cris was generous enough to cover some of the team’s lodging by welcoming the women’s team to her own house for the weekend. Cris also hosted the team for a fancy dinner at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Cris Lussi, thank you so much for your kindness this weekend and for all you do to support the SLU ski team. We appreciate you!!

On Friday, both men and women lined up for a 10k individual start classic race on the Biathlon side of Mt. Van Hoevenberg. At just about 0 degrees Fahrenheit for both men and women’s starts, it was a cold day on the trails. With the flattest course of the EISA season, the race was a fun, fast, and hard double-pole hammer-fest. Regardless of each skier’s preferred style of skiing, it was exciting to mix up the terrain.

Tim off to cheer without ski pants? (Cam photo)

Lucy wearing glasses?! Thanks to Brian for his contribution to the cause (Cam photo)

On the results side, the men finished in 10th place as a team. The men’s scoring team this weekend was led by Kai Richter ‘23, coming in at 43rd place for a new season’s best place. Close behind was Brian Beyerbach ‘22 (electing to double pole the course on skate skis) coming in at 48th place, and Tim Cunningham ‘21 coming in at 52nd place. The women’s team finished in 9th place as a team. The women’s scoring team was led by Lucy Hochschartner ‘20 finishing in a stellar 13th place. Rounding out the scoring team was Jackie Garso ‘20 finishing in 45th and Steph Nicols ‘22 in 57th. With the men’s team getting tired of finishing 10th and the women’s team not pumped about a 9th place, everyone was eager to reset and go for it in the 5k relay day.

Link to Men’s Results

Jordan flying by! (Cam photo)

Link to Women’s Results

Em speeding up the hill (Cam photo)

On Saturday, the athletes were treated to more pleasant temperatures and much hillier terrain. With three hefty climbs per 2.5k loop, the athletes would ski hard through a tough 2-lap 5k course. Each relay team had three skiers: one to scramble for position at the start, one to make up ground and set the team up for a fight, and one to anchor and sprint their guts to the line. With 28 teams starting the men’s relay and 29 teams starting the women’s relay, the races started fierce.

Nat looking smoooooooth as always!! (Cam photo)

Gabby looking pro in the artsy shot (Cam photo)

On the men’s side, team 1 of Kai Richter ‘23, Tim Cunningham ‘21, and Brian Beyerbach ‘22 came in with a remarkable 10th place finish, bringing SLU men to 8th in the points. As someone who was able to watch the first two legs of the relay, it was beyond exciting to see SLU fight among some of the most talented skiers in the EISA. Team 2 of Graham Branch ‘22, Ian Thompson ‘22, and Charlie Reinhardt ‘23 put in a solid effort, but just couldn’t come back after two tough crashes early in the race and finished 25th. Team 3 of Cameron Brochu ‘23, Matt Manwarning ‘21, and Ben Carnahan ‘21 finished the day in 27th.

Sun & Smiles w/ Jackie, Robbie, and Goob (Michelle photo)

Kate hauling it up the hill! (Cam photo)

Robbie cruising! (Cam photo)

Dana's parents, Dana, and Charlie hard at work on the most important job, cheering! (Cam photo)

On the women’s side, team 1 of Lucy Hochschartner ‘20, Steph Nicols ‘22, and Jackie Garso ‘20 came in at 12th place, earning the women’s team an 8th place in the points. Team 1 was not wholly satisfied with their performance, but worth mentioning is Jackie Garso’s crazy fast anchor leg, moving the team up 4 places in just her second lap alone (the last 2.5k)! Team 2 of Emily Siegel ‘20, Kate Andy ‘20, and Robyn McIntosh ‘22 came in at 23rd, while team 3 of Natalie Jelley ‘23, Jordan Schuster ‘21, and Gabby Wangler ‘21 was troubled with a collision off the start yet still fought for a 27th place.

Another relay squad!! (Gabby, Jordan, and Nat - Michelle photo)

Steffi looking so pro and so speedy! (Cam photo)

There is nothing like a Jackie on the hunt. BE SCARED. (Cam photo)

           

On both sides, regardless of the results, everyone loved the excitement of the relay format and had a blast skiing their hearts out.

Link to Men’s Results

Link to Women’s Results

Happy roomies! (Lucy & Kate - Michelle photo)

After the athletes had a chance to cool down and change clothes, all teams headed over to the awards ceremony to wait for the event everyone had been preparing for all season: Carni Crush. A fantastic spectacle organized by the Dartmouth Women’s team, Carni Crush saw goofily-clad skiers galavanting around and confessing their ironic and unironic love to each other with poems, songs, and performances of grand hilarity. In addition to individual Carni Crushes, each team was paired to another and asked to “do whatever it takes to make EISA hearts swoon”. The SLU men’s team had the privilege to serenade the Bates women with a beautiful rendition of Frozen’s “Love is an Open Door”, while the SLU women’s team crushed on the Harvard men with a thematic remix of Sean Kingston’s “Fire Burning” and choreographed dance. I am not at liberty to link videos of performances here, but I highly encourage you to use your connections and find yourself watching them both; I promise it will be worth the effort.

Matt is triumphant!! (Cam photo)

And thus the Saints left Mt. Van Hoevenberg to return to their home of Canton, NY. Heading into a weekend of no racing, the team was eager to get off their feet and recover before putting in some last minute touch-up training before the final race of the season. We’ll see you again for Regionals at the Middlebury Carnival! Thank you to Cam and Kate's mom, Michelle, for the great photos! Since Cam was obviously busy racing, we have mostly photos of the women this week. Find Cam's complete collection here.

Until next time, keep those hips forward,

-       Charlie Reinhardt ‘23

Racking Up Another 4th Place! - Bates Carnival

Last weekend was the Bates Carnival! The weather really never ceases to surprise. I feel like Rumford consistently throws some crazy conditions at us. There was a big freezing rain/sleet/snow storm Thursday afternoon through Friday night, which made driving tough and Friday's mass start a little wild. However, the race organizers did a great job grooming the course, and Dana and Jordan (who has been helping out a ton this year!) got us up to Maine safe and sound. I was happy to get there in time to ski the course, as it was slightly new – very similar to one we skied a few years ago, but thankfully slightly less hilly!

Thank you to River Valley Graphics for some great photos!!!

Waking up to sleet on a classic day is always a bit unsettling. Especially for a 15/20k day! For those who don't know, snow is the most variable right around freezing, so it is very hard to wax. However, by the time we got to the venue, the coaches had already been hard at work testing skis for quite a while. It was a down to the wire kind of day, but I was really proud of how calm and collected everyone remained. Sometimes you just need to trust the process. I had the best skis of anyone I was around and was happy to be able to work my way up to my best classic finish ever. Robyn also got into the top 50 for the first time, which was great to see! On the whole, though, most people didn't have their best day. The tracks were soft and washed out, some people's wax was a bit slippy, and it was just generally the kind of day that was hit or miss for teams across the board.

This was only exacerbated in the men's race. Man, it was a tough one to watch, and only harder to ski I'm sure! I was proud of everyone for hanging tough, but there really isn't a way to describe it other than miserable. The tracks on the uphills were gone, and the freezing rain started up again (it had stopped during the women's race) to pelt them in the face. Our boys worked together, though, and while Tim and Brian didn't have their best day, Kai was happy to be close behind them in 56th. It was an awesome turn around from being sick with the stomach bug last week up at Canadian World Junior Trials.

We woke up to clear skies and fresh snow for our 5k/10k Eastern Cup/EISA skate! The sleet turned to beautiful powder over night, the sun came out, and things really took a turn for the better. Jackie was the star of the day, matching a career best 6th place, less than 4 seconds off the podium!! I can only imagine how tough it is to be that close to the podium for the second time; however, we were all still so proud of her. Kate and I both also had great days to get us another 4th place team finish! We've really made it, because these are starting to feel regular. But let's not forget... a 4th place finish in our league is incredible. I couldn't be prouder of this whole team and how each person comes in bringing something special.

Results, Results, and more Results

The men had more of a mixed day, but everyone was proud to see Kai step up and lead the team with his first top 45 result! I'm sure there are many more to come. I know he had fun catching the ride of his life behind some UVM guys. And the girls had fun cheering for everyone! It was so nice to soak up the sun –  the sparkle tan (read: burn) after the weekend was real.

Now, we're excited to head into tomorrow's races at Lake Placid! The Williams Carnival was moved, so we get to save ourselves the drive and race on our home turf! Plus, we've finally caught up on the blog. Thanks for hanging with us!

Colby Carnival!

Colby Carnival Recap (1/31 -2/1/20)

Two weekends ago (apologies for the late post!), the ski team headed up to Quarry Road in Waterville, Maine for our third carnival of the season. We left pretty early Thursday morning because we had a looooooong van ride up. We cut through Canada because believe it or not, we actually saved an hour of driving through the great land of snow, and then down through Maine rather than driving through Vermont, New Hampshire, and lower Maine. We arrived at the course just as the sun was setting, so we were able to preview the 2.5K course with the last few minutes of daylight. The course, luckily, had lights around it so we could check out the “S” turns when it was completely dark. After we finished the course preview and packed up our stuff, we ate dinner at Colby College which was right across the road. And they even had a Dana Dining Hall like we do! (They didn’t have ice cream OR good cookies, so I think our Dana Dining Hall is superior in that sense).

Hey Coach Dana! (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

On Friday, the men had a 10k skate race, with individual starts at 10:00 AM and the women following behind with a 5k skate race, with individual starts at 12:00 PM. Brian ’22 was our top male skier of the day, placing 33^rd and absolutely crushed it. Charlie ’23 and Timothy ’21 followed in as our next two scorers, placing 57^th and 59^th respectively. (Charlie actually tied with a Bates skier, resulting in the place separation between him and Tim because they finished within 4 seconds of each other). Graham ‘22 finished 66^th, Cam ’23 finished 68^th, Ian ‘22 finished 74^th, Matt ’21 finished 80^th, and Ben ’21 finished 81^st. On a whole, I think the men’s results were a mixed bag of feeling good about their races and knowing what to bring into the next race to improve.

Tim '21 looking powerful! (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Brian '22 looking good! (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Graham cranking through (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Charlie '23 with the beautiful V1 (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Men's 10k Skate Results

For the women’s 5k skate race, Jackie ’20 was our top woman finisher at lucky 13^th place and Lucy was behind her, placing 24^th. Emily ’20 was our third scorer, placing 57^th. Natalie ’23, Kate ’20, Robyn ’22, Gabby ’21 and Steph ’22 all finished pretty much in a clump, placing 64^th, 67^th, 68^th, 69^th, and 71^st respectively. The woman’s team, like the men’s team, had some individuals happy with their results and others working on what to keep in mind for the next race. But an impressive 6^th place overall team score made us happy!

I (Nat '23) get by with a little help from my friends! (Ben '21 and Matt '21) (PC: Cam '23)

Robyn '22 cruising over the top (PC: Cam '23)

Gabby '21 working the downhill (PC: Cam '23)

Emily '20 looking strong (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Women's 5k Skate Results

On Saturday, then men started first with a 15K classic individual start race. Charlie ’23 had a great race and finished as our top male skier, placing 53^rd. Timothy ’21 was just behind him at 56^th place, alongside Ian ’22 finishing at 57^th place, and Graham ’22 finishing at 58^th place. Cam ’23 placed 70^th with Matt ’21 just behind him with a 71^st place finish, and Ben ’21 finishing 74^th. Brian was not able to race due to sickness, which is currently rampaging through our school’s campus.

Ian is smooth sailing on the climb (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Matt powering through the uphill (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Cam '23 with a strong double pole action! (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Ben '21 working through the A climb (PC: Sarah Reinhardt)

Men's 15k Classic Results

The women had a 10K classic individual start race following the men’s race. Lucy ’20 had an outstanding day and placed 16^th overall. Jackie ’20 was our next scorer at 41^st place, and Emily ’20 was our third scorer with a 55^th place. Robyn ’23, Kate ’20, and Steph ’22 finished (again!!) in a clump with 58^th, 59^th, and 61^st place finishes respectively. Natalie ’23 finished 70^th, and Gabby ’21 did not race due to sickness. We do not like sickness.

Look at that FORM with Steph '22 (PC: Cam '23)

Go, Lucy, go! (PC: Cam '23)

Jackie '20 fighting her way out of the pack (PC: Cam '23)

Kate '20 striding and gliding (PC: Cam '23)

Women's 10k Classic Results

I think this weekend showed us how to be tough when we weren’t necessarily expecting it. The weather was just around freezing and there was beautiful sun on the first day, so we couldn’t exactly complain about that! The course was 2.5K of either climbing, descending on the “S” turns or working hard on the flats to make up time, and that proved to all of us that no rest meant to put your head down and work. That’s the beauty of Quarry Road! That, and the long drive as well.

Brian '22 on undercover mode (PC: Cam '23)

Thank you to all of our parents and supporters that came up to cheer and fill our food table with yummy food for post-race consumption. We appreciate everything you guys do! Also thank you to Sarah Reinhardt and Cam ’23 for taking such awesome photos during the races!

Sarah Reinhardt's Photos (More than just SLU Skiers!)

Cam's Photos

See you next weekend at Rumford, Maine for the Bates Carnival! Update: (See you in Lake Placid this weekend for Williams Carnival!!)

Best, Gabby ‘21

On A Women's Team 4th Place (!!!), Highs & Lows, and the UVM Superweekend!

4th place!! (L-R: Gabby, Robyn, me (Lucy), Kate, Meg, and Steph, Jackie in front) We're missing Emily :(, presumably because she was actually helping to clean up

For our second carnival, we headed back to Craftsbury. We switched to the tough, hilly South 5k loop, but we were rewarded with better temperatures! We felt right at home going to Glover again and were so thankful to Gwen and the Townsend's for hosting us for back to back weekends. Also, a special shout out to Kai, Natalie, and Cam for racing their first carnival weekend ever! Reading a blog post about the US Ski Team the other day reminded me how important it is to celebrate every small victory, and your first carnival is definitely one of those milestones.

As for the results, we had a mixed bag. It was a combined carnival, Supertour, and Eastern Cup (on Saturday) weekend, so the competition was stiff and exciting! On Friday, we had a classic sprint, and unfortunately no one qualified for heats in the large field. It was close, though, and we still had some great racing and fun spectating. I was less than half a second out of heats and Brian was a little over a second and a half out. Sprints don't mean much in college racing though, so we weren't too worried about results either way.

Results Galore - Men, Women, Classic, Skate, EISA, Supertour, and Eastern Cup! It was a busy weekend.

Saturday was a 5k/10k skate. The women had an awesome day! We were fourth as a team for the first time in many years (we tied for 4th in 2017, but obviously, a straight 4th place is better)! Jackie had a season best result of 11th!! I personally was so excited that Jackie and I were both happy with our races on the same day. After all of our college races, I think that may actually have been the first time that happened. Steph put together a strong performance to be our crucial third scorer. I was so proud, watching her dig deep into the finish. Beyond that though, I was really proud of how far our whole women's team has come. This team score was because of everyone's result; everyone has lifted each other up and brought so much fun (bops anyone?), support, and professionalism to this team.

The men unfortunately were not happy with their day. It was just one of those times. Of course, there were still great performances, like Kai getting into the top 3 in his first carnival weekend! However, it was an overall bad day. Often I sugarcoat the blog, but it is important to know that sometimes weekends are just confusing, sad, and emotionally draining. It is a part of every athlete's life. Our men's team turned it around, though. They wallowed a bit (understandable), made a plan to get better (important), and by the time we got back, treated us with a sing-a-long (hilarious). The ability to learn and move on from disappointment is what makes a great athlete. I've never been good at this aspect, so I was incredibly impressed.

The UVM weekend showed the high highs and low lows in this sport. When you're in a low, the highs can seem unattainable. But the truth is that things can change in an instant. So, it's important to have people and things outside of skiing in your life that help you ride the wave. We sure had that at this carnival! Jordi, Aliya, Nathaniel, Eliza, Dottie, and GH (SLU ski alums) all came out to support us. We had parents and relatives from all over the Northeast as well, who have been with us through thick and thin. Their cheering made the race easier, and their presence made the celebrations all the sweeter and disappointments easier. Thank you so much for everyone who was out there! It really meant so much to me.

Thanks to Flying Point Road for coming out to take photos again!
Women's 5k Photos
Men's 10k photos

-Lucy Hoch '20