UVM Carnival

By Dana

UVM Carnival

Craftsbury was ripping last weekend! The conditions were immaculate and made for some fast, fun racing! It was unfortunate that Stowe couldn't host due to icy trails, but when in doubt, Craftsbury can pull it off.  Many thanks to the volunteers all weekend!

As for our racing this weekend, the results were up and down.  We want more and we know we can reach our goals!

The gun went off at 10am for the ladies 15k mass start, with little tangle ups.  It was smooth for the most part, except for one incident where a girl's poles got in Dottie's way, leaving her scrambling on the ground while others pushed their way thru her.  Lucy and Jackie steadied themselves in the front with a good crew of tough skiers. Dana was successful with getting a good start, but slowly fell back as her mental game went downhill.  Fortunately, Gabby and Kate were strong enough to pull it together and had superb races.  The course was extremely tough, as Craftsbury cut a new 5K course with some sweet S turns down, and a long climb back up, in addition to the other rolling hills on the typical 5K course.  This was no easy feat as the girls did 3 laps and the boys skied 4.

The boys scrambled out of the start with what also looked like a smooth beginning to a long race.  Tim got out strong and was looking fierce, while George tried to shorten the gap with 5 or so people between him and Tim.  GH was not far behind, trying to hold on and also shorten the gap between him and George.  Ryland made it around 1 lap and had to sit out unfortunately, but Nathaniel, Ben, Matt, and Matt brought it in for the guys.  It was a real pain cave out there, especially for our team being mostly first years.. but that's not a good enough excuse:) The women's team got a solid 5th place, something we would be thrilled about in the past, but as we have become stronger and stronger we are still hungry for more!

Saturday was mixed with the Eastern Cup in an individual 15 second start. Our bodies were tired, but with the hillier section not part of this course and only doing one lap this time (two for guys), we felt we could conquer anything!  Jackie, Dottie, and Dana had solid results all in the top 38- Lucy as well, but was a little disappointed compared to where she had been in the past.  Tim was the first scorer again for our team in 46th with George and Nathaniel in 54, and 55th.  Again, the conditions were really great for classic skiing, and I thought the kick was great (Thanks Ethan, Kyle, & Bob).  The days got colder and colder, but nothing we couldn't endure.  Thanks to all of our fans and support teams, especially our parents for bringing the hot soups and drinks!

We can't wait for a 10k Classic race on Friday and a 5k/10k Skate race on Saturday at Oak Hill in Hanover, NH hosted by Dartmouth Carnival!  It should be interesting as they haven't been able to host a carnival there in a long time due to a lack of snow! 
 
Here are the results: (Be on the lookout for India's video soon)

Women's 15K
Men's 20K

Women's 5K
Men's 10K