St. Lawrence University Nordic Ski Team: Bringing Home the Hardware

What a team! (Day 1 Crew: L-R: Kyle, Graham, Nathaniel, Matt, GH, Lucy, ETown, Emily, Steph)

This past weekend things got a bit crazy. Half of us went up to Canada for the 2nd annual Candy Cane Cup while half stayed back to study for finals, which was definitely a mind-numbing struggle fest, but let's face it, it was probably the smarter decision... ANYWAY, everyone made it through one way or another, and now it is break!

Before getting ready for the first Eastern Cup, listening to non-stop Christmas carols, and eating way too much chocolate, though, I wanted to update the blog about how awesome SLUSKI is this year.

GH in the heats (Nathaniel photo)

Graham in the heats (Nathaniel photo)

On Saturday, we woke up early to head up to Nakkertok in Ottawa for a skate sprint. The 6 AM departure made for an array breakfast options including: no real breakfast, overnight oats, and over-the-border oats (for those who struggled to make oatmeal before getting in the van... Graham). The day started well with almost everyone (including ETown and Kyle!) qualifying for heats. Nathaniel threw up, perhaps due to some bad pub chowder, so he was sidelined after the qualifier. We made it through the day with no broken equipment, though I made a rookie move and fell after catching my ski on a v-board and GH flew off the trail (literally onto the warm up loop) in his final. All in all, though, we brought home a lot of hardware, including some that was maybe due to messed up results again? In addition to real hardware, we got lots of candy and chocolate, which I can only imagine made for better van food than over-the-border oats. We really did bring home a lot, because there were normal open and age group awards in addition to a special podium just for University students. Matt made the heats: Emily and Graham made the B final; and Steph, GH, and myself made it to the A final! Matt in particular looked awesome coming up the big hill, Graham had an amazing finish, and Em handled the craziness that is constantly warming up/cooling down/figuring out what life is like a champ. I guess Kyle and ETown did well too :)

ETown rocking the old race suit (Nathaniel photo)

GH's hands may or may not look like his favorite monster toys from the bookstore hot cocoa (Nathaniel photo)
For those who don't know what those look at click this: Monster

Steph on the junior women's podium! (Graham photo)

Me (Lucy) on the podium (Graham photo)

GH was supposed to be on the junior men's podium, but got on this one too (Graham photo)

On Sunday, we got up early again for a classic 10k. The tiredness may have been getting to us, because Steffi and I were definitely getting more than a bit giggly pre-race. In the end, we had a different crew, but some more great results! I think the consensus was that ETown and Kyle nailed the skis, and we are all gaining a bit more of an appreciation for classic skiing. It helps that first years Jordi and Steph are both classic pros. Thanks to Jordi, Eliza, Tim, and Ian for joining us for day 2!

Steffi bringing it in (Kyle photo)

GH on the junior men's podium

Me (Lucy) on the women's podium (Kyle photo)

Steph and Eliza reppin' SLU on the junior women's podium! (Kyle photo)

A huge thanks to Nakkertok for hosting such a great event for the 2nd year in a row! Their snowmaking is fabulous, the volunteers are always helpful and friendly, the competition is great, and this year we completely lucked out with warm and sunny days. Thank you to photographers, Doug Ranahan and Dianne Galus for getting some great shots as well. To readers of the blog, keep a look out for news from the first Eastern Cup this weekend and happy holidays!