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| 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
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