Momentum is Building

This past weekend at St. Mikes I think indicates that momentum is building for the team. We had two days that were really close to being some of the best I have had as a coach. Leah Hart is starting to show some impressive form as indicated by a career best 16th place finish in the 10K freestyle just 1 second behind Johannah Ludington who skied a career best freestyle finish of 15th. Before I even hit enter on the split timer at about 4.5K I could tell it was going to be good for Leah. Sometimes you just look fast.

On day two we were treated to another beautiful blue bird day for the classic sprint, I don't think conditions could have been much better. Our senior men really came through in an event that I know they had been looking forward two. We have not had much success over the years in sprint racing in any form aside from a few individuals here and there. I got to witness what was probably the best relay exchange I have seen when Ben Knowles came around on his first of three sprints to tag off to Eric Wolcott. Ben was just behind 2 or 3 other teams in 6th I think as the others went for the exchange Ben shot through on the inside to tag Eric down farther in the zone (a real smart move on Eric's part). This was key to getting Eric out ahead so he could just lay the hammer down and move solidly into third. Zach had skied a conservative but smart first leg and avoided any tangle ups saving his efforts for his second and third sprint. While I thought that we could possibly win this it was a fantastic 3rd place finish of which I am quite proud and was very exciting to watch, I really can't wait for the freestyle relay at Dartmouth in a few weeks.

SLU Carnival photos

My family made the long trek over to Lake Placid from Maine this past weekend and my dad came prepared with his camera and has posted photos from both races in a web album. Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Marvinney&target=ALBUM&id=5427787896262534913&authkey=Gv1sRgCPe1-b6Qq_iVXg&feat=email

There is also a web album for the UNH criterium that some of us did the weekend before: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Marvinney&target=ALBUM&id=5427802768268025409&authkey=Gv1sRgCOCI3Zr-nc-58wE&feat=email
Eric, Zach, Teo, and myself along with Leah and Hannah on the women's side went over to Jackson NH for this race the weekend before the carnival as a chance to get a little racing tune up. The field was mostly UNH, Williams, and Bates skiers with a few from UVM, Harvard, and of course the SLU crew. The race didnt have a predetermined distance, just the notice that it would be between 25 and 35 minutes long and that we would be told when we had three laps left on Jackson's 1.4km sprint loop. I don't really remember too much about the race since it was over a week ago with a carnival in there as well, so I'm not really sure what to say about it. I thought it was a fun race despite being very hard. I felt strong, especially on the climbs Eric was pretty near the top with Teo not too far back, and without a broken pole Zach would have been up there too. Combined with a 10k classic the next day, it was a good confidence booster and tune up going into the race season, which is now moving into full swing with one carnival already done.