Regional Races Delayed 1 day

Middlebury college postponed both nordic and alpine races by one day after announcing "massive snow followed by warm and rain last night has put us in a situation in which we know we can’t provide a good track on both the Nordic and Alpine venues {on Friday}. We have groomers working on both venues and will do everything we can to provide a quality event."

Some pictures of the Williams Carnival, taken by Lincoln Benedict (of EISA sports information)

Dimitri

Coach Fisher with the split timer, while Dick Nesbitt (father of Ian) looks on.

The prospect lodge and some early morning spectators

Peter Wells, the men's crew coach who runs the set-up and logistics of the Carnival, sorts bibs.

Dressed for the cold: Thanks to Deb Nelson for my warm wax skirt, and the ladies ski team for the fun purple hats they gave Bud and I!

16 inches and still snowing at Prospect. . ..

We are not driving to Prospect today, as the roads are a mess and there is too much snow in Woodford, VT, to even groom the trails!
A day to catch up on homework and rest, and some of us will tool around the golf course on waxless classics. . .

More Snow = great for skiing! Bad for driving. . . .

We have been fooled three times already into preparing for a storm which never came to fruition, so when we heard about this one, we said "sure, maybe." Well, it turned out to be a pretty good snowfall, afterall. The driving was good out of Williamstown, but when we hit Prospect it was snowing hard. There was inches of fresh snow on the trail when we got there and several more by the time we left. . . We did some speed intervals to sharpen up for the weekend, and in general just enjoyed the wintery wonderness.
Getting home was not so enjoyable - I thought the worst was going to be getting out of the parking lot, but we did that without having to make the freshmen get out to push the vans. The worst came as we were just outside Bennington: a line of stopped cars. The snow kept falling, the line of cars kept getting longer. Outside the van, it continued to snow. Inside the van, story games, singing, and crossword puzzles kept us sane as we waited. And waited.
It took nearly two and a half hours to get back to the ski rooms!
Good thing we love snow. . . . .


Robby, Caleb

Powder up Chickadee, where our "speed" intervals ran. . .

Ev

Casey, Phil

Hannah, Alice, Kirsten, Blair

Sitting in a looooooong line of cars on the highway.

Absorbing the weekend through the zen of a Sunday easy ski

The team was greeted by several new inches of light powder and streaks of sunlight for our morning Sunday ski. Despite a weekend of hard racing, the team was in good cheer.
Coach Bud Fisher spoke to the team before the ski (from what I can remember it went something like this): "Aubrey and I had to pinch ourselves yesterday. . . . If someone would have asked us, before the weekend, if we would take 6 top-ten finishes, four of which were in the top 5, and two team podiums or if we would hold out for something better - We would have never rolled the dice!
This was our best weekend yet, and now you have to ask yourselves: are you going to settle down and be content to rest on that accomplishment, or are you going to strive for even better races next weekend?! It's up to you. . . . ."

MORE snow this morning! Mountain Trail was gorgeous.

Sarah Tory and mom, Cynthia, share the morning ski at Prospect.

Men 3rd!!!! on 2nd day of Williams Carnival

It was the closing day of the Williams Winter Carnival, the VanCOWver Ephlympics, and the Eph nordic team sealed the weekend with some very impressive races. Sarah Tory was the top women's finisher, with her second best carnival race, in 16th. While Alice Nelson and Kirsten Johnson didn't have their best days of racing, they still finished 19th and 25th to put the women's team in 5th.
In the men's 10km, Dimitri Luthi and Alex Taylor had spectacular races and both finished in the top 5, Luthi in 4th and Taylor in 5th. Luthi was just 13 seconds out of first. With Evan Dethier rounding out the scoring in 21st place, the men captured their top team score of the season in 3rd.
Last night at the Winter Carnival Opening Ceremonies the four ski teams -mens and womens alpine and nordic - put on clever and comedic skits between other a cappella and dance group performances. The men's nordic team poked fun at the men's downhill team and then performed a rap, while the women's team staged interviews with a variety of pop-culture characters whose secret passion was nordic skiing. I don't know about anyone else, but I laughed A LOT. My vote for best character would be Maddy's rendition of Sarah Palin, gone "rogue" by becoming a biathlete. . . .
A successful Winter Carnival for the Eph Nordic Team, and also a successful carnival for the whole of Williams Skiing, as the combined nordic+alpine score put us in a competitive 4th place for the weekend!
Results
Pictures

Maddy Wendt

Alice Nelson

Erik Anderson

Alex Taylor

Dimitri

Sarah, Bud, Maddy, watch live score board for updates as the last of the racers finish.

The women's team waits to perform their skit. Kirsten as Bob Costas, Holly as Carrot Top (Shaun White), Hannah as Miley Cyrus, Maddy as Sarah Palin, Christina as (incoming WIlliams president) Adam Falk, and Sarah as Lady Gaga. It was hilarious.

The men's team rappin' it up on stage

Kirsten (aka Bob Costas) interviews Alice, an avatar

Til next weekend: Keith with mom, Ann, and dad, Bob, Kantack

Women take 3rd, Men just one point off 4th on first day of Home Carnival

Fantastic first day of races for us at our Home Carnival!
It is the VanCOWver Ephlympics theme for the 2010 Winter Carnival at Williams, and despite all the activities and action around campus, the team kept their head in the game and turned in some stellar results in today's 5/10km classic races.
Thankfully the weather held steady, in the mid 20's, despite reports of an impending warm-up during racing hours. It was cloudy, with some snowfall in the morning, but finding kick wasn't too difficult and despite slower, newer snow in the tracks most of the skis were running well.
The men had the first race (sorry, I wasn't able to get pictures because I was waxing the women's skis while Bud was split-timing), which was two laps around our 5km loop. Dimitri Luthi had the fastest first lap of the field, and managed to hold onto his form enough in the second lap for his season's-best result of 4th place, just 2.5 seconds off the podium pace.
Keith Kantack made it two in the top ten, racing into 9th place. Evan Dethier rounded out the scoring with a 17th place finish and Erik Anderson was just behind him in 19th, to put 4 Williams men in the top 20. Unfortunately the field was really close, and SLU squeeked into 4th place as a team just one point ahead of the Williams men. Showdown TBD tomorrow. . . .
The women did not diminish the excitement of the morning, as they put 3 in the top 25 and placed 3rd as a team for the second race in a row (after last weekend's relay podium).
Alice Nelson crossed the line in a near photo-finish with UVM's Jennie Bender, which Alice won by .4 seconds to take 5th. Nice!!!!!!!!!! Kirsten Johnson also made the top ten, with an 8th place finish. Scoring third for our team was Alaskan freshman Christina Knapp, with her season's best finish in 25th place.
Tomorrow: 5/10km skate races. The Heat is On.
Results

Kirsten: into the finish

Christina - harringbone hill up Eph's ascent

Kirsten and Alice in the finish: two in the top-ten!

Women Podium at Dartmouth Relays! Boys 4th!

THIRD PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!! Kirsten, Sarah, Alice
An exciting day for the Ephs: 3x5 skate team relays. On the men's side, Keith Kantack was too sick to race, and Alex Taylor took his position on the anchor leg of Team A, leaving Caleb Lucy and Mark Johnson on the second team to forfeit their last leg.
Dimitri and Caleb, the scramble legs, started fast and took the race lead at 2 kilometers, as the course rounded into the stadium and then back out for another 2.5 km. Dimitri handed off to Evan Dethier 15 seconds off the lead pace, in 4th place. As Dartmouth and Middlebury battled for the lead out front, Evan kept the team holding onto the second pack of skiers battling for 3rd- 6th. He handed off to Alex Taylor who made up some time on the course, picked off a couple teams in front of him, and finished in 4th.
In the women's race, Alice Nelson started conservatively and moved her way up the pack until she handed off to Sarah Tory in 4th place. Sarah kept the team in the running by keeping the podium in sight before handing off to Kirsten Johnson. Kirsten got very sick last weekend after the first race and Saturday was the first test on her body in a week. Feeling strong , Johnson made up the gap to third place over the 5 kilometer course, finishing behind Dartmouth and UVM.
Then the real fun: As usual, during the Dartmouth Carnival, there were Valentine "Carnie Crushes" given out from individual to individual and team to team. Lots of songs, poems, cards, posters, and dances were exhibited - and lots of smiles. :)
Results
Photos (thanks to Deb Nelson for "crush" photos!)

Dimitri and Caleb, leading the first leg of the men's relay - apparently they weren't listening at the coach's pep-talk, where "Pacing" was the theme - but they did provide a real thrill for the Williams spectators to see all that cow print up front!

Evan has second leg, keeps the team in the hunt

Mo-Jo races the pace

Atay brings it home for 4th

Christina

Holly


Men's team receives Valentines from Colby women

Sarah reads her card to Harry, from Bates

Maddy and her Harvard Valentine, Trevor

Alice and women's team receive Valentines from the Harvard Men

Men take 4th for Mass Start Classic at Dartmouth Carnival

It is the Dartmouth Carnival weekend, but the races are being held in Stowe, VT due to insufficient snow in Hanover.
After the first day of races, Williams College is in 5th place (combined with the alpine team scores). Today's races were mass start classic, 15 km for women and 20km for the men.
It wasn't the best day for the women's nordic team, but there were a couple stand-out performances. Freshman Christina Knapp had her best-ever classic race, nearly breaking into the top-30 and Maddy Wendt had her best classic race of the season.
The men had a good set of races overall, putting three in the top fifteen and taking 4th as a team. Dimitri Luthi and Keith Kantack were in the lead pack the whole race, Keith ending in 8th, Dimitri in 9th, and Evan Dethier skiing his way up to 14th place.
Cold day, cold wind, but really gorgeous tracks on a day of blue skies and sunshine.
Results


Sweeeeet tracks.

Alice readies for the start

Women's mass start

Dimitri and Keith at the front of the pack

Evan strides home for 15th

Great Day for Ephs on Day 2, UVM carnival

Both men and women raced 2x5km for Sunday's 10km skate races. One skier every 15 seconds made for heavy traffic around the course, but also exciting spectating (despite the cold and gusty weather).
The women raced first and had to do without one of their top scorers, Kirsten Johnson, as she stayed at the hotel due to sickness. Alice Nelson and Sarah Tory stepped up their game, however, taking 10th and 14th places in the college races. Hannah Hausman rounded out the scoring, in 30th place, and the women's team finished in 5th place.

The men's team also stepped it up, putting FOUR men inside the TOP FIFTEEN. Alex Taylor led the group with a 7th place finish - half a second behind 6th and .4 seconds ahead of 8th. Dimitri Luthi finished in 11th and Keith Kantack in 12th, for a men's team score of 4th, just 6 seconds behind the tie for second place with Dartmouth and SLU.
Mark Johnson was just behind his first three teammates, in 15th.
Results
Photos

Hannah knows how to deal with cold weather

Alice

Atay

Holly and her dad, Warren Whitney, at the finish line

The team with glazed looks: inside the Trapp Family Lodgeafter racing and refueling via a delicious spread: Thanks, Parents!!

UVM Day 1

Some images - only got pics of the mens race, as the womens race was first and Bud and I were still waxing the men's skis. . . .Rest of pics up on Picasa and Results here.

Erik Anderson skis up through the stadium on his way to a second loop. What a gorgeous day.

Ian Nesbitt matches stride for awhile with race winner, Franz Bernstein from UVM

Keith Kantack skis past Spectator Alley.

Dimitri has his race face on.

Caleb Lucy and the hills of Vermont.