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Monday, February 28, 2011

Williams Triples in Regional Classic: Dimitri in 3rd, Men take 3rd, Williams Qualifies 3!

A couple of new inches of snow overnight made the already-soft tracks even softer for the 15 and 20 kilometer mass start classic races at Black Mountain yesterday. Partly cloudy skies helped keep the temperatures steady, around 20 degrees, so that getting kick on purples and blues was no problem.

The men's race got started first - 4 laps of 5k - and the men put themselves into a good position right off the start line. Dimitri and Keith held strong at the front of the pack, Mark Johnson working steadily right behind them. Dimitri took his turn at the front for awhile before giving the lead to Eric Packer and Scott Patterson, skiing just several meters back for most of the race. Coming into the finishing stadium, Dimitri was in the clear for third place, more than 25 seconds ahead of 4th place and less than 4 seconds behind second place. First individual podium finish of the year for Dimitri and for Williams!

Keith was not far behind, sprinting to the finish line behind UVM's Franz Bernstein for a 9th place. Mark Johnson was in an even tighter sprint to the finish, taking 16th place just at the line. All three scores - the best classic finishes for all three men this season - added up to a third place team finish for the day!!

Finishing the year even stronger than he started, freshman Isaac Hoenig placed an impressive 23rd place.

The women's start was not as clean as the men's, involving several pile-ups which the Williams' women thankfully managed to avoid. Kirsten Johnson had a strong race, battling through the second pack of women to finish in 20th place. Not far behind, her teammates Sarah Tory, Holly Whitney, and Christina Knapp finished in a 29th, 31st, and 32nd pack.

A great day of racing for the team, only made bittersweet by the fact that it was the last race for four of our fantastic seniors.
Dimitri Luthi, Keith Kantack, and Sarah Tory qualified for the NCAA's in Stowe, VT, which takes place two weeks from now. Though Mark Johnson had his best classic race of the season eysterday it was just enough for his NCAA points to TIE with the last man on the list, Harrison Harb of UNH. The tie was then broken by looking at the best result of the season: for Mark it was a 12th, for Harb a 10th. SO CLOSE. But as Coach Fisher remarked in his end-of-the-trip talk to the team, it is not always about the end result, it is about how you got there. Mo-Jo is one of the hardest working and disciplined athletes out there. I am sure we will see him on his race skis again soon!

Thanks again to the parents who helped shuttle gear, feed us, and cheer us on out there! Really amazing to have all those smiles and all that support during the long weekend.

The men's start

Evan

Dimitri finishing

Keith finishing

Mark in a double pole sprint to the finish

women's start

Christina, Sarah

the mens team cheers on the womens team

Kirsten

The coaches and seniors: Bud Fisher, Sarah Tory, Evan Dethier, Keith Kantack, Mark Johnson, Maddy Wendt, Kirsten Johnson, Aubrey Smith

Food Table!!!

Phil: he can do more than just ski fast

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Time, the enemy of Nordic skiers

I'ma go a little Kikkan on you today and give you a Randall-esque short story/long story post, since the Bates day 2 description has to wait on the coaches getting a little well-deserved rest. Enjoy.

The short story:
I signed up for the Stowe Derby. It snowed, and I thought about doughnuts. I missed my start by 20 minutes. Then, I couldn't find the start. It was cold. I fell a lot. Then, I went home.

The less-entertaining story:
Not skiing in carnivals has its ups and downs. Being able to choose which races to attend is a plus. However, not being guaranteed team transportation is certainly a low point. Being home this weekend and looking for an adrenaline rush, I decided to hit up the Stowe Derby. For those not familiar, the Derby is a roughly 18k race with about 5k of super-technical downhill, beginning at the top of Mt. Mansfield and ending in the town of Stowe, VT. It features a (very cold) chairlift ride to the top, and a (very cold) descent into the valley, followed by some of the best rolling groomed terrain in the area and the worst snow-shoveling jobs I have ever witnessed. This year I was the only team member who opted to go—which I was secretly excited about, since it meant I would get to play music at full volume the entire ride without controversy.

Ignoring all the winter weather advisories I saw about Sunday, I packed my bags Saturday evening and woke up early Sunday morning, departing campus in my parents' car around 5:50. I planned to roll into Stowe High School at a leisurely 9:20 and be on a bus to the mountain by 9:45 for my 10:40 start.

About 30 seconds after starting the Prius, I began to regret the way I planned my drive time. There were three inches of soft snow pretty much evenly distributed over the road, which after a while looked a lot like the confectioner's sugar I imagined on the jelly doughnuts being consumed that very moment by the Vermont DOT. This is the kind of snow that insurance companies love, because it is essentially frictionless and completely prevents you from stopping or making turns. Route 7 was a slidefest. I think I saw three accidents before 7:30. When I turned on to Route 4 in Rutland, the supposedly efficient Prius I was driving was getting a flow of gasoline not often seen in NASCAR. In typical Aubrey-esque fashion, I think I used a half-gallon of wiper fluid in the first hour of driving.

The drive took me four hours, during which I probably put my life and the life of my parents' bluebird Prius in danger more times than they want to hear about. (Stopping for yellow lights was literally impossible in the deluge, for example, which I discovered by experience). At 9:58, I literally drifted my way into town. I skidded into the high school and as I was running out of the registration room I failed to hail the shuttle that was on its way out of the parking lot. So I threw my stuff together and jumped on the next bus at about 10:05, expecting it to pull out in three to five minutes so that I could catch my lift in time to make my start. For the next twenty minutes, patrons entering the parked bus looked at me, looked at my number (408) and asked me why I wasn't already coming down the mountain. I explained the decision to drive up from Williamstown the morning of the race, threw in some thinly veiled threats at state snowplow drivers, and tried increasingly hard to keep my patience as more and more time passed. Several times I thought about making a dash for my own car but stopped, reassuring myself that the shuttles must run fairly frequently. Some non-nordic skier dude entered the bus and asked if he could be dropped off at a motel in town, and it was about that moment I knew it was not my lucky day. At 10:26 we pulled out of the high school parking lot, dropped that one dude off at his motel, and meandered through the town and up towards Smugglers' Notch. We got to the base lodge at roughly 10:37 according to the clock on the bus, which left me a solid four minutes and thirty seconds to get to a place a mile and a half away and 2500 feet above me. On the lift I began to feel my body temperature slowly dropping to unhealthy levels, despite my choices of extra windproof and thermal underlayers.

I think the worst part of my day was when, as I neared the end of the lift line at an unknown time after ten a.m., the chair stopped to let some clearly underexperienced alpine skiers hop on the lift in the opposite direction. These two (attractive twenties-looking women, as it were) were clearly nervous that they would miss the opportunity to sit squarely on the chair. So, when it came around to sweep them up, both sat down prematurely and fell immediately onto their posteriors. All parties involved, including both lift operators, consequently burst out laughing for what could only have been a full minute and a half of mirth which in all other situations would have been endlessly amusing to witness. However, being the time-concerned skier I was raised as, I was left with a difficult decision: either wait patiently for the slumber party to end, or jump the roughly ten feet into the powder below and risk equipment and limb in an attempt to save time that I had certainly already lost. Just as I raised the bar and began to assess the drop, the lift operators apparently decided that any more flirting would be unprofessional and restarted the lift. I got out of my chair as quickly as a could and looked around, expecting to see a timing crew, sign, displaced nordic skier, or any hint that I was actually in the right place. Desperate, I tapped on the lift operator's window and asked where the start of the Stowe Derby was. He pointed up towards the end of the main lift, further up the mountain, and said simply, "S'up there." So, I skied up to the top, drawing no shortage of sideways glances from the gravity-obeying patrons. Once again I saw not one iota of anything Nordic. Looking around, however, I did see a "Toll Road" sign, and decided that since that trail was featured in the race description, it was my best bet. So, without a Buff or other face-protecting implement, I finally started racing. The questionable decisions continued.

The race itself was exciting, but not worth rambling about. I will strongly urge future participants not to crash before the end of the alpine area, since bombing at sustained 40 miles an hour with a wet face and hands is roughly equivalent on the pain meter to having an uncontrollable urge to chew thumbtacks. Another thing I will say is that as great as this race's volunteers are, I think they need three minutes of tutorial on where to shovel for maximum effectiveness. One particularly icy corner featured simply a duffel bag-sized mound of powder at the apex, over which I had to do my best imitation of a mogul skier, and one road crossing contained a bit more "road" than "crossing." (I can't imagine how Enman feels about his probably now former pair of race skis). But speaking as a ravenous 20-year-old, it was all totally worth it in the end when skiers were provided with free food and drink at the finish.

Congrats to Dimitri for cementing his dominance this year with a solid podium finish in the 20k!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Evan Dethier Tops with Tenth in Regionals skate

After a very slow drive to Bethel, Maine in the non-stop snow yesterday, we woke this morning to a very sunny and clear horizon. Mild, 20 degree temperatures were offset by cold wind gusts which made it feel much-less-than-balmy, but the stadium at Black Mountain was sparkling brilliantly in the sun.

A half foot of fresh powder and wind blown snow drifts made for soft track, especially in some of the steep uphills. The women had the advantage of getting the first race tracks around the course, starting at 10am and skiing one lap  of 5 km. The men started at 11:30 and skied two laps of the same course: A long downhill followed by a series of uphills back to the stadium. A very tough course in slow conditions!

We had two stand-out performances today: Holly Whitney and Evan Dethier.

A senior,  Evan Dethier led the team by throwing down his collegiate best performance with a 10th place finish. Evan was sick through many of the first races of the season and now looks to be coming into form just in time for the big season closer.

Holly Whitney, a junior, also had a PR performance  today and led the women's team with a 27th place finish. 

Full Results

Evan Dethier

Keith Kantack

Dimitri

The stadium at Black Mountain: Christina races toward the finish

Maddy

Hannah

Sarah sprints up the last hill

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Photos and Fun

Photos:
Dave Dethier (father of Evan Dethier) has taken some awesome photographs these last 4 weekends. He has been so kind to share them with us and so I've uploaded all of them to the Picasa Web Album separated into Carnival folders.    Thanks, Dave!


Fun:
Robby skiing up Chickadee

Dimitri, Evan, Keith skiing up 2290

Woods trails

KJ and Sarah: not sad to be skiing
Prospect was gorgeous yesterday, with several inches of fresh powder, sunshine, and cold track conditions. We will be back there today for some classic speeds!

Class of '15 skiing fast

An incoming frosh-four - Jenna Maddock, Elena Luthi, Hannah Smith,and  Mitch Prevot - have all qualified for the 2011 Junior Olympics, set to take place at the beginning of March in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Congratulations and Good luck!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Team Domination in Hanover Eastern Cup

Props to the members of Team Domination, who represented the Purple Cows at last Saturday's Easter Cup in Hanover, New Hampshire during the Silver Fox Trot 10k classic.  The team was led by Caleb Lucy and Robby Cuthbert, who took 20th and 22nd in a stacked field of 108 racers, while Casey Jones placed in the top half at 52nd place.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Photo of the Day: Williams ski history

I don't recall where I got this photo.  I found it in my files and it says "Ralph, CWK, and Bruce Gagnier". Bruce Gagnier was born in Williamstown and is a Williams Alum, '63.

Pretty sweet.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

10k's and Relays at Middlebury

It was a very cold and windy day for the team sprint relays.  Everyone liked the course, which took a loop around a hilly field across from the Rikert Touring Center in Ripton, Vermont.  The 1km lap took each person just over 3 minutes to race.  Morning snow and blustery winds made for deep drifts over firm base and occasional icy track- difficult conditions under which to perform an all-out effort. Especially when the tag zone and finish was at the top of a sizeable uphill.  

Each team had three racers who took turns racing three laps, and Williams raced two teams of men and women. Women's A team consisted of all seniors: Sarah, Maddy, and Kirsten.  They had a rough start but caught up to the main pack by the end of the race and finished in 9th.  The B team lost a racer  - Christina -  after one lap due to breathing problems, but Hannah and Holly finished out the rest of their race, getting little rest between laps but lots of great speed and interval training.
  The men's A team - Keith, Evan, and Phil - kept up with a very fast-paced field to finish in 5th overall, 4th A-team.  The B-team - Ian, Kalle, and Isaac, also skiied fast and showed their potential by placing 9th of 16 teams.
    Today's race was not scored for NCAA points, it was simply a good way to work on speed and team pride.
Yesterday the team had great 10k skate results under very different conditions.  Yesterday was warm - 50 degrees - and the snow was punchy, dirty, and slow.  Keith and Evan led the men's team with 17th and 18th places, while Kalle, Ian, and Isaac were 27,28, and 31.  Sarah led the women's team with a 22nd place, Hannah Hausman having a PR race in order to score second for the team in 25th, and Christina placing 35th.
Phil tags off to Keith
Sarah gets hand-off from KJ

KJ gets tag from Maddy

Evan

Ian


Kalle

Isaac

Keith: all energy spent.

Hannah, Christina, Holly, trailside


The sprint course field: a blustery scene for most of the day

Holly hands off to Hannah

Kirsten tries to keep warm while waiting for her next round

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Steve Whitham: The Man.

We just can't thank Steve enough for the awesome grooming and ski conditions at Prospect this year. If he is,as he says, "in the business to make smiles", he is rich on happiness from our team alone.
Steve shovels snow on course earlier this winter

Steve in the Paana last week.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Team Domination Dominates USCSA race at Prospect

Congrats to Kalle Jahn for winning the USCSA race here at home this Saturday, and Ian Nesbitt just seconds behind him in second place.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

All Racers finish within top 36 in Mass start classic!

It was an all-around good day to wrap up an all-around great weekend for Williams.

The day was colder than predicted, and the forecasted snow held off, so that the classic waxing was not as challenging as it could have been. We were able to race on pure hard wax with a thick binder underneath to protect against the icy downhill tracks.

The women skiied a lap of the 10k followed by the 5k. The men skied two laps of the 10k. Both courses are hard, but the 10 k loop is especially challenging, as it not only features some very long, steep uphill climbs, but then races through a series of S-turns that are notoriously icy.

The one casualty was a bruise-bearing fall had by Kirsten Johnson, several k from the finish. Though the fall cost her some places, she managed to finish within the points, at 29th place. Our top women's result came from Sarah Tory, who had a solid start and stayed tough throughout the race, fighting down the finish line to 19th place. Holly Whitney was our third score on the women's side, coming in at 33rd. Right behind her Christina Knapp and Hannah Hausman finished in 34th and 36th.

The men's team place of 4th did not tell the impressive feat of having all 6 men finish within the top 29!!The  mass start was clean, and Dimitri and Keith skiied with the lead pack, a tight 13 skiers,  around the first lap.  Dimitri ended up right in that pack, finishing in 11th, while Keith was not far behind in 15th.  Mojo and Evan sprinted through the stadium past a Bowdoin skier to finish 19th and 20th, while Isaac and Phil were close behind in 22nd and 29th.

The team was fueled well thanks to a fantastic spread of Greek hors d' oevres, Italian pastas, and American Apple-pie (as well as the best homemade baklava) via the kitchen of Tor and Anna Tosteson. What a treat!!

We also saw several ski team alums on the sidelines who cheered us on: Kirsten Froberg-Gleason was there with her two daughters, Una and Madeline, and Tim Stickney was also wearing the purple cow suit in the cheering section.

Of course, the day was not over after the finish of the races. It was the Carnie-Crush weekend, which meant handing out Valentines and reading poetry to the chosen few who were lucky enough to get a hand-made card from an Eph.  It was quite a scene, with various teams and individuals regaling their valentines with praises and propositions.

Kirsten and Sarah (and Holly in background) charge with the pack up the first set of hills

Former Williams skier, Kirsten Froberg Gleason and Coach Fisher with Kirsten's daughters.

Dimitri and Keith at the front of the pack up the first hills

Keith rounds the corner into the stadium to the finish

Mark and Evan sprint to the finish line

Mark, Isaac, Phil swap battle stories in the finish chute

Kristen, Sarah, Holly, KJ get read a Valentine

Maddy reads a Valentine to Sean Woods of Bates
Eating dinner at the Tosteson's house

Friday, February 11, 2011

Men take 3rd (again!) at first day of Dartmouth Carnival

The temperature hovered just above 0 F when the men showed up at Oak Hill for their 10km skate race this morning. Though snow is usually slow at these cold temperatures, the old-snow track was granular, hard-pack, and fast.

A boon for spectators and racers alike was the fact that the sun warmed the stadium considerably by the start of the first race, though much of the race course was in the woods.
Both races were held on a very skiable - but tough - 5km course, the men completing 2 laps and the women racing one lap.

Though our Swiss stud, Dimitri Luthi, posted the top result of the day with a smoking 7th place,sophomore Phil Tosteson had the Race of the Day.  A native of this part of New Hampshire, Phil skiied to a PR 15th place on his "home" course.

The fact that Phil placed 15th and was our 4th finisher said a lot about the great day of racing our men's team had.  Behind Dimitri, seniors Keith Kantack and Mark Johnson finished in 11th and 12th place, Keith missing 10th place by just 1.3 seconds.

Sarah Tory was the women's top finisher, in 17th.  In a 5km which took just over 14 minutes, Tory was just a tenth of a second behind 16th and 10 seconds out of the top 10.  Kirsten Johnson was our second score, in 28th place, and Hannah Hausman came back from a stint of sickness to place just outside the points, in 31st.

After the first day of racing, Williams is in 5th place for both nordic and alpine-combined scores. 

Full Results
Phil Tosteson gets a split from Coach Fisher on a way to his career-best finish.

Dimitri Luthi laps through the stadium
Keith Kantack rounds the corner to the finish

Isaac Hoenig out of the starting gate

Hannah Hausman gets a split from coach Fisher

Sarah Tory tries to pick up seconds on the last climb

Kirsten enjoys some post-race grub while Dave Dethier checks in to see that all is good.

Maddy Wendt with proud grandparents from Minnesota: Diane and Bob.