We have a few days off in between the spring semester and winter term, so right after the showdown in Jackson a few of the guys from the team headed to East Burke, VT to Mitch's house to unwind and have fun before the work gets started again. Turns out we have been doing things on skis basically nonstop since we got there; alpine, cross country and sessioning jumps in his backyard. It's been awesome but not as relaxing as we intended.
Patty, Will & Erik kriss kross skiing at Willoughby Gap.
Mitch, Erik and Will stoked on the alpine skiing at Burke Mtn
Mitch and Patty shredding Powerlines and getting face shots.
We traveled to Jackson, New Hampshire this weekend for the EISA races hosted by UNH. It was a treat to stay trailside at the historic Eagle Mountain House, along with many of the other league teams. A dump of wet snow Thursday night provided a much needed blanket for the sparsely covered trails at the Touring Center, but that heavy precipitation turned into sleet, ice pellets, and rain as the morning dawned and temperatures rose. So the morning of classic sprints held its share of frustrations for finding the right ski and kick combination as the track became alternating slow/wet/icy and the steep uphill track on the 1km course was mostly wiped out. Dimitri, Kalle, Phil, Kristin, Elena, and Jenna all made it into the quarterfinal rounds, with Erik, Vanya, and Holly just outside the qualification numbers. Phil then had an impressive sprint finish in his quarter to edge into second place and qualify for the semifinals. Though he didn't advance out of the tough semifinal, he ended the day in an impressive 11th place.
The next day was a much needed respite for weather, dawning clear, sunny, and unseasonably warm. The day's events were slated as Mass Start 15 and 20 k races. A mass start is always exciting, and the Jackson course with its bottle-neck uphill, "the wave" (including several rolls that a racer can catch air on) and tight S-turns (more challenging with mushy snow conditions!) proved its share of spills and thrills. Though our team experienced several crashes and broken poles we still came out of the day with several PR's and an overall team score of 5th! Elena led the women's team with an 11th place finish, Holly grabbing a carnival PR with 26th, while Hannah Hausman and Hannah Smith finished together in 32nd and 33rd. In the men's race Will sprinted to the finish to grab 8th place with Dimitri close behind in 11th and Phil finishing 28th. Overall a great weekend for the team! And congrats to women's alpine for scoring 2nd in the slalom!! Results
Parents escape the rain
Phil gets the edge on a sprint finish to qualify for the semis
Jenna sprints off the start line in her quarter
The Luethi's bring chocolate from Switzerland to the food table!
Becca climbs first hill out of mass start
The Hannah's round the last corner to the finish line
Men's skis get ready for a rill
A sea of racers up the first hill in the men's mass start
Will leads men's finish with 8th place
Mitch in sprint finish
Dimitri, Kalle, Mitch, and Dick Nesbitt enjoy the post-race food table
A perfect morning for a classic ski: cold, with lightly falling, airy snow: straight up, blue kick wax weather. When you put 100 racers into a mass start, 10 k race, you better believe there is going to be some gritty racing! The pace was tough from the get-go, and never let up, as racers fought for position around the double tracked, 3.3 k course. There were some spills and thrills - Ian, Hannah, and Patrick all got their taste of that action - but it was to be expected in such a fast-paced format. The men's race was just under and the women clocked just over 30 minutes.
The men started the day off in fine style: Dimitri and Will getting into good positions right off the start and skiing in the lead dozen for the entire race. The huge pack of front-running racers barely broke up until the finish stretch into the stadium, where Dimitri managed to sprint for 6th, just 3 seconds off the podium, and Will came in seven seconds after that, in 11th place. Vanya had a great race as well, sprinting in a large pack of skiers to take 24th place and rounding out our scoring squad to put the men in 4th place. Isaac also placed within the top 30, at 27th, and Phil and Ian came in at 37th and 38th.
In the women's race, Elena put in a solid showing with her first mass start EISA race by placing 29th, her teammates packing the scoreboard behind her with Kristin in 35th, Hannah Smith and Holly Whitney in 36th and 37th.
HUGE SHOUT OUT TO THE WOMEN"S ALPINE TEAM!! Headed by Geordie Lonza in SECOND place and Laurel Carter in 6th, Shannon Campbell in 14th, the women really rocked the cow and placed FIRST as a team in the Slalom. Sweet!!!
Our course preview on Thursday at Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine, was on the hardest, fastest tracks possible; those conditions changed drastically after 5 inches of fresh powder fell overnight! The trails at Black Mountain were instantly "winterized", a blanket of sharp, crystalline-ly slow snow covering the slick man-made base. The women's 5 k individual start skate races started promptly at 10am with our own Holly Whitney wearing Bib #1. As an "open" carnival (teams are able to enter as many skiers as they wish) the field was over 100 competitors deep. Our women proved they were a pretty tight-knit unit by stacking 5 within 10 places; Hannah Hausman led the team with a 27th place, Elena Luthi and Hannah Smith in 30 and 31, Christina Knapp and Holly Whitney in 35 and 36.
In the men's race, freshman Will Wicherski set the stage in his first college race by breaking into the coveted top ten! Junior Ian Nesbitt had his best college race to date by grabbing 20th place. As the third scorer Isaac Hoenig, in 29th place, ensured a 4th place team finish for the men. Results
I learned from '10 Alum Alice Nelson (who got to witness the races) that MoJo was at the North American Biathlon Championships in Jericho, VT this last weekend where he won both the sprint and the 15 k mass start. This has earned him a berth onto the 3-man team that will race at the European Championships in central Slovakia later this month!!
Mark has had a great season, so far. After graduating last year, he spent the summer training for biathlon in his hometown in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Through several early season races he qualified for the IBU Cup team, but because of team funding shortages was not allowed to travel, so he is psyched to have a definite spot on this current team.
The Championships will be held in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia from January 27 til February 2nd.
GO MO-JO!!!!!!!!!
Mark Johnson zeros in his rifle (photo stolen off his now-discontinued blog)
