Spring training in the desert

Jordan and Nick joined Ben Corwin '15 in Denver and the trio drove to the desert for a few days of exploration. Lots of brush, freezing stream crossings, red canyon walls, sand, and sore feet later, they exited the desert, Ben drove home, and Jordan and Nick returned to the desert to see no more people for another four days. 

 Navigating by quadrangle.

The first wash.

Overcome

Today is the greatest day I have ever been an Eph. Eli Hoenig just skied to a historic 6th place at the Division I National Championships. Jack Schrupp just skied an incredible personal best 24th place. Both have worked so hard all year long focused on this week, this day, this race, this finish. Beyond the race course, these guys are All-Americans too. They're friends and teammates you know you can always count on, who consistently put the team before themselves and who I know will be soft spoken about their victories today. That's why I am bragging for them.

This victory also represents the amazing people at the helm of our ship: Jason and Perry. Eli and Jack definitely had the best skis out there today, from what I could tell, and I know our coaches have been on a caffeine-klister fueled craze since the break of dawn working to make today possible. I know too, that Eli and Jack had the most fearsome cheerers on course today - I'll be surprised if Jason and Perry's voices have recovered by our spring meetings next month. Their heart, their souls, and their bodies too, are in this as much as we are. That kind of commitment is invaluable.

And the team, huddled around their laptops across campus, texting each other back and forth, desperately, hopelessly invested in events they, painfully, cannot control halfway across the country are big players here too. The community that the team has become this year is incredible. I know every single skier not in Steamboat was watching this race. 1500 miles apart or not - this was a team effort.

A team effort that I am proud, and lucky, to a part of. An effort that I won't soon, or ever, forget.

To Eli, to Jack, to Jason, to Perry, to teammates, to parents, to the Williams Skiing community - thank you for always giving your all and making today possible.

With love,

Jordan

NCAA 5/10 Skate Live Stream

Cheer on Eph Skiers Eli Hoenig (bib 20) and Jack Schrupp (bib 33) tomorrow in the 10K NCAA skate race! You should be able to see live coverage here:

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/skiing

Women's 5K at 9AM (11AM EST) and Men's 10K at 10:30AM (12:30PM EST)

Live timing and results should be available here:

http://buffs.me/16ncaaski

Go Ephs!

Pre Race Dinner
All Organic - Check!

Late Night
Test Fleet Waxing - Check!

Regionals to NCAA's

Last weekend, the team was at the EISA Regional Championships, hosted by Middlebury College.  Given the trend in this year’s snow conditions in New England, the Carnival schedule was changed due to heavy rain earlier in the week, with the 5/10k skate on Saturday and the mass start 15/20k classic on Sunday.  All things considered, Rikert was able to host some great ski races, despite some mishaps on a select few icy corners.

Making skis fast!!

On Friday night, the entire EISA league gathered for desserts in one of Middlebury’s illustrious dining halls.  It was at this time that Head Coach Jason Lemieux was awarded the EISA Nordic Coach of the Year.  He was one of four coaches nominated for the prestigious accomplishment.  In a short, sweet, and selfless speech, Jason stated that “behind all of these awards are really talented athletes, and a really good Assistant Coach”.

The man, the myth, the legend.

I’m so proud of Jason, and our Nordic team.  He is the driving force behind our current success.  His positive attitude, focus, and contagious motivation to succeed are catapulting Williams College to the forefront of a very competitive Nordic field.  Our team is that of highly-academic, determined, and down right gritty student-athletes, and we show no sign of slowing down.

I fully believe, that if we work as hard as we can, and push our athletes to work harder, and strive for more, that we will continue to succeed.  It is because of Jason’s zealous attitude toward his job, that I continue to fight for more.  I knew he would win this award because I know I’m not the only coach in this league that feels the same way I do.  He was most deserving of this accomplishment.

With that being said, the Eph’s had a great final weekend of racing.  The men skied first on Saturday, with Jordan Fields skiing an excellent race for 11^th place.  Eli Hoenig finished 13^th place, and Freshman Braden Becker was our third scorer in 20^th place.  Junior Hannah Cole, skied her best skate race of the season finishing 16^th overall.  Hannah Benson was our second finisher in 28^th place, and Sarah Becker rounded out our scorers with a 30^th place finish.

Jordan Fields rippin!

Eli Hoenig getting aggressive!

Braden Becker getting after it!

HC is ferocious!

Hannah Benson sprinting to the finish!

Sarah Becker skiing into the top 30!

On Sunday, our men’s team continued to show their depth and prowess with five in the top 17.  But the highlight was Junior Eli Hoenig sprinting for the win, only to be bested by two inches at the line.  Jack finished with an 11^th place, and Braden was our third scorer in 12^th.  The ladies also skied a gutsy race with Hannah Benson finishing in 15^th place, Junior Tsaina Mahlen in 21^st, and Hannah Cole right behind her in 22^nd.  At the end of the day, Eli garnered a spot on the First Team All-East, and Jack to the Second Team All-East – Rather, Jack was robbed of his spot on the All-East team by a mishap in point calculations.  He was awarded the spot later in the week.

Eli sprinting for the win!

Jack with Braden and Jordan not far behind!

Jordan leading Braden and Nick up the A-climb, with Coach Perry screaming at 'em!!

Hannah Benson is focused!

Tsaina getting cheered on by Rebecca!

Hannah Cole - Look at that technique!!

Eli on the podium at Regional Championships!!

Jason and I are currently in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with our two NCAA qualifiers, Eli and Jack.  Travelling went smoothly, and all our skis and gear made it safe and sound.  We previewed the course yesterday with a super easy skate ski – the air out here at 7000ft is thin!  Despite a few rain showers yesterday afternoon, the snow is holding up well – they have about a two-foot base.  We awoke this morning to a couple inches of fresh powder before Jack and Eli classic TT’d around the 5k race loop – they are looking fast!

Watching World Cup at the airport.

Caught 'em!

Playing catch while Jason gets the rental car...

Not too bad...

Gotta stay hydrated at 7000ft!

SOOO much fun!

Sun's out, gun's out!!

Eli and Jack crushed dinner last night!!

Huge congrats to Freshman Nick Gardner, who crushed the first race at Junior Nationals this morning!!

A Chill Weekend in Quebec

This past weekend, Hannah, Sonya and I roadtripped up to Quebec for a very chill, relaxed weekend of nonchalant World Cup watching. After a mostly smooth eight hour drive on Thursday evening, we arrived at our hotel (courtesy of my parents), and a fresh 16 inches of snow in the streets of Old Quebec. Needless to say, we had a pretty indifferent reaction to the scene, thanks to the boundless amounts of snow we have received in Williamstown this winter.

Sonya on a snowbank

Like the true Williams students we are, we spent the whole next morning working, since going on this great Canadian adventure was not the most academically smart decision. However, we were well rewarded in the afternoon when we somehow were able to ski on the World Cup race courses while all the athletes were warming up/cooling down for their sprint qualifiers. We absolutely did not lose our cool when Alex Harvey skied right by us, and very casually listened in on Sundby chatting about his training philosophy. Two things we learned:

1. "I have so much to learn from others."

2. "I don't train very very hard right before the season starts."

Noted, Sundby, thank you.

Yay, vacation!

Fabulous skiing on the World Cup courses

The rest of the afternoon was spent in glorious sunshine proudly sporting red, white, and blue glitter and American flags, yelling our hearts out for the likes of Johaug and Northug and all our favorite American skiers. Just, you know, a normal weekend. We also enjoyed seeing friends from the EISA circuit and several Williams alums. Seriously, there were so many Americans there, the crowd was pretty similar to that of an Eastern Cup (just wayyy more excited).

Watching the finals with some of our favorite alums/honorary alums

Proud to be Americans! The Quebecois told us that our team was very good

The next day we apathetically skied at MSA, where the snowbanks were eight feet high (this is not and exaggeration). Obviously we've had our fair share of perfect tracks and extra blue skiing this winter, so we were able to contain our excitement. We again spent the afternoon back in the city, where we watched Harvey sprint past Sundby at the finish (the Quebecois were so pumped), and had a prime course-side position to watch Jessie and Sadie crush their way to top tens in the pursuit. We were very proud to have been within 5 feet of Therese Johaug. As you can imagine we were cool, composed and collected the whole time.

The venue

Right next to the course! We were allowed to go inside the fencing, which confirmed that security at World Cups is officially more lax than crossing guards at carnivals (there were no crossing guards at some of the crossing places).

Falla on the last hill

Ustiugov, the tour leader from Russia

Sundby and Harvey working together

Northug on his way to second

Final thoughts about the weekend: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse the outpouring of emotion, I tried to keep it contained. Anyways, for all you ski fans out there, World Cup watching is 100% an amazing experience and was totally worth the long drive from Williamstown. 10/10, would recommend.

Nick Gardner '19 Wins Junior Nationals U20 10K Classic

Nick was U20 National Champion today in the 10K Classic. Way to go Nick!!!

Nick racing at Regional Championships

happy sad

The end of the season pretty much sucks.

There is always cause for celebration, of course. The sun comes out, the food table sags particularly heavy under the weight of excellent collective parenting and klister spreads over everything. 

And don’t get me wrong; this weekend was full of awesome highlights. Both teams ended on high notes. Jay and Perry (by extension) were recognized for their ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WORK. It cannot be overstated how deserving they are of the award- their body of work in the last two years is staggering in weight and depth.

 Kinda like Perry's donut.

But there’s this melancholy that settles over me- and I suspect my teammates. I don’t really know how to react. Despite the season sometimes being taxing and frustrating; despite skiing being an unfair sport and an incredibly hard sport; despite all of the effort it takes to put together five months as a team, we all love it and don’t know how to fill the vacancy.

I think back to my freshman year. I didn’t fully understand the gravity of the moment for Bud when he stepped out of our final team meeting- wordlessly, full of emotion. If three years on the team is anything like 40+ I’m starting to understand what he felt.

PHOTO FINISH - PROOF

Okay, so maybe Jack Hegman did actually lunge ahead of Eli, but it sure was close!!!

Eli Hoenig and Jack Hegman
Photo Finish - Regional Championships
20K Mass Start Classic
Middlebury
March 28, 2016