Back to the West

    After a few days home from finals I managed to get off the couch and start driving west. I stopped to spend a few days in New York state and enjoy the amazing diversity it has to offer. Among the notable activities was a dinner date in Syracuse:

     From New York I drove west for a couple of days. I managed a stop at the Badlands for some crazy running and then in Jackson, Wyoming for a nice June ski at 10000':

PSA: skate & kick wax are both dead:

I will only be skiing on Twin Skins for the next two seasons.

     I finally made it out to Sun Valley and have dug into some much needed training. Lucy and Carmen also decided to make the trek out here so we have a solid Williams Skiing presence in the training group. This weekend we had a big day in the Pioneer Mountains just outside of town. Note the distinct lack of ticks, mud, and vegetation that obstructs views:

    Excited to see everyone in September!

Hello all!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. I am enjoying being here in St. Paul, Minnesota. I got to start my summer with a nice little drive back to Minnesota with our friend Nick (see photos below). Once I got home I joined a group of college skier women who are all back for the summer, one of these people is Ingrid! (see photo below) I've been enjoying getting to see Ingrid everyday, and having the opportunity to train with a great group of women. It's been also nice to get to spend some quality time with my family.

For my work at the Conflict Resolution Center I went through a certified mediation training last week, and learned some really cool skills for conflict solving, and listening to people. I am learning a lot at work about restorative justice and mediation. Right now I am working on a project in collaboration with a lot of other organizations with the goal of keeping people housed in Minneapolis and using mediation as a tool to accomplish that through pre-eviction mediation.

Nick was feeling sleepy after a late arrival to the campsite so I went and skipped some rocks on Lake Erie alone.

Just walking in some sand dunes in Indiana.

And we made it back to Minnesota!

Before my friend Ingrid came back to ski with me, I found another training partner following me on my cool down.

Loving getting to hang out with Ingrid! Here we are feeling happy at the gas station.

Last week we did some running speeds. It's pretty sweet to have Minneapolis in the background and be able to be getting on some great trails!

Hoping everyone is enjoying some summer activities, some relaxing, and some nice summer sunsets.

Love,

Elowyn

Grandma's Marathon

On June 17th I ran Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.

Here I am before the race with a parent from my high school track team, Pete, who also ran.

Here I am mid race. I ran a screamin' fast first 22 miles at 2:42 pace feeling great, but the last 4 were unimaginably slow. Perhaps I flew too close to the sun, or at least some part of my preparation or nutrition was insufficient because at mile 22, I slowed to an 8:30 mile, then a 9:00, then two 10:00 miles to finish the race hobbling/shuffling to the finish. Even though I packed it in in a big way I still managed to run a 2:55:51, which is nothing to shake a stick at.

As long as a racer finished they got a complimentary beverage, which was not a bad way to finish the race. Here I am at the finish replenishing my electrolytes.

Here I am taking some five minutes to get down stairs to lake superior for a post race ice bath. It's three days later today and my legs still don't quite work normally.

Now it's off the feet and back to the wheels to put in big volume for this next winter, slated to be yet another historic season.

Rock the cow!

Nick

Wassup

Hey ski fam! I'm writing to you from frat row at Tufts, the classy neighborhood I'm living in this summer while interning in Boston. Even though I'm technically still in Mass, I feel pretty far away from Williamstown and I miss the Purple Valley and all of you.

While I've mostly been pounding the pavement for training (believe it or not roller skiing  in downtown Boston is kind of a no go...), I have found some cool trails in the area. Due to my geographical disability, I save explorations for after work. Let's just say there was a rush hour traffic incident my first week which viewed through the rose-colored glasses of retrospection could be called an "adventure," but which was really just traumatic. I've sort of recovered.

Nature.

Not bad, eh?

Besides crazy Boston commuting, my internship has been going really well. For those who don't know, I'm interning at OpenBiome, a non-profit which provides fecal transplants through the only national stool bank and also catalyzes research into the human microbiome. Yeah, you read that right. The national stool bank. That's a thing and it's actually some really cool sh*t (the office totally embraces the potty jokes). This week I had the opportunity to attend a conference about the changing landscape of healthcare and the role of technology in shaping medicine. There were some big nerds names there, including Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute, one of the co-founders of the CRISPR technology. I had a total fan girl moment which hopefully my other D3 homies will understand. We even rode the elevator together!! I almost asked him for a pic together for the blog, but then chickened out and opted for a high-quality stealth photo instead.

Feng in the flesh

This past week we had a heat wave that can only be described as disgusting. It was over 95˚ three days in a row. With no AC or fan on the second floor of an old house, I had to resort to some extreme measures to stay cool, including freezing my pajamas before going to bed. Wouldn't recommend. 

Hot in hurr

That's the update for now, but I'll keep you posted as shenanigans develop. Adjusting to city life has certainly been a change, and it's made me realize how much I take for granted. In particular, I've realized just how lucky I am to be surrounded by such supportive, motivated, and inspiring teammates every day at school. I'm heading to Williamstown this weekend and can't wait to see Reb, Sony, and JFields. Hit me up if you're in town! I miss y'all and hope everyone is doing well. 

Big love & rock the cow, 

Becker

City views

Jack Schrupp here, writing from LA (that is Lewiston-Auburn not Los Angeles). As part of my honors thesis I am getting to know members of the local Franco-American community as well as francophone African refugees and asylum-seekers.

For those of you who haven't heard, Perry Thomas, my assistant coach of three years, is moving on to UVM. He will be missed, and I know he will miss us (although not when we're walking all over UVM this upcoming season).

Looking forward to long summer. God bless.

Graduation

It's hard to believe that the class of 2017 has completed four years at Williams already! The past week was full of festivities and celebrations, culminating in graduation yesterday.

Luke addressing friends and family
at the Costley residence on Friday

Celebratory Fireworks
The kids LOVED being so close
to the action

Full house at the
Senior Athlete Reception

CONGRATULATIONS TO HANNAH COLE
Recipient of the Class of 1925
Scholar Athlete Award

CONGRATULATIONS TO ELI HOENIG
Recipient of the Purple Key Award

2017 Graduation
This is the first year the ceremony
was held at the old location of
Sawyer Library

After Graduation Chaos

What an amazing ride it has been! Thank you seniors Hannah Benson, Hannah Cole, Luke Costley, Jordan Fields, Hans Halvorsen, Eli Hoenig and Tsaina Mahlen. You've all had a huge impact on Williams Skiing and are leaving behind a legacy of hard work, passion and friendship that will live on for years to come. Congratulations to you all! 

Mt. Hope

What an incredible four years it has been with this group. Simply too much to put into words. Thank you Hans, Hannah, Eli, Tsaina, Luke, Hannah and Jordan for an awesome four years at Williams!

Parents Are The BEST

With ski season over, and everyone looking forward to warmer weather, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people that work tirelessly behind the scenes to help make the Williams Nordic team what it is.  Whether it's tossing feeds to zooming skiers, planning and organizing the elaborate and delicious food table, taking pictures and video of every race, or screaming at our skiers on the race course, our athlete's parents, simply put, are the best parents.

I know not every parent can make it to the Carnival races, but even those that have other obligations, or live on the total opposite side of the country, seem to find ways to help contribute to the Williams Nordic family, and we thank you!  That being said, I'm always astounded when our athlete's parents from the West and Mid-west show up to a weekend of racing, sometimes on short notice, or as a surprise to their child mid-race.

There are a select few parents that can't be thanked enough, as they've gone above and beyond what's expected, and as their children will be graduating this Spring, they'll be sorely missed next season.  

First, Emily and Peter Benson: Emily did an amazing job organizing the food table this past winter, complete with a spreadsheet food sign-up, and race info for all the parents.  On top of that, Emily was also active in the feed zone on mass start day, and more than willing to help out with any other tasks. Like Emily, Peter was also always willing to help, and was the handyman of all handymen.  If we needed gas for the generator, Peter drove to the gas station to get it.  If we needed someone to carry spare poles onto the course, or brush out race skis before the start, Peter was our guy.  If we needed someone to videotape every Williams skier at every race for the past four years, Peter would just ask where on the course he should video.

Cathy Schen and Peter Hoenig: Cathy and Peter have been at every single Carnival race for the past seven years.  Peter has taken pictures of every single Williams skier at every race, and is the reason why we have such great action shots for the Williams media and Athletics website, as well as photos for our race report blogposts and Instagram/Facebook page.  Cathy was highly active with the food table organization, set-up, and food supply.  She could often be seen in the feed zone during mass start races, and was more than helpful with any random tasks or duties we needed.

Tom and Liz Costley:  Tom and Liz have been awesome contributors to the food table, including some delicious chilis and soups.  You could always see them zipping around the race course cheering on all of our athletes, and are some of the smiliest and cheerful people at every venue.  If the coaches ever needed a coffee, Tom or Liz would be there asking if we wanted cream and sugar before our mugs were even empty.  They were also greatly helpful and hospitable when we decided to stay in Williamstown for our Thanksgiving camp, and hosted the team for Thanksgiving dinner.

Michelle Fields: Though pulling double duty, as Michelle also has a son on Colby's team, she remained loyal to the Williams' food table, and was very helpful when it came to organizing the food and supplies, setting up and breaking down the food table, making sure the soups and chilis stayed hot, and suppling some delicious food for us to enjoy.

Diane and Andreas Halvorsen: Diane and Andreas have contributed so much to the Williams ski team, as Andreas was a member when he was in school here, and now all three of their kids have come through the Nordic program (Heidi will be a senior next year).  The team always loves having dinner at their house in Stowe during the UVM Carnival, and Diane always contributes some amazing foods to the food table.

Tawny Nicolaysen: It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise when Jason and I arrived back to our waxing trailer in Steamboat last year at NCAA's to find a bag of goodies courteous of Tsaina's mom. It was also great to see Tawny this year at the Middlebury Carnival, to see he daughter's last couple of races of her collegiate career, and to enjoy some smoked salmon and reindeer sausage from Alaska.

Linda and Matthew Cole: Linda and Matthew were at almost every race, and were huge contributors to the food table.  They were there at Regionals this past winter to see Hannah's last races of her collegiate career, and Linda was always willing to drive to Williamstown at 4am so that Hannah could hop in the van to Mont Sainte Anne every year.

The feed zone: Cathy Schen (Blue hat) on the far left, and Emily Benson (Green jacket) on the far right, offering feeds to Tsaina followed by Ingrid.

Coach Jason and a few of the boys enjoying the Parent's amazing food table.

SO many helping hands and hungry skiers!

Linda Cole, Emily Benson, Peter Benson, and Luis Bango.

Nick and his dad Jamie Gardner: Always great to see our Minnesota contingent venture out East for a few races!

Cathy Schen and Emily Benson brace the winter storm at Colby last year while also counting laps for our skiers!

Emily Benson, Cathy Schen, and Paul Becker in the feed zone at a frigid Dartmouth Carnival last winter!

John Harrington and Troy Schrupp manning the food table at Middlebury last year!

David Dethier wears many hats in association with the Nordic team, including Chief of Course at our home Carnival, our team's faculty affiliate, personal geologist and weather forecaster, among many others...but that's a whole other blogpost!

Senior Hans Halvorsen getting creative with the bagel toaster - there's definitely no lack of creativity at the food table!

Nick Gardner '19, Eli Hoenig '17, and Jordan Fields '17 enjoying food from the best parents food table in EISA!!

All 22 athlete's parents made it to at least one weekend of racing this past winter!

THANK YOU PARENTS!!!

NCAA's 2017

I know this post is a little delayed, but I'm just now recovering from a wild and crazy season!  NCAA's was a great finish to a historic season for Williams Nordic, and I guarantee it will be remembered and talked about for a long time.  I'm already fired up for next year, and building upon what we accomplished this year.

With the three NCAA boys (Jordan, Eli, and Braden) settled into the Benson's guest house, and soon followed by Jason and myself, we skied into the Monday before the first race feeling like we were back in Steamboat, Colorado.  Bluebird skies, 40 degrees, and plenty of snow!  However, we knew the nice, Spring-like weather wouldn't last.

The night before the 10k, every weather report was forecasting something different.  Essentially, we weren't sure if it was going to snow a little, snow a lot, be above freezing or below, or be blowing wind.  That morning we awoke to blowing snow, and by the time we got to the truck, it was sunny.  This pattern went on all morning, and created quite possibly the most stressful wax testing I've ever experienced.  With bullet proof icy tracks, slowly filling with fresh powder, we didn't know whether we should wax with straight klister, klister-covered, straight hard-wax, or prepare the skate skis for double-poling.  Luckily, we were able to come up with a solid wax job right before the start that put them in the mix.

Eli skied a great race to finish just outside of the top-10 in 11th place!

Braden skied an impressive first NCAA race for 15th place - 14seconds from All-American!!

Jordan had a solid classic race to finish 32nd overall!

With one race down, we looked to rest and recover before the 20k skate on Saturday.  And by rest and recover, I mean do homework every waking second that we weren't skiing, eating, or sleeping.  Not only do these guys ski hard and train hard, but they work REALLY hard in school as well, and it's super impressive!

On Saturday, we awoke to frigid temperatures - 0-5degrees F, and 30mph gusts.  It was a cold one!  Luckily no one was phased by the cold, and the boys skied an awesome final race.  The pace was fast from the gun.  Jordan and Eli skied most of the race around 10th-15th place, with Braden not far behind.

Start of the men's 20k.

Jordan skied a gutsy race, leading a chase pack for much of the second half, ultimately finishing 12th!

Eli skied an awesome race to finish 15th!

Braden continued to impress in his first NCAA Championship finishing in 21st.

The five guys! They finished 6th as a men's team in the whole country! 1st NESCAC school, 2nd EISA school!

Upon returning back to campus from NCAA's, most of New England was gifted with a healthy snow storm, Prospect included of course.  I've been skiing everyday, as the 40F weather, and perfect conditions at Prospect are too amazing not to ski.  

Perry

Spring Break!

We made it! After a couple long car rides, 2 planes, and a day in Oslo, the men's team (minus Hans, plus Jordan's brother Zane) is in the Lofoten Islands of Norway.

Sunrise in Oslo, heading to the airport - early morning flight up into the Arctic Circle

Snow storm rolled through and dropped 1 foot+ of snow. Skiing will be awesome the next few days! We're all starting to smell like cod after checking out a cod drying rack (center of pic).

We're staying in a pretty isolated cabin out at the end of a peninsula. Cheesy pasta for dinner. 

Everyone's psyched to explore the islands this week. More updates to follow...

-Evan