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.
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| Phil tags off to Keith |
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| Sarah gets hand-off from KJ |
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| KJ gets tag from Maddy |
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| Evan |
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| Ian |
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| Kalle |
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| Isaac |
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| Keith: all energy spent. |
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| Hannah, Christina, Holly, trailside |
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| The sprint course field: a blustery scene for most of the day |
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| Holly hands off to Hannah |
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| Kirsten tries to keep warm while waiting for her next round |
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