I am here in Rumford, Maine for the US Nationals Competition with two Williams freshmen: Vanya Rybkin and Will Wicherski. We are working with Vanya's high school club from Fairbanks, FXC, which is coached by Williams Ski Team Alum Pete Leonard! There is no snow here in Rumford, but the Chisholm Ski Club has been making snow like crazy and has done a great job with maintaining a 1.6 kilometer loop. The course is wide and because of the 0 degree temps last night the course was able to harden up in time for an immense amount of loop-skiing traffic in today's sprint races.
When we arrived two days ago the weather was a balmy 40 of 45 degrees and people were skiing in t-shirts. This morning, however, it was a 10 degree, wicked wind gust of a day.
Will took 56th overall and placed 10th for juniors in the morning's qualification rounds. Vanya was just a half second out of qualifying.
Will skiied smart and stayed out of trouble during his heats: he took first for his quarterfinal, and second in his semifinal. In the final he got boxed out on a mid-race climb and lost contact with the leader, but was able to use the long stretch coming off the last downhill to get himself at the top of the chase pack, finishing second to Austin Cobb.
Next race: Thursday, 15km skate!
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| Will races qualification round |
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| GMVS coach (and racer!) Evan Dethier ('11) |
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| Stratton Coach Liz Kantack ('10) |
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| Will (far left) in semifinal round |
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| Vanya's ski experiences a stabbing |
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