Last one, fast one!

Jay and I are testing 13 different glide waxes/pure fluoros for this weekends races at Lake Placid...Our skis are going to be rocket ships!

Gearing Up for Regionals in Lake Placid

The skiing has continued to impress at Prospect and we had a great uphill skate interval workout on Saturday in preparation for the races this weekend. Everyone is pumped to end the regular carnival season on a high note!

When conditions allow we've also had a few
easy skis on the golf course

A picture from my phone of Luke getting
ready to start at Middlebury

Perfect tracks leading to somewhere

The powder skiing at Prospect has
been outstanding

Jayvin climbing the new race downhill

Summit of Prospect on 2/22/15

Skiing the terrain park is FUN!

STAY TUNED FOR EISA CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS. Looks like it's going to be another cold one!

Great Skiing at Prospect!

The team did some short speeds yesterday at Prospect.  The Carnival circuit is taking a break from racing this weekend.  We'll be at Regional Champs at Lake Placid in a week and a half!

Snowy Prospect!

Sarah Becker during a speed.

Coach chases Luke and Will.

Midd Carnival

The team rolled in to Middlebury Thursday afternoon.  Since the kids are back taking classes and doing smart things, we took two different vans so as to allow those that have class all day Thursday to actually go to class.  I don't really understand this whole "I have to go to class" thing.  I barely went when I was in school and look at me now!  Anyways, I drove the 1pm van, and my crew made it to Rikert just in time to ski through a complete blizzard.  After our ski, we drove down the hill to our hotel, where we checked-in and showered before heading to dinner.  Apparently, I'm really good looking because a bunch of girls came up to our table at dinner and asked for my phone number.  Ok, it was only one girl, and she may or may not have been dared to ask for my phone number...

With the whole team back together at the hotel, Jason and I broke the news that Friday's races would be delayed until 1 and 2pm because of the cold forecast.  Everyone was pretty upset that they had to sleep in, including Jay and I - Not!  I think I slept until 8am.  It was glorious.  Both men and women did a 10k classic individual start race on Friday.  With the women starting first, our top finisher was Hannah Cole in 12th place.  Olivia was our second finisher in 21st, and Hannah Benson was our third scorer in 28th.  One the men's side, Will skied to an 11th place finish, with Jack in 20th, and Jordan in 24th.

Hannah Benson climbs for a 28th place finish.

Heidi (50th place overall) strides up one of the really tough hills at Rikert.

Tsaina cruises to 32nd.

Eli (25th place) powers up one of the climbs.

Luke (55th place) takes one of the downhill corners with some speed.

Jordan scores some points for the team with a 24th place.

Saturday consisted of a 5k skate for the women, and a 10k skate for the men.  Though it wasn't as cold as Friday, it still felt pretty cold with some fresh snow falling throughout the day.  For the women, Hannah Cole earned a top-10 with an 8th place finish.  Tsaina finished a great race for 14th overall, and Hannah Benson was our third scorer in 21st.  For the men, we had Will in 13th place, with Eli not far behind in 15th.  Jordan was our third finisher in 20th.

Sarah Becker skies to 44th place.

Hannah Cole cruises to 8th place.

Olivia skates to 32nd.

Eli getting some glide.

Jack climbs to 22nd place.

Will hammers to 13th place.

Eli, Coach, Jordan, Jack, and Luke after their race Saturday.

Thanks again to all the parents that came out in the bitter cold with copious amounts of food and cheering.  Thanks to Peter Hoenig for all the pictures, and Peter Benson for taking video for us to analyze afterwards.

Last one, fast one!  Regional Championships at Lake Placid Feb. 27 and 28th.

Perry

Results:
Middlebury Carnival Results

Too Easy

Easy ski on campus as the team gets ready for Middlebury Carnival this weekend!!

It's Not Even Valentines Day! - Dartmouth Carnival/Carni Crush

Unfortunately, the one year that Hanover, NH actually has a lot of snow, Dartmouth still has their Carnival in Craftsbury.  Given that Craftsbury is in the middle-of-nowhere, Vermont, the team opted to stay in Stowe where the accommodations are much more accommodating.  And by that I mean there's actually places to stay other than the always booked Craftsbury Outdoor Center.  So!  Thursday, we made the trek to Stowe where we made a quick pitstop at the Halvorsen's for a beautiful afternoon ski on their amazing trails.  Jason and I were so excited, we hammered along the trails for an hour, never dropping below L3.

After our lovely ski, the team headed to our home-away-from-home: The Hob Knob.  Luckily, my van was one of the first ones there because the last time we stayed at the Hob Knob, some of the boys thought it would be a good idea to put lotion all over every single doorknob in my room, as well as short-sheet my bed.  And they wonder why their skis are so slow...

Friday's race was a combined Carnival and Supertour skate sprint.  The top thirty overall in the qualifier move on to the heats.  Hannah Benson qualified in 23rd place among some of the elite women in the nation.  She finished the day in 19th overall, which was good enough for a 9th place finish among college skiers.  Heidi and Hannah Cole were our two other scorers for the day, finishing in 22nd and 30th in the college field.

Heidi during the qualifier on Friday

Benson (Second from right) at the start of her quarterfinal, which turned out to be of all collegiate women.

Sarah Abramson during the qualifier

Rebecca during her qualifier - 46th for College

On the men's side we had Jack qualifying in 24th and Will in 29th overall.  They both moved onto the next round with some of the nations best where they ended the day in 23rd and 24th, which was good enough for 9th and 10th place among college skiers.  Luke Costley was our third scorer for the day in 20th place.

Ben during the qualifier.

Hans just barely missed qualifying and ended the day in 39th overall.

Luke cruises to his first top 20 collegiate race in 20th place.

Friday's skate sprint was really fun and exciting, but I think most people were more excited about Saturday's 10k skate race and their Carni-Crushes.  But before Carni-Crush ensued, both Williams men and women had a huge day.  On the men's side, Will skied to a 7th place finish as he pulled Eli to an 11th place finish.  Jack skied to a career best 12th place finish.

Will and Eli skied most of the race together

Jordan skied a great race to finish 17th

Jack skis to a career best 12th

Josh V2's over the top of a climb.

Vanya skies to 27th place for college skiers

The women's team, likewise had a great day!  Skiing through a tough field of Supertour and Eastern Cup racers, Hannah Cole stole 10th place for college skiers, with Hannah Benson not far behind in 12th.  Tsaina skied to a career best 14th place finish.  The women's team finished sixth for the day, but were only three points away from beating UVM and Bates for fourth place.

Sarah Becker skied an awesome race Saturday!

Benson skis to 12th place.

Eliza powers up one of the climbs at Craftsbury

Hannah Cole skis to another top 10

Olivia skis to 37th place in the Carnival

Tsaina skies to a career best 14th

After the races, all the skiers gathered into a big crowd to present their Carni-crushes with poems, pictures, and valentines of love, lust, and longing.  That's the "PG" version of that sentence, and as lightly as I could put it.  Meanwhile, Jason and I packed up the truck and waited in the vans for the team to secede from the onslaught of vulgar poems and pictures.

Can't tell if they're getting ready for their race, studying, preparing for Carni-crush, just relaxing, or all of the above...

I'm pretty jacked up on all these good vibes from the the team right now!  Four down, two to go.  This weekend is at Middlebury.  Many thanks to all the parents!  So much support, help, food, cheering, and love!

SNOW!!!!

Perry

Dartmouth Carnival - Day 1

The skiing at the Halvorsen's yesterday was amazing! Dartmouth carnival today and tomorrow! Skate sprint today - we had three Ephs qualify in a tough Supertour/collegiate field. Hannah Benson, Jack Schrupp, and Will Wicherski were our top finishers for the day. 10k skate for both men and women tomorrow. Wahoooooooo!

Gotta Have Fun Sometimes

Coach Jay, Will, Eli, and Jack gettin some air at Prospect!!

St Mikes

After driving for three hours through the middle of nowhere Vermont, we made it to Sleepy Hollow ski area in Huntington.  The course was slightly different from what I remember when I raced at Sleepy Hollow five years ago.  They took out some significant climbs, to the dismay of some of our more climbing inclined skiers.  The trails are still fairly narrow, which I suppose is why we opted to have both race days on classic skis.  Though, as it turns out, a couple racers brought skate skis for Friday's race and ended up double poling the entire 10k.  It was pretty impressive to watch.

Another snow storm rolled through late Thursday night and all of Friday.  So there was some pretty interesting conditions for Friday's 5/10k classic individual start races.  The waxing became kind of tricky as the new snow got skied into the tracks.  The women raced first around the 5k loop with Hannah Cole as our first finisher in 16th.  Hannah Benson raced to a 25th place, and Tsaina Mahlen was our third scorer in 29th.  The women had five in the top 31 with Heidi and Olivia finishing right behind Tsaina in 30th and 31st respectively, and Jenna ended the day in 52nd place.

Hannah Cole leads the way for the Ephs in Friday's 5k classic for 16th place.

Hannah Benson powers into the finish.

Tsaina is all smiles right before her start.

The men's team also pulled through the blizzard-like conditions for another successful day.  Eli and Vanya finished the day, both getting career bests in 5th and 8th place respectively.  Jack also skied to a career best 17th place for our third scorer.  Will made it four in the top twenty with a 20th place finish, Jordan was 41st, and Luke ended the day in 48th.

Eli gets a split from Jason that he's two seconds out of fifth place with less than half a kilometer to go - the kid has some wheels because he put the hurt on Rogan Brown to steal fifth from him.

Vanya hammers into the finish

Jack skied in the top 10 for much of the race - here he is redlining.

Trying to figure out how to work the damn thing!

On Saturday, we awoke to bluebird skies and frigid temperatures.  It turned out to be a beautiful day, and a really exciting race as we fielded three super strong mixed relay teams for the 4x3k classic relay.  The team of Hannah Benson, Vanya, Hannah Cole, and Eli skied to fifth place.  Tsaina, Luke, Jenna, and Jordan followed that up with an impressive 10th place finish, and Heidi, Will, Olivia, and Jack ended the day in 14th.  The first two teams from each school score, and Williams ended the day in fourth place overall.  We were only three points behind Dartmouth in third place.  It was a really fun and challenging weekend at the St. Mikes carnival, and the team continues to show its prowess, strength, and depth.  Everyone is excited for the whole team to be back together for the combined Dartmouth Carnival/Supertour/Eastern Cup in Craftsbury this weekend.  It's also "Carni-Crush", so expect some stories of love following the races.

Happy coach with a sweet mustache!

Perry