NCAA's Recap

A week ago today, I woke up with a pretty big "check-list" of things to get done before departing for Lake Placid.  Jason was planning on driving the wax truck with all of our skis that morning, so I met him early to pack everything up and run a few errands before he took off.  With Jason on the road, I finalized my packing before grabbing Hannah, Eli, and Will at 4pm.  The excitement was high.

We awoke Tuesday morning to warm temperatures, and perfect Spring skiing at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.  I'm sitting in my office typing this, and wishing I could go back to that day when it was 45 degrees F, blue-bird skies, and perfect skiing.  After testing some skis, Jason and I enjoyed our lunch in the sun.  It was glorious!

Over the entire season, there wasn't a single day where I slept through my 6am alarm.  Until one of the most important day's of the season - Wednesday's 5/10K individual start skate race.  I already knew why my phone was ringing at 6:42am.  I sprinted out of bed, as Jason asked me over the phone if I was coming to breakfast.  I literally choked down my eggs and home fries.  I think waking up late was good though.  My adrenaline was cruising, and I was pretty jacked-up as we tested and waxed skis.

After testing 14 different glide options (including HF's, powders, blocks, liquids, and structure), Jason and I proceeded to apply layers upon layers of wax into Will, Eli, and Hannah's skis.  As we handed them their boards, we warned them that they might fall on their butts out of the start because their skis were so fast.  Luckily, they didn't fall on their butts, but they did confirm after the race that their skis were like rocket ships.

The men raced first on Wednesday, ascending the (basically) 3.5K of climb on the "Ladies 5K" twice.  Both Eli and Will skied great races!  Will finished the day in 18th place, and Eli in 22nd.  Will was the 6th Easterner, and Eli the 8th.

Will kicking some butt in the 10k Skate!

Eli skied a solid race for 22nd!

The Western women dominated the 5k skate race, but Hannah Cole skied one of her best skate races to finish 24th.  She was the 6th Easterner.  Hannah made it three Eph's in the top twenty-five  on the first day of racing.

Hannah skiing to 24th place!

Eli, Will, and Jason are pretty stoked after the skate race.

With the first alpine race on Thursday, the nordies kept it pretty relaxed with just an easy ski.  It got pretty cold Wednesday night and into Thursday, which turned the tracks a bit icy.  So Coach and I did quite a bit of testing for Friday's 15/20K mass start classic race.

The women raced first on Friday, and Hannah Cole skied out of her mind!  Hannah was bib 33/40, so she was in the very back of the mass start.  By the end of her first lap, she was in 21st.  By the end of her second lap she was 12th, and she held that through the finish.  She was only 13 seconds out of tenth place and an All-American finish.  Hannah was the fourth Easterner.

The girl can FLY!

Talking to Coach at the finish.

Hannah Cole cheering squad!

It was another exciting one on the men's side as well.  Like Hannah, both Will and Eli started towards the back of the pack.  By the end of the first lap, all 40 men were still together, but Eli and Will looked poised to keep moving up.  Unfortunately, someone thought it would be a good idea to ski over Will's skis on the second lap, crashing him as the field started to break up.  Will was able to gather himself, and still ski a great race to finish in the points for 24th.  Eli skied one of his best classic races of the season finishing in 18th place.  Eli was the 6th Easterner and Will the 10th.

Eli skiing an amazing race!

Will skiing to 24th place for the Eph's 6th result in the top 24!

Eli and Coach!

Luke, Will, and Eli

Seems a little aggressive Eli and Will...

Coach's with the speedy Hannah!

Why do I have a pot??

Congratulations to Hannah, Will, and Eli on an impressive week at NCAA's.  They all skied really well, and had some of their best races of the season.

Thanks again to everyone that supported us throughout the season, including all the parents that helped with the food table.

Sounds like there's still good skiing at Prospect!!

Perry