A Familiar Flow: Colby Carnival Nordic Races
- mlwagner9
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Quarry Road Trails, Waterville, ME
All photos courtesy of Phillip Belena
After competing in Lake Placid at one of the largest cross-country ski events the country has seen in years, the EISA skiers took advantage of a full week to reset before the carnival circuit reconvened at Quarry Road Trails in Waterville, Maine. Hosted by Colby College, the second carnival of the season carried a sense of familiarity that contrasted the expanded scale of the St. Lawrence Carnival. At Quarry Road, the focus returned to EISA racing alone. With no extra skiers or pressure to make international trips, the EISA racers settled into the rhythm of a regular carnival weekend.
University of Vermont's senior Petter Bakken perfectly captured the atmosphere of the event. Although the season was already underway, Bakken explained that it "felt like this was the first real carnival weekend. Obviously we had St. Lawrence in Lake Placid, but this felt more like the EISA vibe we're looking for." Overall, the weekend marked a return to the familiar format that defines EISA racing.
The original plan for the weekend was a 7.5k classic individual start race on Friday, followed by a 20k freestyle mass start on Saturday. However, mother nature had other plans. The forecast projected subzero temperatures on Saturday with even colder windchills, raising an alarm for concern. The Quarry Road stadium is known for frigid winds, and in past years, extreme cold has even forced the cancellation of one of the Colby Carnival races. In response to the cold forecast, the jury decided to move the 20k mass start to Friday to reduce the amount of time athletes would spend in the cold.
The 20k races on Friday were defined by repetition and patience. After an opening parade loop, the racers settled into eight 2.5k laps. On the men's side, a large lead pack stayed together for the majority of the race. Many racers took turns at the front, feeding off of one another's momentum. As the laps ticked by, however, the lead group slowly thinned. Finally, with 5k to go, it broke open. University of Vermont's Tabor Greenberg made a decisive move, and only fellow Catamounts Owen Young and Petter Bakken were able to respond.
Fresh off of a podium sweep at the St. Lawrence Carnival, the University of Vermont Catamounts yet again asserted their dominance at Quarry Road. Bakken described the turning point in the race, saying that "we were in a big pack until the sixth lap, and then from there Tabor started pushing the pace a little bit. Owen & I did our best to keep up, and we got a little gap on the rest of the field." After a well-fought intrasquad battle, Young bested Greenberg and Bakken to take the win. Reflecting on the race with his teammates, Young called it a "good feeling to be up there with the boys in the front.”
The women's race began with a bang–literally. A crash right after the start tangled skis and shuffled the field, forcing several women usually found at the front of the pack to fight their way back into position. University of Vermont's Haley Brewster described the start as "a little hectic at the beginning. There were some skis flying around, but once we did our parade lap, it cooled down." As the race settled after the crash, a front pack emerged quickly, setting the tone for the long race ahead.
Mica Bodkins, a senior from Middlebury who cracked the top ten, said that it was "fun to be skiing in a big pack for the first few laps." This competitive lead group held together for several laps before Haley Brewster, Shea Brams of Middlebury, and Ava Thurston of Dartmouth broke away. Behind them, small chase packs formed, one led by University of New Hampshire teammates Hattie Barker and Natalie Nicholas, but the gap behind the three leaders proved to be too difficult to close.
Up front, Brewster, Thurston, and Brams worked together through the final lap, each taking turns pushing the pace as the finish drew closer. In the end, Brewster emerged on top, with Thurston finishing second and Brams close behind in third. Brewster credited the strong performances of her fellow Catamounts earlier in the day for giving her confidence going into the race.
Saturday dawned cold for the 7.5k individual start classic race. However, bright sunshine throughout the day made the temperatures noticeably more bearable. Nevertheless, the cold still shaped the logistics of the race. In an effort to move athletes and volunteers in and out of the venue as fast as possible, the start intervals between racers were reduced to 15 seconds, rather than the standard 30. The shortened start intervals made the course feel crowded, placing an emphasis on staying aggressive throughout the short race, especially coming off of the demands of Friday's 20k.
Fin Bailey of the University of Vermont embraced the challenge, and won the race by about 20 seconds over his teammate Luke Rizio. Both skiers shared the sentiment that the strength of their team this year has been a key factor in their success. Rizio, who earned his first carnival podium, explained that his team's culture makes a "huge difference when trying to race fast." Third place went to Colby's Andrew Defor, who also stepped onto the carnival podium for the first time. Defor said it was especially rewarding to claim his first podium on his home course. He also expressed excitement about the depth of his team this season. "This is probably the best team we've had," he shared. "We've been really competitive and really deep."
On the women's side, the course was just as packed. In the three demanding laps of the 2.5k course, Dartmouth's Ava Thurston said that it was essential to "have a lot of kick" in order to finish strong. In the end, the same trio that led Friday's 20k returned to the podium for the 7.5k classic. This time, Thurston stood on top, with Shea Brams of Middlebury in second and Haley Brewster of the University of Vermont in third. The three podium skiers trained together in Burlington, Vermont, over the summer and wanted to give a shoutout to Mansfield Nordic Club for their success this weekend. Thurston said that in addition to her Dartmouth teammates, she was "so proud of her summer teammates."
Dartmouth's women delivered a strong performance overall, placing three skiers in the top 10: Thurston, Maeve Inglefinger (8th), and Evelyn Walton (9th). This depth helped the Dartmouth ski team secure the overall combined nordic and alpine victory at the Colby Carnival.
Next weekend, the EISA skiers will head to Oak Hill in Hanover, New Hampshire for the third carnival of the season, hosted by Dartmouth. Looking ahead, the races will consist of another 7.5k classic individual start race and a 15k freestyle mass start, with chilly temperatures once again in the forecast.
⭐️ Full race results are available at bullitttiming.com
⭐️ Full photo sets can be downloaded at https://phillipbelena.com/eisa
⭐️ For more news & updates on EISA carnival racing, follow @eisaskiing on Instagram
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