Cloudy early morning skies dissolved into a beautiful, sunny day as the Harvard Carnival wrapped up. Hosted in Craftsbury, VT, today's race overlapped with the Henchey Memorial Eastern Cup. This meant a whopping 196 starters in the women's category and 244 in the men's. The college (and junior) racers tackled a 7.5k Freestyle individual start on the same course as yesterday. Excellent grooming and weather conditions meant the course held up pretty well, despite a large amount of racers.
Mathias Boudreau-Golfman charges over a hill for Bates at the Harvard Carnival (photo courtesy Phillip Belena).
WOMEN
Tired of hiding behind trees this season, the UVM Catamounts saw an opportunity and pounced. Libby Tuttle led the winning team with a second-place finish, her highest yet this year. "The first part of the long climb was the hardest," she said, but "it was fun, a lot of people got to ski close to each other today". The UVM team was able to work together well despite losing their top scorer Haley Brewster to the World U23 Championships this weekend. The Cats miss her but feel her support from overseas. Tuttle's teammate Molly Moening is her biggest inspiration and shared some wisdom with us today.
"You miss one hundred shots that you don't take, percentage-wise. So you should take lots of shots and make sure that you're making them." - Molly Moening (and Wayne Gretzky probably)
Fellow Catamount Annie McColgan was just 10 seconds behind Tuttle, who she quotes as one of her biggest inspirations today, along with Luci Anderson. Anderson, a UNH Wildcat, won today with a time of 18:11. She thought the hardest part of the course was Screamin' Mimi, a common opinion. She attributes success to her wonderful teammates who keep it fun. The Wildcats secured a second-place team score for the women today.
Women's podium on the second day of the Harvard Carnival. The EISA spread the love to the champions this weekend, there were no repeat podium achievers from yesterday (photo courtesy Phillip Belena). From left to right: Libby Tuttle, Luci Anderson, and Annie McColgan.
MEN
Remi Drolet from Harvard ended his home carnival with a bang, securing back-to-back victories for the EISA. In the overall standings, he came second only to Ben Ogden (the World Cup skier and former UVM Catamount decided to grace his old stomping grounds during a break from racing abroad). Drolet has boasted an impressive season thus far and is a constant threat for the top spot. In second today was Williams skier Keelan Durham, securing a career-best finish for himself. He was glad to be there and brimming with happiness about his achievements, "I'm just feeling smiley, it was a fun day!" Durham thought the hardest part of course was the corner at the top of Screamin Mimi. Third-place skier Jack Young agreed with that sentiment. He was thrilled about his race today since one of his biggest goals this season was to get on the podium. "It finally happened and I'm just over the moon about it!" This podium, along with a second-place team score (and a first-place team score yesterday) perhaps marks a new era for Colby. Big things to come from the Mules in the future. The UVM men won the team score today, despite putting no skiers on the podium. They were led by skiers Finn Sweet in 4th, Bjorn Westervelt in 5th, and Owen Young in 8th.
Men's podium on the second day of the Harvard Carnival (photo courtesy Phillip Belena). From left to right: Keelan Durham, Remi Drolet, and Jack Young.
Maggie McGee from Colby competes in the 7.5k Freestyle race at the 2024 Harvard Carnival (photo courtesy Phillip Belena).
A Williams superfan surveys the crowd on the shoulders of the mighty Ephs at the Harvard Carnival (photo courtesy Phillip Belena).
Full results and team scores can be found at bullitttiming.com.
Racing continues next week at Oak Hill for the Dartmouth Carnival. This won't be one to miss!