A thin blanket of fresh snow covered Prospect Nordic Center. Last year's 10k Classic "swim" haunted the dreams of the EISA last night. Fortunately, the precipitation remained frozen and fluffy for the same race this year. Skiers tackled three laps of a 3.75k course for a Classic Interval Start "10k" (actually 11.25k). Skiers reported the course was fun and full of transitions. It was soft and windblown in sections, slowing down the speed. Captain Hadassah Lurbur of the host team Williams is excited to have everyone here for the Carnival. She was glad Prospect redeemed itself "after last year’s extremely memorable experience". The Ephs are the only team with extensive practice at this venue, and as Lurbur states, "there's nothing like rocking the cow on home pasture".
Ephs showing school pride cheering on their teammates at the Williams Carnival (photo courtesy Ann Celi).
WOMEN
1st Shea Brams - 36:09.3
2nd Lea Stabaek Wenaas - 36:58.1
3rd Emma Reeder - 37:07.5
The University of New Hampshire women placed first this weekend, led by runner-up Lea Stabaek Wenaas. She was joined by her teammates Luci Anderson in 5th place and Hattie Barker in 10th. The Wildcats are having a great season and it is exciting to see them step up the food chain. Third place Emma Reeder was at the helm of the Dartmouth ship, ten points behind UNH. Other Big Green crewmates included Tatum Witter in 7th and Evie Walton in 13th. The EISA season is more than a month of back-to-back racing (with a one-week break). Racers are usually more dialed for later-season races, but all that racing can be tiring. Reeder credits her "friends and teammates out there, grinding it out, and having a blast" for helping her push a little bit harder during races like today's. Middlebury claimed the third-place team spot today, shepherded by 1st-place Shea Brams. Brams continued her winning distance classic streak from the last two weekends. She was proud of the prowling and powerful Panther Pack today, which included Maggie Wagner in 12th and Sofia Scirica in 15th. She also wants to shout out a St. Michael's parent who gave her a banana, an essential pre-race item for Brams. Is that the secret to her success? Potassium and podium do sound awfully similar...
MEN
1st Rémi Drolet- 31:32.1
2nd Finn Sweet - 31:52.1
3rd Jack Lange - 32:01.0
The Big Green claimed the top team spot today, only seven points ahead of the next team. Rumour has it other teams turned a similar shade of green with envy at their prowess. The winning Dartmouth squad was comprised of Jack Lange in 3rd, Cam Wolfe in 5th, and Aaron Power in 11th. The Middlebury men did not put anyone on the podium today but secured a 2nd-place team score with Logan Moore in 4th, Jack Christner in 8th, and Peter Warner in 9th. Finn Sweet led the third-place University of Vermont team, joined by Bjorn Westervelt in 13th, and Owen Young in 35th. Although a Catamount at heart, Sweet wants the EISA to know his success is "Cuz I’m as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change" (-Lynyrd Skynyrd). He certainly does not need to change, as whatever he is doing has brought many podium performances in the last couple of weeks. The winner of the day was Rémi Drolet from Harvard. Drolet took the last carnival off to race in his home country's World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. It seems that only fueled the fire because his return to the EISA was blazing.
DAY 1 TEAM SCORE
Come back tomorrow for Day 2 of the Williams Carnival!
Comments