We had racing at three different venues in two states this weekend, and more great results as well. Once again we’re led by Becca Nadler, who has made a home for herself on the podium, taken on the league’s GS leader bib, and piloted our women to another top-5 team finish…
Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell
Harvard Alpine competed at the Dartmouth Carnival this past wekend at Dartmouth Skiway. Friday’s GS race saw fantastic conditions making for some really aggressive, tight racing. Becca was again knocking on the door of a victory, coming up with a 2nd place finish for the second weekend in a row. Solid skiing from the women’s team with Caroline McHugh in 26th, Catherine Sheils in 27th, Cate Kistler in 32nd and Liz Strong in 33rd led to a 5th place finish, although the ladies were only a few points away from 3rd… On the strength of Becca’s result, she took over the lead in the GS season standings, earning the red “leader’s bib.” The men had all three athletes hovering around the 2nd run qualification mark, with Andrew Spielvogel on the right side of the cut. Andrew put down a strong second run and moved into 41st to score valuable points for the team.
In Saturday’s slalom, the team as a whole had a bit of a rough day. The men just missed out on the second run cut, while Becca and Catherine, in good position after the first run, both went out of the course on the pitch after hitting a rut. Both were assuredly on their way to top-10 results on the day, and the speed is there… The rest of the ladies put down two solid runs each, which is what was needed to rally for as many points as possible. Cate led the way in 23rd, followed closely by Liz. Caroline McHugh was the third scorer in 35th.
The alpine team also competed at Burke Mountain on Sunday in a make-up for the cancelled UNH Carnival GS. Becca, racing for the first time in the red leader’s bib, showed she has no intention of giving up the lead in the GS standings. She pushed it on a tough hill for a another podium performance (3rd place). Caroline put down an amazing second run, her best of the year, to finish 28th; and Catherine overcame a few mistakes on the upper pitch with fast skiing on the course’s lower section for 38th on the day. The men were led by Kevin McNamara, who skied well to qualify for a second run on the most challenging GS hill of the season and ended the day in 52nd. The team competes this coming Friday and Saturday at Jiminy Peak ski area for the Williams Carnival. Wish us luck!
Nordic Race Report by Coach City
Although it was the Dartmouth Carnival this weekend, there was no snow in Hanover and our races were in Stowe for the second consecutive weekend. In the men’s 10km, Chris Stock notched his second-best career result with a 13th place finish, just 13 seconds out of the top 10. Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (36th) continued to move up the scoreboard. Captain Tor O’Brien (54th in a very congested field) helped the men place 8th. Alena Tofte, who can just about ski this course fast in her sleep by now, continued her top-10 performances with a 9th in the 5km skate. Esther Kennedy (26th) and Jen Rolfes (38th), followed a few seconds later by Clare Miller (42nd), all had really strong races. The women were 6th overall on Friday. You can see video of several of our skiers racing in Friday’s 5/10km skate here.
Saturday’s classic distance race (15/20km) was a battle from the (mass) start. Alena (18th); Esther (37th) and Jen (47th) all got off the line extremely well and worked to hold on to their positions throughout the race. Our guys were in packs throughout the race and equalled or improved on their previous classic results: Chris was 23rd; Akeo 42nd; and Tanner Wiegand 48th.
