Banquet and Alumni/Parent Ski Race

We ended the season with what we are hoping will be a new tradition of a banquet and Alumni get together after the final race. We were pleased that the Sports Foundation was able to help us pull together and excellent event. Thanks to Matt Tsimikas the Assistant Athletic Director who came up to the event and helped organize everything. It was great to have the parents come together and for current athletes meet some of the ten or so alumni that made the trek to Wildcat to support the team.

Mike LeBlanc delivered a short speech on behalf of Hilary Swafield, a former ski teamer who died two years ago. We have created an award on her behalf to honor an individual who shares the passion for ski racing and hard work that Hilary had while she was on the team. This year the award was presented to senior Anna Bengtson. Congratulations Anna.

On Sunday we took again to the slopes of Wildcat, on the famed Cheetah trail for an alumni parent show down. The warm weather and sunny skies that we were hoping for turned quickly into high winds and snow. We were miraculously able to pull off a well run race with timing and everything! We saw some falls from John Van Slyke '01 and Griffin James '01 as they sought to win the first ever Alumni Classic. Kelly O'Hear '07 represented the only alumna present and laid down some times that put her in contention. There were some athletes that chose (and ultimately probably regretted) to go for the "big mountain ripper skis" like Captain Emeritus DR Richardson '08 and John Gillis '07. John Hastings '05, Douglas Allen '07, and Taylor Lloyd rounded out the alumni participants. Coach LeBlanc, and even Andy Salter (Alex Salter's '12 dad) got in on the mix. Ultimately, it was Charley Cummings '06 who won the cup and began what will hopefully be a longstanding tradition.

Hope to see you at Regionals at Waterville on Feb. 21 and 22! Best of luck to the team as we seek to make the trip out to Colorado for Nationals.

Wildcat Slalom - Season Ender

First, a special thanks to the many parents that came to the slalom and GS to show their support for our team. As Coach Van Slyke noted: "I have never been this well fed a a ski race - ever." The Sally's pizza, chili, barbeque chicken, deli sandwiches, bagels, brownies, and everything else made for an excellent meal for the athletes throughout the day. Thank you to the parents that traveled especially long distances (think Maryland, California, Seattle) just to come to this event! A shout out to the all the parents that helped out this weekend and provided for our athletes and coaches. We were glad to have you there and look forward to having you at the many races to come next year.

As for the slalom it was not our strongest day for our women, but we certainly pulled through. We started the day without top skiers Elisa Handbury and Emily Simmons. For Krista Consiglio '11 and Blaine Martin '11, the day proved to be a strong one. Krista took a 2nd place finish and Blaine pulled down a solid 14th place finish. A tricky course set on the second run proved treac

herous for Kia Mosenthal with a short hike near the top of the course. Seniors Anna Bengtson and Susan Kovar sported the traditional costume for the final race in plenty of style. See photo above. 

We also were joined by a former ski teamer Lorenzo Majno '79 who helped out our gatekeeping section with heroic efforts to keep a rutted up course smooth and make sure the gates were in place. Thanks for making the effort to come all the way up to Wildcat!

The men's team posted several personal bests, in addition to tying MIT for 8th place for the season. Ken Ettinger '10 and Alex Salter '12 both laid down their best slalom runs of the season. Jeff Ernsting accomplished his goal for the year by placing in 27th.  Rob Culliton finished the season for the league with a run to remember. As the last racer down, the top of the course broke out into overwhelming cheers as he stood in the gate. Never one to play down his abilities, Rob encouraged the cheering. Ultimately, he was followed down the entire course by cheers of good will for another great season in USCSA.

The season ended strong for Brown. The women finished in 4th place. The men tied for 8th. And, Mike LeBlanc finished the season as the McConnell Division Coach of the Year. Congratulations to Mike and to all of the athletes as well! Thank you all for your hard work.

Women Take First in Wildcat GS

The last GS of the year began the day before. Much of the Brown and BC team spent Thursday putting up fencing along the entire GS hill. This meant 100+ rolls unrolled and drilled into the snow. A safe race to be sure, but exhausting to set up.

The tiredness did not get to our women's team, however. After the first run they had the 2, 3, and 5 spots occupied. Emily Simmons '12 was set to have a season best performance when a bobble on the pitch led to a hard crash into the fences. Kia Mosenthal '12 and Krista Consiglio '11 skiied to 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Blaine Martin '11 finished out our scorers with a regular season GS personal best finish in 20th. Congratulations to the women's team on putting it down, and putting away another win. The deepness of our team is clearly strong, and we hope to continue our performance in two weeks at Waterville Valley for the Regional Championships. 

The men's team put down some personal bests as well. Jeff Ernsting '11 took down another 114 point race to match his result from last week. Rob Culliton '10.5 not only did not have any crashes, something he has been unfortunately prone to this year, but he had a personal best in the GS as well. As he told me at the top of the course at the slalom "If I had known that ski racing was going to be like this, I'm not so sure that I would have actually gone for it. I'm glad I did though." Mike Cohen '11 took the men's team crash of the day in the second run when he was unable to transfer his weight to the new ski and instead headed full on into the aforementioned nets. Alex Salter also put down his best race of his first year racing. One former men's team member even took the opportunity to forerun the race. While the men's season is over, we are looking forward to building on these performances next year.

Pat's Peak Slalom

Pat's Peak was the destination for the penultimate Slalom of our season. We were fortunate to be able to have two courses set. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the course from turning into a bobsled run. With the Super Bowl on everyone's mind we pushed through the day efficiently. 

It was great weather at the Peak. Emily and Kia were able to stop for a moment to get an early morning photo with the Pat's Peak mascot. It was good luck for Kia who ended up taking a second in the race. The women's team had some tough breaks with several falls preventing them from having three solid finished. As they head into the final races at Wildcat, they will have the benefit of bringing Krista back from the Disabled List and going for broke as they seek to seal the deal on the path to Regionals. 

The men's team continued its moves forward as they worked hard to improve on past performances. We were proud to once again have five finishers, and Michael Cohen '11 posted a personal best in slalom. We are excited about the upcoming weekend at Wildcat, not only for the chance to finish the season with strong race results, but what is shaping up to be a great alumni event. On Sunday we will be holding the first annual Alumni Cup as we take to the treacherous Cheetah trail at Wildcat. Look forward to seeing you there!

Bears Shred Loon GS

We returned to the legendary trails of Rumrunner and Coolidge Street for one of the most rugged GS hills on the circuit. Many will remember the feeling of terror as the flats at the top give way to rugged terrain and ruts for the duration of the steeps. This weekend was the exception. Even after getting close to two feet of snow in the past couple of weeks, the hill held up exceptionally well. We were joined by Mallory Taub '08 who came to cheer on the team and help us out on the hill. Thanks Mallory.
The women started the weekend with a deficit, as Krista and Blaine were out due to injuries. They went in strong and worked hard as a team. Kia Mosenthal pulled out a win, taking the race by over a half second! Emily Simmons scored a top ten finish even after a harrowing near fall that had her headed towards the nets, only with a sharp atheltic move down the hill was she able to recover. Anna Bengston (above right) rounded out the team result with a 15th place finish. The women took 2nd overall.

The men put down four finishers for this race. Jeff Ernsting continued the upward arc of his skiing and had another personal best. We also saw personal best for Ken Ettinger and Alex Salter. It was a tough break for Rob Culliton as he lost a ski. 

We have cranked up his DINs accordingly, and we won't be seeing a lost ski unless he really needs to lose it. It did provide him some time for introspective free runs at Loon, however. 

After and epic day at Loon, we did the mandatory B-net roll up drill and made off for dinner in the state capital in Concord and to rest for the day ahead at Pat's Peak.