Nationals Redux: SL

(3/6) We had cold training for slalom on 3/5. Many of our gates broke and the three coaches spent most of the morning moving through the course screwing, unscrewing, rescrewing, and drilling gates. It was still good training for the team as we moved into the final event of the week.

For the slalom we had a similar lineup to the previous race, though we swapped GS-specialist Emily Simmons our for slalom-specialist Elisa Handbury. We had assistant coach and wax guru John Van Slyke manning the top as we got everyone into their skis first run (see left). The race began well with Kia Mosenthal laying down a solid top ten run that put her in a good place for the second run. Krista had taken the training day off and had great difficulty even mustering up the energy for the inspection run. Her time reflected her illness and she took a long nap between the two runs as she sought to get better as quickly as possible. (Ultimately she would not even be able to inspect for the second run due to fatigue.) Elisa has had a strong season in slalom with several strong results and a top ten finish. Unfortunately, she was unable to ski as strongly as she had hoped, but was able to finish for the team. Blaine Martin delivered a good first run, though probably not as fast as she is able to ski, having posted several top 20 results at the the slalom races this season. Anna Bengtson '12 had a straddle on the third gate and her momentum on the pitch kept her coming down the hill. She had to hike two full gates on the pitch and it put her into the empty zone pretty quickly. She was able to make a few more turns before the altitude and fatigue caught up to her and she had to ski out. It was perhaps a too soon ending to Anna's career which finished this year as she is a senior. (Best of luck to her as she contemplates her future in the skiing world!)

For second run we continued to have a bit of difficulty with the finishes. Kia was able to come down and finish with a fourth place. Our best finish at Nationals. Congratulations! Krista came to the start of second run having only inspected the course via a drawing from Kia. On her way down to the course she broke her pole freeskiing with a simple pole plant. In the frenzy that followed we were able to dig up an extra set and even with tonsillitis, Krista was able to land in 31st place. Blaine's final race for the season ended with difficulty as she fell and lost a ski on the pitch. A tough ending for an otherwise solid season. With two skiers down, Elisa stood up and finished, bringing the team to a healthy ninth place finish, all things considered. Overall for the two days, the team took home a tenth. Certainly not where we'd like to be, but a great stepping stone for the planned successes of next year.

Unfortunately, this was the end to our great season. While it was not as successful as we might have liked, everyone skied and worked as extremely hard this year. Much was made of the fact that we have a young team and that they intend to excel as they work to improve their consistency in finishing! Congratulations finally to Kia Mosenthal who earned a First Team All-American in the slalom and to Krista Consiglio who earned a pair of All-America honors, earning Second Team All-America in both the giant slalom and combined.

Hope to see you all next year for another season of hard work and fast times!

Nationals Redux: GS

This post has been a long time coming. The first few days of our trip to Winter Park were excellent. We had the chance to get in some great skiing and some excellent training. We trained on Cheshire Cat (great trail, lame name) with many of the teams that we ski with back home as we adjusted to the high altitude. We took it easy so as not to tire out too quickly and most of the girls headed back home after lunch. The photos for all of Nationals continue to be available HERE. Please let me know if you have any more photos that you would like to contribute!

Giant Slalom. (3/4) For the GS we had a full length set on Norwegian which is a trail that goes right under the Zephyr Chairlift. The trail starts off flat and then picks up pace as you come over the roll onto the steep section. The steeps are not only long, but they have a sustained pitch that made them tricky for the entire women's field. Our bib draw for the first race was a bit strange as we drew a 1 for our first bib (Kia) and a 40 for our second bib (Krista). Kia started off the race strong, but allowed some bad habits to get the better of her and fell before she made it to the steeps. It was a tough way to end the GS season. Krista battled severe tonsillitis (we only found out after the race what it was!) but was able to put down a top 15 finish for the first run. The warm Colorado sun and large field wreaked havoc on the course as the buff finish deteriorated into some pretty serious ruts and more than a few chatter marks. Blaine Martin had a tough run first run that left her hiking on the steeps. Anna Bengtson also fell and lost a ski to finish her day far too early. Emily Simmons stood up, though the rugged course and high altitude were tough on her and did not have a run nearly as fast as the GS runs she had been putting down the rest of the year. While our results were not strong, we did have the pleasure of Dow Travers '12 gracing us with his presence by taking a short break from the difficult training regimen he has in preparation for his Olympic bid.

For the second run we had a deficit that was impossible to make up as a team. We focused instead on individual results as only 3 of our women were racing. Krista Consiglio was able to dig deep. With only a few racers up before her, she was still sitting on the ground trying to find her inner strength as she looked off into the distance unsure as to whether she was going to be sick at the top of the course. With only two racers to go, Krista struggled into her skis and slid down to the start. With years of ski racing experience, she went into autopilot and was able to muster up a 12th place finish even though she hardly enough energy to walk. Impressive. Emily Simmons finished out out the day with a 36th place and a commitment to undertake an impressive aerobic drylanding training schedule as she plans to continue her assault on the MacConnel Division next year. Blaine Martin rounded out our GS with a nearly-the-last-racer position in the start order. She skied quickly on the top section with a very strong split time, but she was unable to hold onto the speed towards the bottom, though she did move up significantly from the previous run. With the GS behind the team, everyone focused on slalom for the next two days.

Nationals Photos!

Thanks to the parents for helping me out with new photos for our blog. We had amazing support from the Martins, Simmons, Handburys, and Bengtsons while we were out in Winter Park. In the coming days expect more photos to be put up, but in the meantime, you can check out the new photos HERE. I will be writing up a more complete description of our time at Nationals soon.

Waterville Regionals / We're At Nationals

Apologies for the long delay in updating the blog. We are currently out at Winter Park Colorado with the Brown Women training for USCSA Nationals. Last week the team qualified at Regionals taking a 3rd in the GS and in the Overall as well. We had excellent food from the many parents that came to the event. Debbie Consiglio has graciously uploaded some excellent photos which you can check out right HERE.

The past few days here at Winter Park have been nothing short of spectacular. Blue skies and 50 degree weather make all of those cold temperatures and overcast days back East well worth it. We are staying within walking distance of the town of Winter Park which makes for plenty to do after skiing is done. We have had two excellent days of training and another day of fantastic free skiing. The ruts have been big in the training, but nothing that we couldn't overcome. After hard training in the mornings, the afternoons have been free with plenty of time for free skiing and relaxing at home. The coaches have even been able to make a few turns together in the afternoons (!).

Tomorrow is the women's GS for the National Title. We are motivated after some fantastic skiing over the course of the past few days and we are hopeful that the results reflect all of the efforts that we have put in over the entire season. We will be joined not only by the Simmons, Handbury, and Martin families, but also Olympic hopeful and Brown sophomore-to-be Dow Travers. Thank you all for your ongoing support and interest in the ski team!!!

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.