We're Back!

Whew, we've been offline for a while! We'll try to get better but for now we have updates!

It was an incredibly busy off season for the Saint Mikes team. Some athletes headed off on adventures with study abroad while others headed home for intense off season training. Where ever they went, the hard work is paying off. The team is looking stronger than ever!

Before we head onto the first carnival of the season this weekend we'd like to introduce our new team members:

Aaron Deeter

Hometown: Truckee, CA

Major: Psychology 

Favorite Race: Skate Sprint

Ellen Emers

Hometown: East Hardwick, VT

Major: Undeclared

Favorite Race: Skate Distance

Liam Schmelzle

Hometown: Saint Louis Park, MN

Major: Economics

Favorite Race: Skate Distance

Amy Duclos

Hometown: Clifton Park, NY

Major: Biology

Favorite Race: Classic Distance

Matt Doyle

Hometown: Salisbury, NH

Major: Media Studies, Journalism, Digital Arts

Favorite Race: Skate 10 km

Caitlin Holmquist 

Hometown: Gray, ME

Major: Biology

Favorite Race: Classic Sprint

We're really excited for the season ahead of us and hope you have a chance to join us at some of our races. We kick off this weekend with the Bates Carnival!

UVM Carnival

The Saint Mikes Nordic team was back in action this past weekend at the UVM Winter Carnival in Stowe, Vt. The proximity of the venue to school offered a reprieve from long travel for the weekend, as well as multiple opportunities to stop at the Cabot Cheese Annex on the way home. The team welcomed warmer temperatures, hitting the starting line substantially more comfortable than the weekend before.

The men kicked off the weekend with a 10 km skate race on Friday. Sophomore Torin La Liberte led the men’s team in 64^th, followed by senior Isaiah St.Pierre in 76^th. Rounding out the scorers for the men’s team was sophomore Cody Putnam, who continued what promises to be a strong season in 86^th.

Sophomore Cody Putnam fights to the finish in the men's 10 km skate. (Silke Hynes/EISA)

Bates Carnival

The team opened up the 2015 Carnival season this past weekend with a strong showing at the Bates Carnival in Rumford, Maine.

The weekend started on Thursday, with the long haul through three states on Route 2. But, after four hours, we made it to Black Mountain of Maine, home of the 2011 and 2012 National Cross Country Skiing Championships.

The weekend kicked off on Friday with the 15/20k Classic Mass start events, throwing us right into two seasons of distance classic events. The women got underway first, with Chloe and Liz leading the way in 61st and 74th. First Year Emma Barnes was third for us, in 81st overall. It was a nice, clean start to the weekend that quickly went cloudy.

A nice sunny Mass Start (Silke Hynes/EISA Photo)

Do you know French? - Quebec Camp Part 1

Yesterday Saint Mikes Nordic made the trek to Stoneham, Quebec for our first ever thanksgiving camp, hoping to find the snow that continues to elude northern Vermont. Our lunch stop on the way up to camp was enough to convince us that, no, as a team we are woefully unable to speak french. After awkwardly butchering the french language (much to the embarrassment of our Canadian coach), we continued on our way, peering out the windows, waiting for the ground to turn white. 

We were not disappointed. We arrived at Forêt-Montmorency determined to catch the rest of the light and were greeted by near perfect ski conditions. Excited about all the snow, the team skied until almost all the light was gone. We headed back to our chalet excited about the week to come.

What we saw out our windows this morning wasn't enough to crush our excitement, but it definitely left us a little less enthused to run out the door. We drove to the ski center in pouring rain, hoping to see it let up. Unfortunately it was destined to be a damp training session, and we headed onto the trails bundled up and determined to get in a good specific strength workout. By the end of the session the entire team was wringing out soaking wet clothing (why was the water running out of our gloves so dirty?!) and there was unanimous agreement that no one wanted to go back outside for an afternoon session. 

We have since retreated to home base for the afternoon for a much more sheltered strength workout. 

.skh

A friendly reminder from Julia!

When you reach the end of summer and it's been a while since you've seen your ski team family, here's a reminder to stay safe both in and out of training so you can make it back in the fall.