Dartmouth Carnival

On Thursday, the team traveled to Craftsbury Outdoor Center for the Dartmouth College Carnival, hosted in conjunction with the Craftsbury USSA Supertour, which brought some of the best domestic racers to Vermont for the weekend.

When we arrived, we did our usual course preview, getting a nice tour of the Craftsbury FIS Homologated loop. Afterwards, though, rather than just packing up and leaving for the night, as is almost often the case after arrival, a large portion of the EISA community remained, waiting patiently in the stadium until 4:15. It was at that time when Dartmouth seniors Annie Hart and Erik Fagerstrom led the group into the woods for a touching memorial to former Big Green skier Torin Tucker, who passed away at Craftsbury the weekend before, during the marathon. 

(Annie Hart photo)

The group skied out to a cairn, constructed by Dartmouth and Craftsbury, located at the site of Torin's passing, where the memorial was held. Although somber on the surface, the memorial was more like a small celebration, filled with little anecdotes and jokes. After, about half of the remaining group finished the last 8km of Torin's race, including our men's team. It was a great time for the EISA, and it shows just how close the nordic skiing community really is.

The next day, the air was filled with competition, starting off the weekend with a 5/10km freestyle. They used a different start seeding than usual, basing order off of past EISA/USSA results rather than by seed. This left our front 6 skiers for both races starting in the first 25. Sam Fogg chose not to race the skate, hoping to feel healthier for the Classic race after battling a brief illness.

For the men, Torin crossed the line first in 29:22.8, good enough for a 56th place finish (113th overall), followed by Isaiah in 64th and Sam Hammond in 66th. 

In the shorter women's race, Silke was our top finisher, matching Torin's 56th place finish (90th overall) in 17:32.0. She was trailed by Chloe, who even after missing her start still managed to pull off an 18:07.8, coming in 63rd. 

On Saturday, the distance was upped to a 15/20km classic. The start orders were still fairly similar, with everyone starting early. 

Simba catching a ride with Dakota Blackhorse von-Jess.

In the men's event, Ryan Boquist was our top finisher, coming in 59th with a time of 1:07:53.4, just ahead of Isaish, who was 60th. Torin chose to drop out of the race halfway through, as he was also fighting illness. 

For the women, Chloe was our top finisher, coming in 53rd in a time of 58:23.8. Our next skier was Liz, who had an awesome breakthrough race, coming in 58th in a time of 59:54.9. Catie chose not to start this race, again feeling under the weather. 

Liz - Still has the fire.

For a team who was running on ill, we did very well keeping it together and toughing it out. We still need up 12th, but coaches were coming up saying that they have never seen a SMC team ski this well!

Finally, to wrap up the event, was the annual Carni Crush. We gave out valentines, and watched Cody P go on a date! Go Putt-Putt!!

Today, we travel through the snow down to Prospect Mountain, for the Williams College carnival!