Day 2 of the Middlebury Carnival was a 10k classic individual start and was combined with an Eastern Cup. Skiers completed two laps of the 5k race course shown in the map below. It’s a tough hilly course with fun winding downhills and challenges racers in many aspects of their skiing. It was a massive day of racing with over 450 skiers toeing the start line today (including high school skiers).
Course Map
Men
The men’s race kicked off at 10:00am with Cooper Camp (Dartmouth) as the first starter. First place was earned by Dartmouth skier John Steel Hagenbuch, who had the fastest two lap times on the day. Johnny continues to dominate the men’s carnival circuit, and this weekend has been no exception. Middlebury skier Logan Moore came in second place today. When asked about his race, Moore commented, “knowing this course really well helped with my strategy. For example, I knew that first and third loop were going to be the most important, especially third loop. I took a more relaxed approach to first and second loop on my first lap. And then I picked it up on third loop, and from there it was all out to the finish line. I was definitely focused on third loop because I feel like it’s really easy to lose focus and control back there. Holding a lot of mental strength and energy through that will lead to a really good day.” Today was an individual start race and Moore “dragged a lot of people around the course today.” He “always had someone to catch but I didn’t spend that long skiing with them.” He also commented on his finish saying, “it was awesome, Johnny caught me at the very end of the race and we had a little sprint battle to the finish line. He’s a great competitor and a fun guy to race against.” Coming in just seven seconds behind his teammate was Middlebury skier Jack Christner. When asked about his strategy, Christner commented, “coming into the race, I wanted to do the first lap really consistently and steadily. I broke the course down into three different sections based on the three different loops. I tried to ski the first lap as efficiently as possible and when I got my lap time from Kate and Adam, that dictated what I needed to do on my second lap. I was 12 seconds back from Johnny on the first lap, so I knew it was time to really crank.” The Middlebury boys were stoked with their ability to produce podium results at their home Carnival for their senior year. Dartmouth skier Luke Allan had another great race and placed fourth today. When asked about his race, Allan said, “I started third and my teammate Cooper started first, so we had 30 seconds separating us. When I caught him on the second lap, we worked together quite a bit to secure two top ten finishes, which was super awesome. And then Johnny anchored the team with a first place finish, so it was a great day and we were glad to make up a couple points on Middlebury who were leading coming into today.” Shoutout Ford Sayre skier James Underwood, who placed 16th and was the fastest high school/club skier today.
Women
Dartmouth secured the top two spots on the podium today with Ava Thurston and Nina Seemann coming in first and second place respectively. They both helped Dartmouth secure the overall win this weekend. Middlebury skier Shea Brams came in third place today exactly 30 seconds back from Thurston. When asked about her race, Brams commented, “It was a fun day out there. It was definitely a mental battle, I wasn’t feeling my best but I kept going back to some mental mantras. I was really trying to push the transition zones and get time over the tops of hills. Since this course is so hilly, those are great places to make up time.” Brams also had the home crowd cheering for her, and said, “seeing my teammates and friends from school around me was really keeping me motivated – it made it so that I never gave up.” Bowdoin skier Emma Crum continued her fantastic season with a fourth place finish today. Middlebury skier Maggie Wagner also had a standout weekend placing fourth yesterday and 14th today. Wagner commented, “it was a great weekend to put it all out there and race for the team! Our skis were wicked fast.” Shoutout to GMVS skier Beth McIntosh who placed 22nd overall and first for high school/club skiers. Beth is going to Middlebury next year and was hyped to get a taste of the Carnival circuit. McIntosh commented, “I thought it was really cool and the hill was awesome because everyone was cheering. The music on the hill was so hype and it pushed me to ski faster. I skied behind Shea, my future teammate, for a bit. I took the opportunity and stuck with her for a little. It was fun because the Midd team was cheering for her and then they would also cheer for me.”
Team Scores
Thank you to all the volunteers, Rikert Outdoor Center, bullitttiming, and everyone who worked hard to pull off this race weekend!