Colby Carnival

(Photos: Cory Ransom/EISA)

This past weekend was a very cold trip to Sugarloaf for the Colby Carnival.  The women continued their strong skiing, while a pair of first-year men started to pick up the pace.

Friday GS

The women were led by Avril Dunleavy who came out of the 32nd start position in the first run to finish 9th.  She followed that up with the 3rd fastest second run to finish 4th on the day, just over 3 tenths of a second off the podium. Our second scorer of the day was Katie Fitzpatrick with two solid runs to finish 15th.  Anne Rockwell had one of her best GS performances of her career to finish 24th adding much need points after DNF's by Emily Hayes and Emily Bamford.  Overall the women ended up 4th in tight race with UVM, Dartmouth and UNH. Also of note, sophomore Wes Warner got her first carival start in place of a sick Zoe Livingston.

The men didn't fare quite as well, but we finally saw the speed Tanner Dirstine is capable of in GS.  Tanner went from a start of 40th to 23rd on the 1st run. Unfortunately Tanner hit some chatter in the flat afternoon light and lost a ski.  Matt Perejda and Peter Cole were the only scorers for the men in 41st and 43rd. Chris Bradbury, Brent Talbott and Cody Bullen were all 1st run DNFs.

Saturday SL

The men showed some improvement in SL over the first two carnivals. Chris Bradbury and Tanner Dirstine finished 24th and 25th after excellent second runs from outside the flip.  Peter Cole was our third scorer in 39th and Brent Talbott finished 45th.  Cody Bullen was DNF and Matt Perejda did not qualify for the second run after a short hike..

With four women starting in the first seed, the team came out firing. Avril led things off starting 3rd and finishing 3rd in run 1, just .3 seconds out of the lead. Katie and Anne followed in the 8th and 9th start spots to finish 5th and 14th in the first run of the day.  Emily Bamford our final first seed starter was 18th in morning after a small mistake. Emily Hayes was 23rd after run 1.

Going into the second run the women were sitting second, not far behind UVM.  Unfortunately some small mistakes cost them, but the women were able to hang on for 3rd behind UVM and Dartmouth. Avril finished the day in 5th for her second top-5 of the weekend.  Anne Rockwell had another good performance to finish 11th. Katie's bobble out of the start cost her and she slipped back to 16th, while Emily Hayes' great second run moved her up to 15th.  Emily Bamford was a 2nd run DNF.

Overall on the weekend the combined Alpine and Nordic scoring put us in 5th.  This weekend is an off weekend for Alpine while the Nordic team finishes off the UVM carnival.  The following weekend we are off to Dartmouth.

St. Lawrence Carnival

This past weekend we made the long trek to Lake Placid for the St Lawrence Carnival.  We again faced a variety of weather from frigid cold for the GS to warm weather for SL. St. Lawrence and the Whiteface race crew did a tremendous job with the races and provided us with the best conditions we've had for racing this year.

In the GS the women stepped it up dramatically from last weekends results. Emily Hayes who was sitting 17th after run 1 put down a great second run to lead the team finishing 8th. Emily Bamford was right behind her in 9th. Zoe Livingston rounded out the scoring in 30th.  Unfortunately Avril Dunleavy who was sitting 6th after run 1, lost a ski on the second run.  Still the women finished 3rd on the day and had a great chance to be second if Avril made it through clean.

Emily Hayes (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

The men's GS race saw very tight racing with the top-30 separated by just over two seconds after the first run. Tanner Dirstine and Chris Bradbury finished 31st and 32nd after run one, just missing the flip. Both of them put down good second runs but with out the advantage of being in the flip the second run they ended up finishing 30th and 33rd. Cody Bullen was the third scorer in 55th.

Saturday arrived with much warmer temps for the SL, but the snow stayed firm thanks to the previous days sub-zero temps. The men raced first and unfortunately did not take advantage of the good conditions with 5 of 6 either a DNF or DSQ. Tanner was the lone finisher for the men in 34th.

Tanner Dirstine (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

Cody Bullen (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

Vincent Daigle (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

The women had another strong day finishing 3rd behind UVM and Dartmouth for the third race in a row going back to last weekend.  Avril led the charge in 5th. Emily Bamford was next in 13th with the 7th fastest second run and Katie Fitzpatrick completed the scoring in 15th.  Anne Rockwell skied to a solid 17th. Emily Hayes had a mistake filled day to finish 28th. Zoe Livingston finished 32nd.

Avril Dunleavy (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

Emily Bamford (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

Next up we travel to Sugarloaf for the Colby Carnival.

UVM Carnival

The carnival season began with the alpine portion of the UVM Carnival.  The alpine races were moved up from their usual early February spot on the calendar to accommodate a large number of racers going to February NorAms in Vail.

The weekend started off with great weather and snow conditions for the GS. Leading the women was Emily Bamford in 19th. She was followed by Katie Fitzpatrick in 21st and Emily Hayes in 29th. As a group they finished 7th, which was definitely not what we were looking for but still a solid start to the season.

The men were led by Chris Bradbury in 25th, a great finish out of the 62nd start position. Tanner Dirstine was our next scorer in 39th and Cody Bullen was our final scorer in 43rd.

Emily Bamford (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

Chris Bradbury (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

Emily Hayes (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

After the races the team was treated to a wonderful dinner at the home of Randy Hoder (Class of 1983).  The team enjoyed a great meal and some time relaxing by the fire.

The weather changed dramatically overnight. We arrived in the morning to a hill that was shrouded in fog and had been softened by overnight rain. This made for very tough conditions that saw more than half the men's field DNF or hike.  Ryan Symancek battled through the tough conditions to finish 23rd. Tanner and Chris who both hiked the first run were our next two finishers in 29th and 30th.

The snow for the women's race was just as challenging but the ladies did a great job handling the conditions. Avril Dunleavy led the team in 7th place. She was followed by Anne Rockwell in 10th, Katie Fitzpatrick in 13th, Emily Hayes in 17th and Emily Bamford in 18th. Overall the women finished 3rd in the SL just behind UVM and Dartmouth.

After the alpine portion of the races Bates sits in 8th place.  The Nordic events take place the first weekend in February and hopefully they can move us up a few notches.

Anne Rockwell (Photo: Cory Ransom/EISA)

December and January Eastern Cups

This is a long overdue update on races during our winter break -

December Eastern Cups - Men

The men had 4 races scheduled for the first series of Eastern Cups at Sunday River but challenging weather cancelled the final GS.

Slalom #1 12/18/12

Chris Bradbury led the team with a 14th place finish out of the 25th start position. Sitting 26th after first run he took advantage of his start position and put down the 7th fastest second run to move up to 14th. Matt Perejda, Cody Bullen and Peter Cole had solid races for the Bobcats finishing 29th, 31st and 32nd on the day.

Slalom #2 12/19/12

The second day of SL saw strong finishes by Coleman Lieb in 16th and Tanner Dirstine in 23rd. Chris Bradbury started the day off with a stellar first run to end up in 8th but failed to finish the second run.

GS #1 12/20/12

The first GS race of the season saw some good skiing from Chris Bradbury and Tanner Dirstine. Chris finished 19th from the 49th start spot in the first run but some mistakes in the second run saw him move back to 23rd.  Tanner was sitting 20th after the first run but had issues of his own dropping back to 29th.

December Eastern Cups - Women

While most of the women went home early to get some well deserved rest after final exams a few stuck around to get some starts at Sugarloaf.  More than 3 feet of snow over four days only allowed us to get two of the scheduled four races in.

Slalom #1 12/19/12

Emily Hayes led the 'Cats with a 6th place finish and Anne Rockwell finished in 14th.

Slalom #2 12/20/12

Emily Hayes again let the team this time moving up 2 spots to finish 4th. Anne Rockwell improved on her previous days result to finish 9th.

January Eastern Cups - Men

The team returned to Sunday River after Christmas for a four day camp before heading off to more Eastern Cups at Attitash.

GS #1 1/3/13
In the first of 2 GS races Tanner Dirstine led the team with a 28th from the 47th start position.

GS #2 1/4/13
Day two of GS saw Chris Bradbury finish 30th from the 76th start spot for the best finish for the guys.

SL #1 & #2 1/5/13, 1/6/13
The slalom races at Attitash did not go so well for the men.  Vince Daigle had the best finsih in 41st in the first SL while the rest of the guys struggled to finish.

January Eastern Cups - Women

The women had their next Eastern Cup Series at Stratton, where we were able to enjoy the hospitality of Ian and Lori Jones (Parents of Alex Jones '12).  A huge thank you to them for the use of their house at the base of Stratton. It always makes for very comfortable and convenient race series for us.

GS #1 1/3/13
Emily Bamford led the women with a 19th place finish, unfortunately some problems on the second run dropped her back from 5th after the first run. Katie Fitzpatrick in her first race start of the year finished 20th.  Zoe Livingston had a solid day to finish 29th.

GS #2 1/4/13
Katie Fitzpatrick provided the highlight of the day finishing 13th.

SL #1 1/5/13
Anne Rockwell led the women in the first of two slaloms with a 6th place finish. Katie was close behind in 7th and Emily Hayes finished 13th.

SL #2 1/6/13
Anne and Katie repeated their performances from the previous day with a 6th and 7th place finish. Emily Bamford made up for her DNF the previous day with a 9th and Emily Hayes again finished 13th to finish out the series.