What a time...

These past few weeks involved some heavy racing, some flying, a lot of driving, and snow...

I never thought about how much time I actually put into my competitions, but having spent almost more time away from campus in the past few weeks than I have on campus, it's been a weird period.

Scott Nichols photo

Things led off with the first Saint Michael's carnival since 2011. It was nice racing at my new home course, even though it was a double classic weekend. The races didn't go all that well, it was bitter cold and snowing all weekend, but I managed a 49th place finish in the 10k, while my relay team placed 28th.

'Twas a cold and snowy day... (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)

Dartmouth was better, much better. Day one was a skate sprint, which, although not my forte, did not go horribly. I ended up 104th overall in the Supertour results (52nd in collegiate). The men's sprint course at Craftsbury is a doozy, with a tough climb through the 1k mark. It was there where I somehow managed to pass the starter in front of me.  Neat.

It was also cold for the sprint. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)

Day 2 was also skate (a nordic combiners dream). Even better, it was a 10km. When I woke up that day, I honestly wasn't really ready to race. My legs still felt tired from the day before, and it was still pretty chilly. But somehow, everything clicked. 

The Craftsbury 5k Race Loop is one of my favorite courses to ski, and I loved it that day. I ended up 64th in the SuperTour, and recorded my first top-40 finish on the Carnival Circuit, coming in 33rd.

I was the eighth starter. I was the third one across the line. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)

That night, I was in Salisbury, CT, prepping for the Eastern Ski Jumping Championships the following day. It was a long drive. The jumps went alright, as it was my first time jumping since August. 

In flight. (Scott Nichols Photo)

That night I drove back, in a storm, from Connecticut back to Burlington. Ugh.

Jump to this past weekend. Middlebury Carnival double 10k weekend. 10k classic, 10k skate. This weekend, I had my career best classic finish, a 46th place that felt about accurate. It was cold, so cold that they delayed the start of the race by 3 hours.

Why has it been so cold!!! (Silke Hynes/EISA Photo)

Following this was the 10k skate. Yes. Mine again. I surprisingly did not feel that great, nor did I look great out on course, but I somehow pulled out another top-40, coming in 39th, in a tight group where 30th was only 15 seconds away.

Still cold. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)

After Midd, I travelled to Holderness, NH for the Cheri Walsh Memorial Classic Race, another 10k and my last shot at qualifying for Junior Nationals. I did well, 38th overall, but not well enough to drop my points. Oh well. Now to focus on the rest of my collegiate season and planning my spring skiing adventures!

.tl

Very late end of season post!

Okay, so the last few weeks have been pretty busy. I've had Eastern Cups, Fun Races, Championship Races/Jumps, and school (okay, maybe not as much of the last one).

Quick Recap:

Geschmossel Classic at Bretton Woods
1/21/2013
7th Overall

NHNCA Classic Qualifier
1/26/2013
7th High School Class

TD Bank Eastern Cup at Trapp Family Lodge
2/02-03/2013
63rd 10k Skate
114th 10k Classic

NHNCA Skate Qualifier
2/10/2013
4th High School Class

NHIAA Men's Alpine Division II State Meet:
2/12/2013
60th GS
38th Slalom
Kennett: 1st

NHIAA Division II Nordic State Meet
2/13/13
1st Classic
1st Skate
2nd Divisional Skimeister
Team Champions

NHIAA Ski Jumping Championships
2/15/2013
T-3rd overall - 119 points
PR 33.5 meters (K38) - T-Longest of the night
1st State Skimeister
1st Nordic Combined

TD Bank Eastern Cup at Quarry Road
2/16-17/2013
25th Mass Start 15k Classic
17th 10k Skate

NHIAA Meet of Champions
2/25/2013
1st Classic 6k
2nd Skate 6k
Kennett: Swept the Classic Podium, 4 in the top 6. Two in top 6 for Skate.

Phew...

Details details...

The Geschmossel at Bretton Woods was a very cold day. I got a slow start but held on to the front of the second pack fairly well, culminating in a sprint finish with rival Joe Smith of Moultonborough.

Alpine State Meet: Cold, starting last. Not my kind of race. But I managed, and placed fairly well considering my lack of experience this season.

Nordic State Meet: See here.

Jumping State Meet: Was a great way to end a High School Career. As the last jumper of the night, I put up the longest and best styled jump of the night, en route to my best finish in a jumping competition: a three-way tie for third with 119 points. As a trio, we were still only one point out of the tie that was first place already, with two placing with 120 points.Local sportswriter Josh Spaulding (Salmon Press) put it best in the first sentence of his article that week: "Torin La Liberte saved his best for last."

Eastern Cup: Quarry Road is by far one of the hardest courses I have skied. Part could have been the Zero conditions, part could be the A-climb that made college kids drop out at the Colby Carnival earlier this season. Either way, I put up some of my best points races of the season, but they were not enough for me to make it to Fairbanks. I ended up less than 5 points away from making it, and am currently the first alternate for the team. As of now, I am headed to Presque Isle with Team New Hampshire for the Eastern High School Championships. It's go time.

New Year, New Events

Okay, so it's been a little while, and honestly, not a lot has been going on. Last update was after the last Eastern Cup in December, and since then there have been only a handful of races. Three NHIAA Nordic, three jumps, and another Eastern Cup have occupied the past 4 weeks. Those, and a lot of facility maintenance.

At Kennett, we own no fancy grooming machine to maintain our ski jump. No snowmaking, no Piston Bully, nothing but our own two feet and skis. So this ^^ is what we do to keep it intact. The above is the K20 meter jump, while the K35 sits, waiting to be done.

Meanwhile, I have been racing. Nothing out of the ordinary on the NHIAA front, two classic races and a skate, all dominated by Kennett Nordic. The first, hosted by us at Whitaker woods, was a close race, with Kennett coming out on top by only 9 points. Next, a Skate at Plymouth High School, we fared a little better, taking the win by a whopping 25 points.

Behold, the elusive creature Benson Yeti in its natural habitat: the nordic race.

Then, at Great Glen, it was cold. And I mean very cold. Like 3 layers and a buff cold.

Yeah, that cold.

It was a small meet, which we came within 3.5 points of winning with a perfect score. We won by 11 points, while I took home top honors (as with all the other races) by a considerable margin.

And now for the Nordic Combined portion of the post, the Jumping section. There have been three meets since the beginning of the New Year. And Kennett has not won a single one. There has been a meet at Proctor Academy, Lebanon, and on the Kanc, all of which I have been steadily improving, 

Lebanon's K25

Our precious jumps (K35, K20)

The view from house, last jumper of the night.

At home, I came in 6th overall, with two long jumps of 26m each, short by 4m of the longest on the night.

And finally, an Eastern Cup. 

If you remember my post from the end of last season, Mountain Top Resort was not good to me in the classic discipline. Well, it was time for redemption.

January 12th: Freestyle Sprint. 3 minutes of all-out, individual sprinting on a brand new pair of Yoko 8100 carbon poles (Thank you Nordic Skater!). Initial result: 42nd overall, the #9 J1/OJ That means that I made the Junior Heats at the end of the day. Two more sprints for me! The heats didn't go as well as I had hoped, coming in fifth each time, for a grand place of 11th in the youth. But it was the first time I had ever made heats at an Eastern Cup before!

200m to go, I was in second. 180m later, fifth.

January 13th: Redemption Day. The 9.3km Classic. Last year, during a 4.8 at EHSC, I had a dismal 44th place finish. This year, 54th. But, it was against college skiers this time, and I ended up 12th in my age group. So overall better than before.


As a bonus, on January 6th was the Jackson Jaunt, a 10k self-seed mass-start freestyle on the International Course at Jackson Ski Touring. Against what seemed like all of the Maine College Skiers that didn't go to Nationals, I ended up 15th overall. Not bad for a kid who completely guessed his wax the night before!

And now I rest, preparing for the Geschmossel Classic at Bretton Woods on MLK day.

Ciao.