It’s been the better part of a week and I’m still daunted by the task of writing up a blog summary for NCAAs. It isn’t just the finality of the races for me, my last as head coach at Middlebury, rather, its the cumulative effort of so many people and so much invested in the process of having these races that makes recapping them so large a challenge. Let me try: when we bid for NCAAs nearly four years ago, they seemed like such a far off happening, a gee-that-will-be-fun deal that we’d toss around in recruiting conversations and small talk with local folks. “Yep, we’re hosting the NCAAs in 2013.” It became a chorus that just fell out of our mouths, a collegiate skiing type of blessing. We knew the effort would be large and gratefully, Terry Aldrich came out of retirement to handle the lion’s share of the work, Mike was on top of every detail that came streaming at him, and the rest of the organizing committee (Stever, Patty, Peter Mackey, and the staff’s of Rikert and the Snowbowl) played a huge part in just the Nordic races. (I don’t deign to speak on the alpine events, though I understand they were similarly well received.)
No, putting together a recap of things like the Tormondsen trail’s national unveiling to a collection of strong skiers, the importance of snowmaking in having the events take place and the general love for skiing that the event drew out form folks is not easy. Likewise, just how lucky we were to have the weather we did for both races is nothing short of a miracle. Let me just say, I’m grateful to those that made this happen, selfishly, because it was a movie script scene at Rikert for the week of those races.
But more about the racers: Kelsey, Ben, Austin, Annie & Heather emerged from the rigors of a race season to qualify for the big show. Through the week leading up the event, they prepared well and didn’t lose focus, a feat when the races are happening on home turf with noisy dorms and unfocused classmates uncertain of the culture around nordic skiing. Again, support from friends, in this case the Marston family, helped keep folks directed. “It is so nice to be in a house,” Heather said while we prepped dinner one night. It was, indeed.
The classic race at NCAAs is, for a coach, the most stressful day of the collegiate year. March is not kind on kick wax conditions and this year was no exception. We tested beginning days before the event and ski choice was paramount. The men opened competition and the last moments between testing wax and waiting for the first splits to roll in were the longest of my year. I watched Austin (bib 2) climbing his first trip up the A-climb with a mixture of elation and relief. He was kicking well, skiing well and making time on the racer in front of him. Similarly, Ben lit out from his 30th starting spot with a fierceness he hadn’t boasted since early in the season. When skiers are going well, there’s an energy that a coach gets to live in, it’s intoxicating and both Austin’s 28th place and Ben’s 4th, a first-team all-American result and his strongest race of the year were a joy to see. The tension lifted slightly, as we prepped the women’s skis.
It wasn’t to be a perfect day. Only Kelsey had a race close to where she’d been racing through the last part of the season, and even then she admitted to feeling the (not unreasonable) nerves of a first year skiers at NCAAs. Heather was essentially taken out of the race early by an oncoming virus that would crush her week and Annie found and unfortunate tree to connect with during a left hand corner descent from the A-climb. Many races, we’ve left happy but not content. In this case, the men felt content and the women unhappy. Herein lies a principle challenge in a week like NCAAs. It would be easy to overlook a feat like Ben’s 4th place or the debuts of Austin and Kelsey given the expectations for Heather and Annie. The crew didn’t. Patty and I didn’t. We merely doubled down and readied for the skate mass start.
Repeat meetings, ski prep, grooming, nerves. Insert perfect spectating weather and increase the spectators. Ratchet up the importance. Focus in on the last few seconds before the women’s mass start began Saturday’s racing. Conditions were fast and fun skiing. Unfortunately, the hopes of high finishes were dashed for Heather before the race in the form of a fever. Kelsey and Annie lit out with 39 other great racers. Five minutes into Annie’s race, her hopes too were dashed. Another fall near her Thursday’s crash knocked her to a physical place unable to ski. She was hurt. “I cracked.” She explained later. Kelsey was left as our only unaffected racer. She finished in 33rd. As there are no bad skiers at NCAAs, it was a respectable showing from the first year racer. Watch out for Kelsey Phinney. She will become a helluva skier in the years to come. On the results page behind Kelsey and Heather. On a second page, there lives a bold printed did not finish with Annie’s name under it.
Short of winning the race, there are few outcomes that could be better for her. Not the team score or the hometown pride. Skiing is fickle and harder than it looks. Annie’s rise to strong results was meteoric and based on her ability to lock out the expectations and pressures of racing. When that ability faltered under the tremendous pressure of hometown racing, parent visits, coach hopes, friend spectators, and movie picture finales, so did her results. Short of those reading this blog post and, perhaps, Annie, few people will think about it again. Lesson learned. Game on.
Like the first day’s fantastic opening, the second day’s tragic start had to be shelved in favor of more racing. We were lucky to have Eileen Carey, a great coach and an old friend, helping Chase, Patty and me as we dialed in skis for the warming conditions. After a few last minute structure applications, the boys headed towards the start line. Cue silence, expectation and the excitement of racing.
The race was a generally reserved affair. Many of the western racers had started hard on Thursday’s race. (I heard a lot about how easy the course was in the days leading up to the first race- not so much in the hours after it.) I can’t help but think it cowed a few racers into not lighting out. Fast conditions and a strong pack of skiers kept the group bunched together. Austin hung on strong in the teens for a long, long time before the effort proved too much and he fell back to no-man’s land. He continued to push and reach for the finish. He closed out the day in 31st place. Ben hovered near the front for the better part of the day. If you don’t know the kid, then you don’t know the type of sweetness he’s capable of- I’ll remember him smiling and nodding during the race when I shouted, “Ben, you’re having a GREAT race!”
The eight person pack that came into the finish was impressively close. A late effort from Miles Havlick earned the Utah skier his second NCAA title. Ben and Sam Tarling, who attends some small college in New Hampshire tied for seventh. (A great way to watch these racers end the year.)
The rest of the weekend was thank-yous and barbecues (again, Thanks Gregg Marston). The sunny temps and great skiing were hard to beat. The final days of the season felt full and happy, which is how final days are supposed to feel.
I don’t think it will be twelve years before we host the NCAAs again, which is good because this was a week that fired a lot of folks up. Including me.
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