It’s approaching the end of summer and it’s time for a little team update. I’ve heard lots of great stories about team members having summer adventures, but I’m sure we’re all ready to come back to Cornell. We’re sad to have lost our seniors from last near, notably Andrew Courtney and Mike Blazejewski, but the majority of our team will be back next year which is great news.

Upcoming events for returning and new skiers:
Sunday, August 24th 5:00 PM - Club sports orientation practice in Appel fields. New freshmen have a chance to see what our team is about. If you’re around this early please show up!
Sunday, August 31st 1:00 - 4:00 PM - Clubfest at Barton Hall
Monday, September 1st 5:00 PM - First official practice. Practice is optional but come to get to know people and get in shape. Meet under the bleachers in the EF section of Schoellkopf stadium on the side with the parking lot (opposite the side with the parking garage).

-Brian

Ok so I missed posting about a few weekends, and here we are back from Nationals. This year the Cornell team had 6 members skiing at Nationals, and they were: Andrew Courtney (Sr), Chris Mui (Fr), Owen Skinner (Fr), Patrick Nadeau (Fr), Beth Esponnette (So), and Bridget Hass (So). It was the first time at Nationals for all of them.

We would have had an experienced nationals competitor with Melinda Mcaleese but due to an extremely awfully timed concussion she was unable to make the trip. The Cornell team missed her experience and enthusiasm on the trip.

We rented a house near Bethel that turned out great, lots of space, enough beds so no one had to sleep on the floor, and a hot tub!

The first race of the week on Tuesday was the 1.4k classic sprint. The top 10 times from the qualifier would move on to the finals under the lights that evening. Unfortunately the Cornell team missed out on qualifying for the finals, Andrew was only a few seconds out of 10th place and also crashed during the qualifier. Owen Skinner had a great race finishing 17th. Chris Mui was not far back in 20th and Patrick Nadeau finished 32nd. On the women’s side Beth also just missed out finishing 11th and Bridget Hass skied well to finish 23rd. Though disappointed about not being in the finals, we were glad to get some rest instead of racing two more laps on the brutal sprint course.

The next morning was the 15k classic, and the weather made the competition really interesting. While racing hard sleet and snow rapidly fell, filling in the tracks and stinging our eyes. By the time the men’s race started there was only one track for most of the course, and this was a mass start with an extremely tight pack, the top twenty were all in a line packed with a few seconds for most of the first lap. Andrew finished in 14th place, Owen in 24th, Chris in 27th, and Patrick in 32nd. For the girls race Beth raced hard to finish in 10th place, the first All-Ameri can of the week! Bridget powered through the course to finish 20th - and this is just her first year skiing…

After the classic race the team had a break the next day, which they used to catch up on homework, go hot-tubbing, and travel down to Auburn to visit Beth’s family. On Friday the team drove back up to Black Mountain for the last individual event, the 8.5k skate race. In my opinion it was one of the hardest races I’ve skied in - high school hill (which is a brutal long and steep hill that follows a number of other climbs) had to be skied up twice. Andrew made All-American in his last chance ever finishing 10th just ahead of a number of other skiers. Chris and Owen finished close to each other in 25th and 26th place, and Patrick came in 32nd. Watching the finishers come in a number of them fell to the ground for awhile after the race, I for one could barely stand at all for several minutes. On the women’s side the racing was just as intense with Beth finishing 15th and Bridget in 23rd.

The 8.5k skate was the last of the individual races, and Andrew and Beth both achieved 10th place overall, making them both 2nd team All-Americans.

On Saturday morning there was one final race, the 3×5k relay. The first leg was classic with the other two skate. In the men’s race Chris Mui started the first leg with an awesome sprint to enter the woods in 3rd place. The other competitors eventually caught up with Chris though he skied hard to tag off Owen for the 2nd lap. Owen had a nice final race for his freshman year, picking up some time on the Paul Smith’s skier in front of him and tagged off to Andrew for the anchor leg. Andrew caught the Paul Smith’s skier to give the team a 5th place finish. The women’s team only had Beth and Bridget, so they teamed up with super-fast skier Clare Egan of Wellesley for their relay. They all skied hard to finish in 6th out of the total 10 relay teams.

Saturday evening was the banquet, and the nordic skiers represented by dressing way better than the piners and snowboarders (especially the boarders). After the banquet we continued the traditional nordic teams get-together “milk and cookies” party which was a great success.

Though I’m glad to get some rest from traveling and practices, as a graduating senior I know I’m really going to miss this team. This year has been an extremely enjoyable and rewarding season, and I believe my teammates are some of the best people to be around as well as some of the best student athletes at Cornell. Also many props go out to the other teams in our league as well as volunteers and coordinators like Amy Lane. As much as we like to compete with teams like Clarkson, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a more sportsmanlike and welcoming race environment than in our USCSA races. It truly is an excellent opportunity for xc skiers to continue racing in college without losing the sheer enjoyment of the sport.

Andrew

Last weekend the Cornell team traveled to Prospect Mountain in Vermont for Clarkson’s carnival. The weekend included a 15k classic race, 10k skate race, as well as the famed “3-legged race.” Also Cornell continued the tradition of making Valentine’s cards for the skiers on the other teams. This year’s cards were certainly just as original and no cleaner than years past.

The first race held Saturday afternoon was a grueling 15k (actually shortened to 12k) classic race. Due to several inches of snow falling throughout the day the conditions were soft and slow. The consensus from the team is that we waxed a little too warm for kick and had great “running skis,” but the glide was a bit too slow. On the men’s side Brian Macpherson had a good showing coming in 7th with Andrew Courtney following in 8th place. Owen Skinner came in 15th, Chris Mui in 17th, Robert Penney in 29th, Patrick Nadeau in 33rd, and Mike Blazejewski came back to ski racing with a 37th place finish.

Several of Cornell’s top female skiers took the weekend off, but Jess Marion skied well to finish 11th, Bridget Hass continued to improve with a 13th place finish, Dakota Stranik came in 15th, Julia Schoen in 17th, and Lisa Hollywood in 25th.

Sunday’s 10k skate race was a huge improvement over Saturday’s results with Cornell coming within 2 points of beating Clarkson(and would have won with skiing a total of 4 seconds faster) . Brian Macpherson had a huge race coming in 2nd place, 1 second behind winner Stefan Bibb. Andrew Courtney also had a great race coming in 4th place, 3 seconds behind Clarkson’s first skier. Owen Skinner skied well coming in 10th place, Chris Mui finished close behind in 12th, Patrick Nadeau came in 19th, Robert Penney was 28th, and Mike Blazejewski came in 35th. Mike’s dad helped the team wax the night before and gave them rocket-fast skis.

On the women’s side Bridget Hass finished strong in 9th place, Jess Marion in 11th, Dakota Stranik in 14th, Julia Schoen in 18th, and Lisa Hollywood in 24th.

In the 3-legged race Brian Macpherson and Clarkson skier Sarah Gardner dominated the competition. Andrew Courtney was really glad not to break a pole this year (of course Melinda wasn’t there to fall on it). The costumes for the 3-legged race were quite impressive, especially a Paul Smith’s skier as one of the “300″ characters wearing a cape and a speedo… he really froze.

Next weekend is the divisional championships at Notchview, MA, the last race of the seasonal before Regional championships.

Results here:
15k classic: Men Women

10k skate: Men Women

On February 2nd and 3rd the Cornell ski team traveled up to Lake Placid for their yearly Carnival. The main races of the weekend were a 10k x 10k pursuit, skate on Saturday and classic on Sunday. Saturday afternoon also featured a 3×2x1k sprint relay.

Even with the monster ice storm the previous evening, the grooming crew at Mt. Van Hoevenberg did a great job breaking up the ice and setting up a great race course. In the first leg of the pursuit Andrew Courtney came in 6th place, Chris Mui had a huge race coming in 7th, and Owen Skinner came in 9th. In the 2nd leg Andrew caught the skier in front of him to finish 5th, and Chris and Owen came in 9th and 12th, respectively. Rich Benware, a grad student at Cornell, came back from a long hiatus from ski racing to finish 17th overall. Patrick Nadeau also finished in 21st overall for the Big Red. Having his first ski race ever was Anshul Kumar, who had a great time out on the snow.

For the women’s team Cornell had a strong showing with Melinda Mcaleese and Beth Esponnette finishing 3rd and 5th in the skate race. Then in the classic race Melinda held on to 3rd while Beth moved up a spot to 4th overall. Cornell skiers Emily Lyons and Allie Mouche finished in 9th and 13th place overall. A few Cornell racers only raced the classic portion due to some “technical difficulties” on Saturday. Bridget Hass, Julia Schoen, and Lisa Hollywood finished in 9th, 14th, and 18th place in the classic leg.

In the sprint relay on Saturday Owen Skinner, Chris Mui, and Andrew Courtney came in 5th overall while the women’s team of Beth Esponnette, Emily Lyons, and Emily Lyons came in 3rd.

Many thanks go to the Benware and Mcaleese families, who hosted the team on Friday and Saturday nights.

This past weekend the Cornell skiers traveled to their meet of the season and competed against teams from WPI, Army, Vassar, Skidmore and Paul Smith College. The race course included a rolling woods section as well as a 2k loop on a frozen lake. Though the ground in Ithaca is still devoid of snow, the snow conditions and grooming at Mtn. Meadows were both excellent and the Cornell skiers turned in some fine performances.

The first race on Saturday morning was a quick 5k skate that finished on the lake loop. On the men’s side Andrew Courtney finished in 1st, Brian Macpherson in 4th(only 4 seconds out of 2nd), and Owen Skinner in 8th. Chris Mui had a great race to come in right behind Owen in 9th. The women’s team continued to dominate with Beth Esponnette, Jessica Marion, and Dakota Stranik coming in 1st, 3rd, and 4th respectively. Jessica’s performance was especially impressive since it was her first ski race since when she was on her high school ski team in 2005. In the sprint relay on Saturday afternoon, the Cornell team of Andrew Courtney, Beth Esponnette, and Brian Macpherson dominated the field, winning by over two minutes.

On Sunday morning the race was a 5k x 5k Skiathlon, where the racers ski a 5k loop with their classic skis, then switch to skate equipment as the clock continues to run and then skate another 5k. The men’s team realized they needed to work on their double pole when the army skiers pulled away while skiing around the lake. After the transition the Cornell skiers reeled in the Army skiers on the skate leg, but it wasn’t enough to bring them the win and they ended up finishing second place as a team. Andrew Courtney was 3rd, Brian Macpherson was 5th, and Owen Skinner was 8th. The women’s team had an excellent showing with Beth Esponnette finishing 1st, Bridget Hass in 3rd, and Dakota Stranik in 4th. Everyone’s jaw dropped when they saw Bridget in 3rd, as she just learned to ski a few weeks ago! Lindsey Sidrane came in 11th place, and Lisa Hollywood continued to move up the results list coming in 12th. It is also Lisa’s first season ski racing - she’s from Texas! I’m not aware of any other Cornell Nordic members from Texas, is she the first?

This coming weekend the team travels to Lake Placid for the Cornell Carnival, which will feature their perennial opponent, Clarkson. The team is extremely tired of eating PBJ sandwiches from ski camp and the past weekend, but are extremely fortunate to be staying at Melinda’s house, who has promised “lots of cookies, brownies, lasagna, homemade bread and more!” No matter how the racing goes the post race meals will be incredible.

Results

5k Skate
Men
Women

Sprint Relay

Skiathlon
Men
Women

Following a great week of training up at Mont-Sainte-Anne, the Cornell skiers traveled to Prospect Mountain for the first race of the season. The race was hosted by Army, and also competing were WPI, Paul Smiths, Vassar, and a special guest from St. Lawrence(my twin brother). The men and women won both the sprints on Saturday and the classic distance race on Sunday. The Courtney brothers went 1-2 in the sprint with Mike Blazejewski skiing well for a 3rd place finish. Cornell women went 1-2-3 with Melinda Mcaleese, Beth Esponnette, and Erin Wolcott. On Sunday the men got 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the classic distance with Brian Macpherson and Andrew Courtney respectively. The women again swept the field finishing 1-2-3 in the same order. Next weekend the Cornell team travels to Mountain Meadows for another exciting weekend of races.

Full results available here (until I figure out how to update this whole website)

Sprint:

Qualifier

Final

Classic Distance:

Women

Men

After a long hiatus the website is back to being updated in anticipation of the race season. The team will travel to Mont-Sainte-Anne on January 11th for a week of ski camp, and then to Ethan Allen Firing range in Vermont the following weekend for the USCSA season opener. I’m planning on updating the other pages on the website in the near future, but for now here’s a link to the racing schedule for this season: Race Schedule The ski team has many new members this year and it should make for an exciting season. Race results and pictures will be added as the season progresses.

Everyone should probably take a moment to think about this: the Cornell men’s team has two current national champions on the roster. After John’s 15k skate win, Aaron Duphily won the 8.5k classic by a whopping 28 seconds on Friday. The 3×5K relay of Aaron “doof” Duphily (classic) Mark “the emperor” Delaney (classic) and John “wildman” Erickson on Saturday came in a close 2nd to Wyoming. Wildman closed a significant gap on Wyo due to harsh waxing conditions and was only inched out in a photo finish. An opposing coach was overheard saying “wildman is GOD!” as he flew through the finish lane. Overall, the men were proclaimed national champions and Wildman became the first Cornell skier in many years to hold the title of Individual Combined National Champion. Aaron finished 6th overall and Mark Delaney was 7th, only 1 point behind. On the women’s side, the 3×5K relay of Melinda McAleese, Sara Cohen and Sarah Hirsch finished 4th and Melinda placed 9th in the overall standings.

For more results and articles, go to:

http://www.fasterskier.com/racing4140.html

and

http://www.uscsa.com/nationals07results.php

So the guys won, but I’d say the best part of the week was the amazingly close and high quality competition. A few examples from the most exciting week of racing I’ve seen or heard of:

-Two out of four of the guys races were won by inches.

-A different guys team won each of the four days and the overall team championship was decided by one point sepparating the same two teams who were one point apart last year.

-A different person won the men’s race every day and the overall was decided by two points.

-New snow at just near-freezing temperatures made the 3×5 k relay an epic struggle (59:53 for the winning men and 1:13 for the winning women) where only waxless skis were working.

-70 points out of the overall lead, the UMPI girls threw down to win the relay by over 2 minutes 38 seconds. They won not just because their star skier had the fastest skate leg, but because their other two girls (neither had cracked the top ten all week) put them in the lead after the first two legs.

Now a little about the excitement on the Cornell side:

Mark won himself 7 cases of beer by upsetting Matt Delaney, the eventual sprint champion, in the sprint qualifier. He proved it wasn’t a fluke by staying in the top 10 all week.

Aaron came back from a dissapointing sprint (and a bruised foot) to have a great skate race and destroy the field in the classic race by nearly half a minute.

Steve raced so well at altitude that we’re pretty sure he matches up better against the Wyo guys at 9000 feet than he would down at sea level. (I’m not joking.)

Even though he had bad luck with racing at altitude, Alex is such a classy guy he didn’t complain once about it once. That was the most impressive feat I saw all week.

Melinda was the only girl enjoying her self at the top of the big hill at the end of the relay. She had the third fastest split and either the fastest or the second fastest of anyone without waxless skis.

D-dub finished a great season by racing well all week. Even though she had THE worst pair of skis in the entire relay she didn’t give up.

Sarah rolled out the intensity for her last race. We all agreed her tempo kicked up more than a notch or two up the last big hill in the relay.

Despite the 9000 foot altitude disadvantage, Wildman John Erickson wins the 15K skate, again! His nearest competitor was Bjorn Bakken from UMPI, 24 seconds behind him. John won this event 2 years ago in Idaho. Aaron Duphily’s 5th place and Mark Delaney’s 7th place finishes helped the boys win today’s event and put them 30 points ahead of Clarkson and 1 point ahead of Wyoming with 2 events left. Wildman is our hero.