Nordic Team Defiant in the Face of Williams, Weather

Author: Josh Axelrod

Stories have been circulating amongst the Middlebury men's and women's Nordic ski team about the coldest days on which they have ever raced. This weekend, as the skiers traveled to Mt. Prospect, Vt., for the Williams carnival, nighttime lows bottomed out at near -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet the Panthers awoke early Friday morning to meet the challenge in just-legal starting temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius.
The women began the day with a 10-kilometer skate on glide wax reserved only for polar conditions. Kate Newick '04 led Middlebury on its way to a third-place finish coming in with a strong fifth-place result. Close behind her and posting one of her best results of the season was Diana Johnson '05 in seventh place. Claire Anderson '06 stepped up to the bitter cold and smacked it in the face finishing in an impressive 16th place finish to round out the three skiers who scored carnival points. Kate Whitcomb '04 and Jenny Jorvig '06, in her first race of the season, both finished easily within the top 30.
On the men's side, racing the same distance in temperatures that just wouldn't warm up, Colin Rodgers '04 continued his late season push to the top with a very solid fifth-place finish. Skiing strong, but slightly behind Rodgers, was the remarkable first-year star, Garrot Kuzzy '06 in 11th place. Marshall Greene '04 finished out the top three scoring Panthers with yet another consistent race, finishing in 15th place. Jake Whitcomb '06 and Andrew Savage '03.5 both finished in the top thirty for the Middlebury men.
On day two, the women began with 20 teams double-poling out of the stadium in a mass start. Missing in the action was the Middlebury A-team, which did not start because Johnson had felt sick before the race. Middlebury's chances were left up to Anderson, Jorvig and Pike-Springer who brought the Panthers in with a 10th place finish, exactly in the middle of the field and not a bad result considering the circumstances.
And yet, as the snow sighed from the constant pounding of 60 women's skis, the Panther men had yet to begin their quest to show the University of Vermont and everyone else that they are the strongest force in the East. Beginning with Captain Tim Weston '03, the men's A-team shot off to the front of the field, winning the double pole out of the stadium. Weston, who had complained of tiredness less than a half-hour before the race, nonetheless showed true grit as he stayed in contact with the lead group late in the race, never losing more than 15 seconds on them before he tagged off to Kuzzy.
Kuzzy knew his task: he had to take over the lead and place Rodgers in a position from which he could win the race. And off Kuzzy flew, whipping the Mt. Prospect course into shape and overtaking the lead without a second thought. With one kilometer left to ski, Jordi St. John of UVM decided he would try to put a gap between himself and Kuzzy, blowing by him in the final uphill. But Kuzzy was unfazed and tagged off to Rodgers only a few seconds down on UVM.
Rodgers, certainly upset that Middlebury had lost to UVM at Stowe three weeks ago after his amazing first leg, caught UVM's Lowell Bailey instantly and continued to draft him until the top of the final uphill, where he flew by double-poling. And then the drama began. Rodgers came out of his tuck too early into the stadium, and Bailey stayed close behind in his tuck, wasting no energy as Rodgers was already sprinting. As the track split into two lanes and the finish line loomed, Bailey came out of his tuck and pushed to catch up with Rodgers. At the line, Rodgers lunged hard and won by half a second. Middlebury had claimed the day.
All that remains now of the quickly passing Carnival season is Middlebury's Winter Carnival, which will take place this weekend with festivities on campus and races at the Rikert Touring Center and the Middlebury College Snowbowl. The Panthers will be looking to top all of the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association competitors and take home the final crown of the Carnival season before a select few skiers head to Dartmouth in three weeks for the NCAA National Championships.