The Nordic ski team completed its season at the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association Championships much in much the same way it has performed all season: near the bottom of the pack, finishing 10th out of 13 teams.
Head Coach Nathan Alsobrook said that the carnival was "as much an odyssey as it was a ski race. The sky was dumping snow all through the race and the wind was howling," which led to "very slow and sloppy conditions."
He explained that the race was about determination and being able to dig down to find something special that would allow the skiers to perform on a course where they could barely see due to the treacherous weather.
Despite the conditions, Spencer Eusden '12 came in 11th place in the 20K classic race (1:20:46.9), his career best and one of the top 10 performances in program history. Eusden also led the men in the 10K freestyle, coming in 18th overall (26:20.9).
Continuing a recent streak of improvements, Kevin Hoose '15 came in 27th place (26:58.5) on Friday and 35th place on Saturday (1:23:35.6), making this weekend his best of the season.
On the women's side, Kaitlynn Miller '14 continued her collegiate success and came in 27th place in the 15K classic (1:09:33.1).
"This weekend wasn't as huge a leap forward as we've seen in past seasons at regionals, but it was really good," said Alsobrook.
The Polar Bears will be graduating seven of their seniors, but several talented first year skiers will be added to the roster next season. And according to Alsobrook, "If the young skiers, such as Hoose and Kaitlynn, continue to step up during races, it could be a very exciting season."
-Compiled by Rachel Gladstone.