Heading into this Sunday's action on Black Mountain, the Polar Bears look to ride the momentum they gained in their historic finish last weekend at the Colby Carnival. Led by first year Kaitlynn Miller, the Polar Bears earned an eighth place spot out of 12 nordic teams at Titcomb Mountain. This result marked the best finish ever for the Polar Bears at an Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) Carnival under head coach Nathan Alsobrook '97.
Miller stole the show for the Polar Bears with an impressive time of 42:03.6. Miller crossed the finish line of the women's 10K 13th overall and less than two minutes off the first place finish. Historically, Miller's race results are the best ever for a first year Bowdoin woman and second overall for any Polar Bear woman in EISA competition.
"This [past] weekend was much more representative of her ability as a skier than the first carnival," Alsobrook said. "I think it just took those first couple races for her to settle into the college circuit."
In addition to Miller's exceptional performance, the Polar Bears had another women's team member place in the 10K event. Sophomore Hannah Wright finished with a time of 44:49.2 to earn a 39th overall finish for the Polar Bears.
On the men's side, three skiers earned ranked finishes in the 10K. Leading the way for the men was Wilson Dippo '12, who crossed the finish line in 18th place with a personal best time of 33:28.5, just two minutes off the winning pace.
"It's good to see [Dippo's] season off to such a great start after he trained so hard all fall," Alsobrook stated.
Juniors Spencer Eusden and Scott Longwell finished in 40th and 44th place, respectively. Eusden crossed the finish line with a 35:03.6 time while Longwell completed the 10K in 35:16.6.
In addition to the individual events, the Polar Bears performed well in the relay events. For the first time since 2007, the men defeated Middlebury in a relay. The squad of Eusden, Longwell and Dippo crossed the finish line in 10th place overall with a solid time of 55:59.9. On the women's side, the trio of Miller, Wright, and Erin Hatton '12 crossed the finish line in 18th place overall with a time of 1:17:52.4.
The Polar Bears will take a break from EISA Carnival action to compete this Sunday at the Broomhall Cup on Black Mountain in Rumford, Maine. The Broomhall Cup, named after one of Maine's ski pioneers Chummy Broomhall, serves as the Maine state collegiate nordic skiing championship.
"We have high hopes for the state championship this weekend," Alsobrook said. "We're definitely the underdog compared to Bates and Colby, but we...haven't skied up to our potential as a team yet, and if everything comes together this weekend, we could be a contender. The Broomhall Cup is always a fun event, and we're super fired up."