Bozeman race recap
The team had a great weekend in Bozeman. Saturday was a skate sprint at Lindley Park in downtown Bozeman. The race course was fun and fast. If I had to describe its shape, it would be that of a convoluted inner-mitochondrial membrane (hey, my biology degree in not going to total waste!) The women completed the course in 3 and 3/4 minutes with Caitlin Compton qualifying in 1st. 3 of 4 CXC women qualified in the top 30 to make the heats. I just barely eeked my way in at 30th place. The men also faired well with 4 of 6 qualifying for the rounds.
In the women’s heats, Caitlin, Maria, and I all raced in the 1st quarterfinal along with two chicks from APU and one from MSU. Caitlin raced in third for the entire heat and advanced to the semis as a lucky loser. Maria and I were in 5th and 6th halfway through when Maria went down around a soft corner. I narrowly missed going down with her. I gained on 4th place racer down the finishing straightaway, but ran out of real estate. Caitlin went on to place second behind Holly Brooks who dominated the final. Rebecca Dussault also made the finals to finish fourth.
The mens heats were exciting to watch with several crashes and broken poles. Garrott was dominant, leading all of heats from wire to wire and taking the win. Tad Elliot went out in his quarter-final, while Cook advanced to the B-final and Gregg advanced all the way to the A-final; the two finished 10th and 5th, respectively.
The top-5 women in downtown Bozeman at the annual Christmas stroll.
Top-5 men in the sprint.
Sunday’s 10/15k classic race was an interesting one, on account of the weather and the course. I sat this one out to rest, but 7 of the team raced. We all woke up at 7AM race morning to check the web to make sure the race wasn’t canceled due to the freezing temperature. The race was on. The race course consisted of a 5k loop that included lots of climbing and descending. The highlight of the course was a very steep and long herringbone hill, followed by a steep descent with an immediate sharp turn at the bottom, followed by an even longer herringbone hill. The course required smart pacing and a lot of mental toughness. Rebecca had a great one with a 3rd place podium finish. Kristina and Caitlin also had top-20 finishes. On the men’s side, Bryan outpaced his brother Chris by 9 seconds for second place, while Gregg finished 8th, and Tad was 16th.
Following the race, 8 skiers and two coaches loaded up the van and shoved off for Silver Star, BC. The races next weekend will be a skate sprint and a distance skate. Best of luck!
Kristina
Caitlin
Rebecca on her way to her first Super Tour podium of the season.
Kristina and Rebecca going all-out on the crazy herringbone hill.
Cook on his way to a second-place finish.
Gregg
Tad
Gus
Karl
