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 –>