After a long hiatus the website is back to being updated in anticipation of the race season. The team will travel to Mont-Sainte-Anne on January 11th for a week of ski camp, and then to Ethan Allen Firing range in Vermont the following weekend for the USCSA season opener. I’m planning on updating the other pages on the website in the near future, but for now here’s a link to the racing schedule for this season: Race Schedule The ski team has many new members this year and it should make for an exciting season. Race results and pictures will be added as the season progresses. –>

Everyone should probably take a moment to think about this: the Cornell men’s team has two current national champions on the roster. After John’s 15k skate win, Aaron Duphily won the 8.5k classic by a whopping 28 seconds on Friday. The 3×5K relay of Aaron “doof” Duphily (classic) Mark “the emperor” Delaney (classic) and John “wildman” Erickson on Saturday came in a close 2nd to Wyoming. Wildman closed a significant gap on Wyo due to harsh waxing conditions and was only inched out in a photo finish. An opposing coach was overheard saying “wildman is GOD!” as he flew through the finish lane. Overall, the men were proclaimed national champions and Wildman became the first Cornell skier in many years to hold the title of Individual Combined National Champion. Aaron finished 6th overall and Mark Delaney was 7th, only 1 point behind. On the women’s side, the 3×5K relay of Melinda McAleese, Sara Cohen and Sarah Hirsch finished 4th and Melinda placed 9th in the overall standings.

For more results and articles, go to:

http://www.fasterskier.com/racing4140.html

and

http://www.uscsa.com/nationals07results.php
–>

So the guys won, but I’d say the best part of the week was the amazingly close and high quality competition. A few examples from the most exciting week of racing I’ve seen or heard of:

-Two out of four of the guys races were won by inches.

-A different guys team won each of the four days and the overall team championship was decided by one point sepparating the same two teams who were one point apart last year.

-A different person won the men’s race every day and the overall was decided by two points.

-New snow at just near-freezing temperatures made the 3×5 k relay an epic struggle (59:53 for the winning men and 1:13 for the winning women) where only waxless skis were working.

-70 points out of the overall lead, the UMPI girls threw down to win the relay by over 2 minutes 38 seconds. They won not just because their star skier had the fastest skate leg, but because their other two girls (neither had cracked the top ten all week) put them in the lead after the first two legs.

Now a little about the excitement on the Cornell side:

Mark won himself 7 cases of beer by upsetting Matt Delaney, the eventual sprint champion, in the sprint qualifier. He proved it wasn’t a fluke by staying in the top 10 all week.

Aaron came back from a dissapointing sprint (and a bruised foot) to have a great skate race and destroy the field in the classic race by nearly half a minute.

Steve raced so well at altitude that we’re pretty sure he matches up better against the Wyo guys at 9000 feet than he would down at sea level. (I’m not joking.)

Even though he had bad luck with racing at altitude, Alex is such a classy guy he didn’t complain once about it once. That was the most impressive feat I saw all week.

Melinda was the only girl enjoying her self at the top of the big hill at the end of the relay. She had the third fastest split and either the fastest or the second fastest of anyone without waxless skis.

D-dub finished a great season by racing well all week. Even though she had THE worst pair of skis in the entire relay she didn’t give up.

Sarah rolled out the intensity for her last race. We all agreed her tempo kicked up more than a notch or two up the last big hill in the relay.

–>

Despite the 9000 foot altitude disadvantage, Wildman John Erickson wins the 15K skate, again! His nearest competitor was Bjorn Bakken from UMPI, 24 seconds behind him. John won this event 2 years ago in Idaho. Aaron Duphily’s 5th place and Mark Delaney’s 7th place finishes helped the boys win today’s event and put them 30 points ahead of Clarkson and 1 point ahead of Wyoming with 2 events left. Wildman is our hero. –>

In what we’ve decided must have been the Ivy League Championships, the Cornell men finished 2nd to Dartmouth Friday, defeating Harvard in a tie-breaker. Cornell skiers John Erickson, Aaron Duphily, Alex Smith and Mark Delaney finished 7th, 54th, 59th and 64th respectively in the 10k skate. Aaron also raced in the classic sprint, finishing 43rd.

Freestyle Results:
http://www.eisaskiing.org/BART/Results07/woc2007-4.htm
Sprint Results:
http://www.eisaskiing.org/BART/Results07/woc2007-8.htm –>

Finally some new stuff on the website. Results are up from this weekend at Ethan Allen and pictures will follow soon. The roster is also slowly being updated. If you’re on there but I’m missing your hometown or have it wrong, let me know. –>

Photos from this weekend are up, along with some new ones from last year at nationals, courtesy of Melinda. –>

We’re going to be hosting a team pasta dinner this Friday December 1 at 7:00 at 105 College Ave. We will provide the pasta and salad, but if a few people can bring a drink, chips, dessert, etc. to share that would be great. This a good chance to get to know people before you spend a week with them at ski camp if you’re new to the team. E-mail Mark mtd24 if you want a ride from north or west campus. –>

312 Hollister (on the engineering quad) 2pm Sunday December 3

Wondering what the difference is between classic and skate, or what cross country skiing even looks like? Come to watch World Cup and technique videos and hear a bit about technique, training and ski camp. The videos might also convince you that nordic skiing is more exciting than you thought. It’s not all about your grandpa’s wool knickers, and you can actually go fast. We’ll do some easy technique drills outside afterward, so wear athletic clothes. You’re welcome to come whether or not you’re on the team. –>

I posted the official schedule and despite what the heading says, it’s 2007, not 2005. In other news, ski camp is planned for Mte Ste Anne, Quebec for January 12-19. If you’re not already signed up and want to join, email me (ssh32) ASAP. –>