It was an historic week at the NCAA Skiing Championships as Rebecca Nadler won the first individual National Championship in the team’s history and added a second All-American performance later in the week. Combined with two solid races by Alena Tofte in nordic, the team placed 15th in the nation despite having only two scoring athletes.
Alpine Race Report by Coach Mitchell
Becca and Alena
Harvard Alpine was represented by Rebecca Nadler at the Championships, held at Bridger Bowl ski area just north of Bozeman, Montana. Conditions on the hill were a bit soft, but overall not too bad for championship week. We arrived late on Monday evening and were greeted with a snow storm on Tuesday, the first official day of training, but some decent slalom training made it a productive day overall. Wednesday was our chance to test out the GS hill, and we quickly realized that the key for Becca having a good result was going to be pressuring the top of the turn, so as not to dig the edges in too hard with the soft racing surface, but to still maintain lots of movement down the hill with the body to bend the skis and generate momentum. Before training we were able to catch Alena Tofte going for it in the 5k nordic skate race at Bohart Ranch.
Race day saw a bluebird day with pleasant temperatures, the course sets looked great and the hill was buffed out. Becca had a great tactical plan, and in short, she executed better than anyone else when it counted, won the race in commanding fashion, and brought home a first-ever NCAA Skiing National Championship for Harvard. Other skiers in the event, even ones with recent World Cup experience, faltered on the “big stage” but Becca skied two of the smartest, most aggressive, well executed runs I’ve ever had the privilege to witness in person. Becca put down a great first run, going into the second run in 2nd place. She charged out of the start gate and nailed the first section of the course, putting pressure on Kristina Riis-Johanessen of UVM, the first run leader, who undoubtedly saw the performance that Becca put down. Becca crossed the finish a bit less than a half-second ahead of eventual second place finisher, Kate Riley of UVM. A few moments later, a bobble by Riis-Johanessen and the win was sealed for Becca, a massive cheer went up from the crowd, and history was made.
Within ten minutes, my phone was buzzing with over 100 texts/emails/voicemails. It was about then that it started to sink in, the magnitude of Becca’s achievement. But truthfully, the best part of the day was the support and encouragement that we as a team recieved from other competitors, coaches, parents, spectators, and officials. I have never seen anything like it at a ski race, and it was so encouraging to know that we have so many people pulling for the success of our athletes and our program.
Sam, Becca, and Tim
This was a team effort, and a big thanks goes out to our nordic coach, Chris City, for helping make a the wax-call on a day which was anything but straightforward in terms of figuring out what would be fastest on the snow. Alpine coach Sam Damon also nailed the overlay wax at the start and got Becca’s skis buffed out and running like greased lightning, and got our athlete fully pumped-up to crush-it in the start gate, as he has been doing all season long. The next 24-hours was a bit of a whirlwind, but suffice it to say there was a lot going on; we even managed to get in a great morning of slalom training before heading to Bohart Ranch, the nordic venue, to watch Alena Tofte give it everything she had for the Crimson in the 15k classic race. Our experience from the previous day gave us a bit of extra energy which we put to good use with some boisterous cheering for Alena.
Saturday’s slalom had temperatures soaring in the high 50′s, making for a quickly softening track. The plan for the day was to keep the line above the gate and try and bring speed into the long middle flat section, and then get on top of it for the final pitch into the finish where the snow was getting exceptionally soft. Becca put down an aggressive first run with a few minor bobbles, but still managed to move up a few spots and was in good shape heading into the second run. With the first 30 finishers from the first run starting in reverse order for the second run, and the quickly softening snow, it was clear that it was going to be a battle and that anything was possible in terms of an overall result. Becca’s second run was again aggressive in conditions that made it easy to ski defensively. She linked clean turns on the upper pitch and danced through the tight hairpin/flush combos coming onto the flat. On the lower pitch, where the turns were big and the ruts were bigger, Becca put down some of her best slalom turns of the year and overtook the lead after crossing the finish line. She held onto the lead for a while, and ultimately ended the day in 7th place, her second All-American finish of the championship.
Obviously, saying that this was a great week for Harvard Skiing would be a bit of an understatement, but oddly enough I am struggling to describe the magnitude of this achievement. Suffice it to say that it is huge, and it will only serve to inspire Harvard Skiing to keep on with our efforts.
Read more about Becca’s win in the Crimson, Ski Racing, the Boston Globe, and GoCrimson. Video of Becca’s GS and Alena’s 5km are on Facebook. Things are clicking for Harvard Skiing and we’re not slowing down anytime soon!
Nordic Race Report by Coach City
On the nordic side, the big question going into the Championships was how Alena would respond to racing at altitude. Bohart Ranch, the site of the NCAA nordic races, is at 5,000 feet – well above any course Alena had ever raced on. Each 5km lap of the racecourse consisted of three hills: the long, steady “Telemark Hill” in the first kilometer, and then the herringbone-steep “Macedonian Wall” and the “S-Curve” uphills in the fourth kilometer. The terrain in-between was largely flat or gently rolling with very manageable downs. Alena needed to avoid going too far over redline on any of the uphills because if she did, the thin air would make it nearly impossible to recover in time to ski the intervening flats and rolling terrain well. The question was: where was her redline at 5,000 feet? Arriving late Monday evening, we wouldn’t have time to find out – she would have to go by feel in the races.
Alena
The first race was an individual start 5km skate on Wednesday morning. Based on her performances this season, Alena was seeded near the middle of the field. She paced herself well, keeping the throttle under control on the hills and making her skis run on the flats. She had just enough in the tank to get over the 4km hills well and crossed the line before her legs cramped up from the effort. She placed 27th overall; a mere 10 seconds faster would have put her in 23rd. She was 10th among EISA skiers, which is consistent with how she was placing in our league all year and indicates she gauged her effort well, especially considering that the other Eastern skiers had traveled earlier and had up to a week to acclimate to the altitude and recover from their trips west.
The second race of the Championships was a 15km classic. The women started in the late morning, and by the time the gun went off temperatures were already in the mid-fifties in the stadium and not much cooler in the woods. Moreover, the multiple-lap format meant that the two tough climbs at 4km were quickly followed by the Telemark hill at the beginning of each subsequent lap. The race quickly became a slog, with even the very best skiers walking the herringbone sections and sluggish downhills providing little respite. Alena hung tough, chasing a pair of Utah skiers for much of the race while also trading back and forth with skiers from Bates, Northern Michigan and Colorado. She finished 35th overall to cap a great season of racing that began just after New Year’s Day.
The other story of the championships was the dominance of the Eastern women. The East placed 6 women in the top 10 in the skate race and 7 in the top 10 in the classic (including the first 6 finishers). It reflects well on Alena’s multiple top-10 regular season performances this year that she was clearly competing among the best in the country every weekend.
