Collegiate Racing Recap: EISA, RMISA

by Luke Brown
February 9, 2022

As the Olympics grip the heart of the skiing nation, inspiration is not far away. The collegiate skiers racing last weekend in Fairbanks and Craftsbury can look to the large number of US Olympic skiers and even biathletes who were once in their shoes for motivation: Brennan, Bolger, Patterson, Patterson, Swirbul, Schommer, Brown, Dunklee, Egan, Irwin. Still, others in Beijing are currently on college teams: Ogden, Jager, Schoonmaker, Laukli, McCabe. College skiing has proven again and again that not only can it be an influential facet of personal and athletic growth for the masses, but it can also be a launchpad to greatness - whether it’s unique Olympic greatness or the community greatness on which the Olympics stand.

Welcome to week five of collegiate racing!

EISA

It was an energetic weekend in the East as the UVM Carnival combined with a NENSA Eastern Cup and SuperTour weekend to create the Bill Henchey Memorial at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center.

Day 1, Skate Sprint

Skiers awoke to over a foot of fresh snow and it kept falling throughout the day. Anna Bizyukova (UVM, RUS) won the day for the EISA women, placing fourth overall. Callie Young (DAR) was second, with teammate Jasmine Drolet (CAN) in third. Midwesterners Luci Anderson (UNH) placed 4th, Renae Anderson (BOW) in 6th, Erin Bianco (CBC) 7th, and Mara McCollor (DAR) in 13th.

The women’s podium for the skate sprint (Credit: Flying Point Road)

For the men, Matias Oevrum (NOR) made it a double Catamount win on the day, placing first out of the college skiers and second overall. Greg Burt (UVM) placed second for the EISA, with Luke Allan (DAR) in third. Foss Kerker (CBC) was 25th while fellow Minnesotan Luc Golin (DAR) placed 28th.

The start of the men’s A-final (Credit: Flying Point Road)

Day 2, Classic 10k Individual Start

Jasmine Drolet (DAR, CAN) stood on top of the podium after another soft day of racing in fresh snow. She won by thirty-five seconds over Anna Bizyukova (UVM, RUS). Minnesota’s own Erin Bianco (CBC) placed third.

Mara McCollor (DAR) had a strong performance, finishing 10th. McCollor shared, “Going into the 10k classic, my biggest goal for myself was to relax; not to be entirely calm but to be in a healthy zone of nervous but excited. I was able to find this zone, which has been a bit of a challenge this season, particularly after minimal high-end racing last season and working back into the swing of things. I knew I would almost certainly get caught by Alayna, who started thirty seconds behind me but saw this more as an opportunity to catch a ride than anything, and was able to hang with her for a while during the end of my first lap. I am still not where I would like to be with racing this year, particularly on the distance end of it, but last weekend was certainly a step in the right direction and I am excited to race at home this coming weekend!”

Renae Anderson (BOW) placed 11th, while Libby Tuttle (UVM) finished in 16th, Luci Anderson (UNH) in 29th, and Alice House (UNH) in 30th.

Finn Sweet (UVM) took his first collegiate win at his home carnival winning by just two seconds over Middlebury’s Peter Wolter. Another three seconds back was Greg Burt (UVM). Foss Kerker (CBC) continued to show impressive classic skiing, placing 15th. “We weren’t really sure what kind of race the 10k classic was going to be with all the fresh snow,” said Kerker. “Thankfully Craftsbury did an incredible job grooming and the course firmed up. It made for some of the best classic skiing that I’ve done this year. My goals going in were to go out ski smooth and enjoy it. Results wise I’m still looking for a top ten I think that’d be really sweet.”

Foss fighting for fifteenth as his Colby teammates cheer him on (Credit: Flying Point Road)

The EISA races again next weekend on February 11th and 12th, returning to Oak Hill for the Dartmouth Carnival.

RMISA

Facing continued cold temperatures, RMISA skiers bundled up for another race at Birch Hill in Fairbanks.

Day 1, Skate 5/10k Individual Start

Sydney Palmer-Leger (UU) made it three in a row, winning the 5k skate by sixteen seconds. CU’s Hanna Abrahamsson placed second with UAF’s Kendall Kramer in third. Abby Jarzin (UU) placed an impressive 4th with Emma Albrecht (MSU) in 20th, and Sarah Olson (UAF) in 25th. “The race was a lot of fun but I had trouble getting out of my L3 zone during the race,” said Olson, a college junior who hails from Blaine, MN. “It was the first Besh Cup though so I enjoyed having so many people around me to race with. The highlights of the home races were definitely seeing the Fairbanks community coming out to support the Nanooks. This was the first RMISA race in Fairbanks [in recent history] so it was a huge deal to all of us and I’m glad everybody from the circuit got to see the beauty of Fairbanks including some -35°F temps and the Aurora!”

The women’s 5k skate podium (Credit: Tobias Albrightson)

Bernhard Flaschberger (DU, AUT) won the men’s 10k over CU’s Magnus Boee (NOR) by just three seconds. Will Koch (CU) was another six seconds back in third.

Will Koch after placing third (Credit: Tobias Albrightson)

Day 2, Classic 10k Individual Start

The second day of the RMISA Invitational was canceled due to extremely cold weather.

RMISA does not race the next two weekends in preparation for the RMISA Championships in Colorado on February 25th and 26th.

CCSA

The Central colleges took this weekend off of racing. Up next is the Conference Championships at Al Quaal on February 12th and 13th.

About the author...

Luke Brown, a graduate of Minnehaha Academy and Dartmouth College, is a skier and biathlete for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. He enjoys running in the mountains, writing, and eating cereal with whole milk. He lives in Craftsbury, VT.