BWL State Championship GS Race @ Cranmore Mt. 3/14/09

Today was a glorious spring day in the upper 40s with Carolina Tarheel Blue skies. In New England, this is amazing spring skiing, and today rivaled almost any good day I've seen in March. We arrived at Cranmore Mt. about 8:45am in time to hike up to the course to see McKenna take her 1st GS run. She came into today's race seeded 7th in the Northern Division (the most competitive in the State), and had a 25 start order for the race (based on the other divisions seeding their racers) out of about 85 racers. Her coaches told her she could tuck the course after the 5th to the last gate, and instead, she ended up tucking the course after the 5th gate! She ended up going wide on several gates, but had a decent run with a time of 39:04, putting her around 18th or 19th place after her first run. She was happy and knew what she needed to do for the next run to make up time.



After lunch, we hiked back up to the course, and since it was so warm, the snow was pretty soft, and starting to get pretty sticky. Several racers before McKenna had trouble on a gate near where we had hiked to, and took hard falls. The 2 racers before McKenna almost collided because the 1st girl fell, missed her gate, and tried to hike up to make the gate. The racer behind her came flying into the same gate and had to skid to a stop in the middle of her run. After that mess was cleared, McKenna began her 2nd run. She looked amazing, had incredible speed, and came to the same gate where the 1st girl fell. I had the camera poised to capture some great shots, and all I saw as she crested the hill were her skis flying in the air.

Todd said her skis were close together, she was going fast, she hit a rut, and she took her first ever fall in a race. She ejected from both skis and came skidding down the mountain on her side. The next racer was already on course, and people on the sidelines were yelling at her to get off course while she was trying to collect her skis. She ran off course, and after the next racer passed, people brought her the skis. She was pretty shell shocked, and all she could say between tears was, "What happened?" We had a good cry together, and her coach came running across the course to make sure she was OK, which she was, and he told her she was skiing really hard & fast, going for it, and sometimes that happens. He looked at me and mouthed, "She was flying." When I came down the course, one of her other coaches said, "She looked amazing before she fell. She was going really fast, genuinely going for it, and really skiing outside her comfort zone."

And sometimes, it does happen. When good skiers 'go for it', they risk taking nasty falls, and McKenna was one of about 8 girls to ski hard and fall hard. However, it's a lesson every skier must learn. It's a first every skier must endure. It's the ones who get up, brush off the snow, and attack the next run who truly endure the sport. By the end of the day, with the support of family, friends, and coaches, she was light-hearted about the fall, and seems ready for tomorrow's Slalom race. Hopefully, that attack attitude she took into her 2nd run will be the same attitude she carries into both Slalom runs tomorrow.