Juniors at Final Eastern Cup and BKL'ers at U14 Biathlon NorAm
Makail Tipton's in Saturday's 5k skate race (Photo Chris Young).
Charlie Krebs and Owen Jones in Sunday's pursuit (Photo Michelle Jones)
Last Updated: 13.Feb.2018
This past weekend was a busy one for the racing BKL and junior crew. Juniors and a few U14s competed in the final Eastern Cup of the season, at the Silver Fox Trot and Cheri Walsh Memorial Race. A younger crew of BKL’ers went to Jericho U14 NorAm Cup at the Ethan Allen Firing Range.
The first day of the Eastern Cup was the Silver Fox Trot. It was a skate event held at Oak Hill in Hanover, New Hampshire. This race was held in conjunction with the Dartmouth Carnival, which always increases the competiveness of the field. The women raced a 5k, where Callie Young was 8th (1st U18), Phoebe Sweet was 41st (5th U18), and Quincy Massey-Bierman was 75th (4th U16). Adrienne Remick was 132nd (16th U16), Jordi Kulis was 153rd (44th U20), and Sydney Kulis was 182nd (30th U16). Griffin was the lone green suit in the men’s 10k, where he finished 77th (9th U18).
As has become the standard, the U16 boy’s race was full of CNSC juniors. Finn Sweet was 2nd, followed by Trey Jones in 5th (1st U14) and Jack Young in 12th. Makail Tipton was 16th, followed closely by Cormac Leahy in 17th (3rd U14), then Greyson Davis in 22nd. Aiden Casey was 24th, Orion Cenkl was 28th (5th U14), and Daymien Ide was 30th.
On Sunday, the races moved eastward to the Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire, where everyone competed in the classic technique. The women raced 10k, where Callie led the way in 3rd (2nd U18), Marika was 11th (2nd U20) and Jordi was 23rd (5th U20). Griffin was again the lone men’s race representative, covering 15k, where he finished 7th (4th U18).
In the U16 girl’s race, Quincy had the fastest time of the day, followed by Adrienne in 7th. Sydney and Aliza Wright were 32nd and 33rd, respectively. In the boy’s U16 race, Finn was again 2nd, followed by Jack in 12th and Trey in 14th (1st U14). Greyson was 15th, Makail was 17th, Daymien was 19th (2nd U14), and Aiden was 24th.
This weekend of racing wrapped up the Eastern Cup series for the 2017-2018. Not only does the Eastern Cup circuit provide competitive racing all winter for juniors all over New England, it also serves as a qualifying ground for the Junior National Championships. This year’s Junior National’s are slated to be held in Soldier Hollow, Utah, from March 4th through 10th. Six Craftsbury juniors have earned the right to race there and two more are alternates. Quincy and Adrienne will be on the U16 girls team, Finn on the U16 boys team, and Phoebe and Callie on the U18/ U20 girls team. Griffin (U18/ U20 boys) and Marika (U18/ U20 girls) are alternates, who would go if others decline their spots. Congratulations to these speedy racers!
See results from Saturday here, Sunday here, and JN rankings here.
Closer to home, some BKL’ers got their feet wet in the biathlon scene at the inaugural Jericho U14 NorAm Cup. On Saturday, everyone raced a sprint race, with three ski loops and two shooting stages. The younger kids shot in the prone position, with the aid of a block and on standing targets. In the girls 11-12 year old category, Amelia Circosta won, with clean shooting, and Ruth Krebs was 4th. In the boys 11-12 category, there was a Craftsbury podium sweep. Owen Jones stood on the tallest step, with clean shooting, followed by Leo, also shooting clean, then Charlie Krebs. Linden Stelma-Leonard was in a league of his own in the boys 13-14 category, which he won. He shot in the prone position with a cuff instead of a block, and once on standing targets and once on prone targets and skied with his rifle on his back.
Sunday’s race was a reverse pursuit format, where Saturday’s results were flipped, with the fastest racer going last. They shot three times in this race. In the girls 11-12 year old race, Ruth was first across the line and Amelia was the 3rd American. In the boys 11-12 year old race, Leo crossed the line first, followed by Owen then Charlie. Linden was the winner of the 13-14 year old race.