Juniors Top the Podiums at Eastern High Schools
Callie, Phoebe, and Co.: relay winners (Photo River Valley Graphics).
Last Updated: 19.Mar.2018
The juniors had excellent performances in their last championship series of the season last weekend in Rumford, Maine: Eastern High School Championships. Eastern High School Championships (EHSC) brings together the top 24 girls and boys from each state of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, and New York for a busy event, with three races in four days. We had seven athletes representing Craftsbury and Team Vermont: Callie Young, Phoebe Sweet, Adrienne Remick, Marika Massey-Bierman, Jordi Kulis, Finn Sweet, and Griffin Wright.
The first race was a freestyle 5k individual start, held on Friday afternoon. In the women’s race, Callie got a strong start to the series with a 2nd place, followed by Phoebe in 8th and Adrienne in 18th. Marika was close behind in 20th and Jordi was 41st. The men were quick as well with Griffin was 13th and Finn right behind in 15th.
Saturday morning, the fun continued with 7.5k classic mass start races for all. The podium looked very green with Phoebe taking the win and Callie in 3rd. It was a speedy morning for all, as Adrienne was 10th, Marika was 21st, and Jordi was 29th. The speed continued on the men’s side, with Finn in 10th and Griffin in 14th. The afternoon brought a sprint race with a format fairly unique to Eastern High Schools: a wave start sprint. Groups of five athletes (one from each state) take to the 1.2k course at one minute intervals. The racer with the fastest overall time is declared the winner. For the women, Phoebe was 3rd, with Callie two seconds behind in 4th. Adrienne was 16th, Marika was 27th, and Jordi was 39th. For the men, Griffin was 26th and Finn was 47th.
The racing wrapped up on Sunday with the mixed technique and mixed gender relay, with four team members representing their state. Phoebe and Callie teamed up with fellow Vermonters Ben Ogden and Greg Burt to take the win. Adrienne was part of the 5th place team, Griffin part of the 14th place team, Jordi part of the 18th place team, and Finn and Marika both part of the 21st place team.
For at least the 5th year in a row, Team Vermont was the overall winner, with Massachusetts in 2nd and New Hampshire in 3rd. Top individual standings from the first three races are also acknowledged. As good friends love to do, Callie and Phoebe tied for 3rd place. Adrienne was 15th, Marika 22nd, and Jordi 32nd. On the men’s side, Griffin was 17th and Finn was 21st.
Though the junior championship season is over, there are still more races to be found! Upcoming races include SuperTour Finals and the Spring Fling, both here in Craftsbury.
See full results from EHSC here.