Temperatures dropped to -2°F for the second day of the 2024 NENSA Henchey Memorial Eastern Cup in Craftsbury, Vermont. This did not deter the over 400 starters that braved the cold weather to race 10k around the Craftsbury Outdoor Center trails, buffed to perfection for the day’s events. The sun helped stave off the cold as racing went well into the afternoon, finishing up just before 4:00pm.  While this recap will only cover the open categories, complete results across all categories can be found here.

The women’s field were first to take to the tracks for the 10k. It was a tight race that was anyone’s guess until the line, with only 2.2 seconds separating the top three athletes.  Ava Thurston of Dartmouth College took the top position, followed by Middlebury College skiers Quincy Massey-Bierman and Shea Brams. Brams led the race through the 7.5k split, where Thurston made her move -- making up enough time in the last 2.5k to take the win. 

 “It was hilly, probably the hilliest course I have skied on at Craftsbury, but I had a good time,” said Massey-Bierman of the 2.5k loop. “The race was awesome, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center put on a great event as usual. Shoutout to all the volunteers, especially my mom, who braved the cold.”

Brams mentioned that she was "freezing the entire time, but I tried to warm up well" given the chilly temperatures. She also noted that "the race worked out well at the start, allowing Sophia, Quincy, and I to ski together."

“I talked to my teammate Jack Lange before, because he had a good race here last year,” said Thurston about her strategy to take the win. “I just tried to take the transitions really well and work every part of the course, while trying not to go too hard on Moss [ed - one of the climbs]”.

In the men’s 10k freestyle race, Luke Allen of Dartmouth College proved his dominance as an all-around skier once again by taking the win, 43 seconds ahead of Middlebury College’s Jack Christner. Finn Sweet of the University of Vermont took bronze 19.6 seconds behind Christner.  Describing the race, Allen said “I mostly skied by myself. I tried to pace it evenly and ski my own race.”  “It was awesome out there,” he added. “With the cold weather I was expecting it to feel like Styrofoam, but it actually ended up being faster than I thought. It made for a really smooth and fast race.” 

Smooth skiing ruled the day, with Christner also employing a similar tactic: “My strategy was to take it out real smooth, work the v2 pretty hard on all the climbs, and just get faster as I go.” On his race, bronze winning Sweet said, “I still feel like I am finding some form, which isn’t a bad thing right now. It was fun!”

Both winning athletes were coached this weekend by Callie Young, a Craftsbury Nordic Club alum who has been the assistant coach at Dartmouth for multiple years. Young, reflecting on her role over the weekend, said “even at the college level it is still all about having fun, showing up, being positive, and getting everyone super hyped up about the races. For us the Eastern Cup isn’t the quite as important [comparted to the EISA circuit], which helps. All our athletes were here to put in a good effort and push themselves, which worked out in the end.”

Racing in New England takes a break over the holidays, picking back up after the New Year for the Bogburn Classic at Rikert Outdoor Center on January 4, 2025.

Today’s full results.

Photos from Phil Belena (more to come to this gallery).