Craftsbury Juniors and GRP Skiers Race at Rumford Eastern Cup
The Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club Junior Crew with coach Zach at the Eastern Cup!
Last Updated: 22.Jan.2015
This past weekend the Craftsbury juniors and some of the GRP skiers headed to Black Mountain in Rumford Maine for the second weekend of Eastern Cup racing.
Saturday’s individual start skate race, which was combined with the Bates College Carnival, was a 5K for the women, U16 skiers, and U18/U20 girls, and a 10K for the men and U18/U20 boys. With temperatures hovering in the single-digits, the U16 boys were the first racers to toe the line Saturday morning. Matthew Lawlor, the only Craftsbury skier in the race, finished in 22nd place. Leading the way for the women was Caitlin Patterson who won the race by over 30 seconds. Liz Guiney was the next Craftsbury finisher with a solid 4th place finish. She was followed by Kaitlynn Miller in 10th, Callie Young in 74th (3rd U16), Orli Schwartz in 92nd (14th U18), Phoebe Sweet in 110th (7th U16), Avery Ellis in 118th (23rd U18), Rena Schwartz in 123rd (10th U16), Marika Massey-Bierman in 145th (13th U16) and Anica Koontz Miller in 167th (23rd U16). On the men’s side, Gordon Vermeer was the first Craftsbury finisher in 7th place. He was followed by Pete Hegman in 10th, Alex Schulz in 42nd, Anders Hanson in 137th (25th U18), Zach Russo in 147th, and Patrick Lawlor in 150th (45th U20).
Sunday’s race was a 1.4K classic sprint. The men raced first with Gordon, Pete, and Alex qualifying for the senior heats in 2nd, 4th, and 5th respectively. All three GRP men made it through the quarterfinals. Pete and Gordon earned spots in the A-final where they placed 2nd and 3rd respectively while Alex won the B-final to place 7th overall. Anders finished 39th in the qualifier and was followed by Patrick in 79th and Matthew in 91st. Anders made the U18/U20 heats where he earned a spot in the A-final and skied to a solid 4th place finish.
Once again Caitlin led the way for the women with the fastest qualifying time. She was followed by Liz in 2nd, less than one second back, and Kaitlynn in 5th. All three GRP women won their respective quarterfinals and earned spots in the A-final where they swept the podium with Liz crossing the line first followed by Kaitlynn in 2nd and Caitlin in 3rd The Craftsbury junior girls had an excellent day of racing with Orli finishing 36th in the qualifier followed by Phoebe in 38th, Avery in 54th, Marika in 58th, Callie in 59th, Anica in 67th, and Rena in 69th. Orli made the U18/U20 heats where she skied to an impressive 3rd place finish in the A-final. Phoebe, Callie, Anica, and Marika all made the U16 heats where they dominated the A-final to finish 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively. Freezing rain started to fall during the heats, but the athletes and coaches persevered through the unpleasant weather for a fantastic day of racing.
The third Eastern Cup will be held at Craftsbury over the first full weekend in February.