Craftsbury Nordic Athletes at App Gap Rollerski Race

Last Updated: 14.Aug.2019

On August 3, 2019, a number of Craftsbury athletes competed in the App Gap Challenge Rollerski Race, put on by NENSA in Waitsfield, VT. As part of the NENSA summer rollerski series, App Gap is a 5/7.5k mostly uphill skiathlon race, starting with skate on the bottom portions of the road, then transitioning to classic for the upper section and finish. All male competitors completed a 7.5k course, with 5k of skate and 2.5k classic. Women were split into two races, with the elite women and some junior women skiing the same course as the men, and the remainder of junior women skiing 5k, with 2.5k classic/2.5k skate.

7.5k Elite/Junior Women

Caitlin Patterson of the Green Racing Project led the way for Craftsbury in the elite women's race with a 3rd place finish. Evelina Sutro, a Craftsbury Summer U23 athlete from UVM Nordic, finished 4th. Rena Schwartz of Dartmouth College/Craftsbury took 5th, followed by GRP athletes Kelsey Dickinson in 6th, Johanna Taliharm in 7th, Alex Lawson (Middlebury/Craftsbury U23) in 8th, and Liz Guiney in 9th. Several of the Craftsbury junior women competed in the 7.5k longer course alongside the elite women. Callie Young of Dartmouth College/Craftsbury Nordic finished 11th in the women's race, and Quincy Massey-Bierman finished 14th.

Caitlin Patterson (GRP), 3rd place in the elite women's race (Photo Reese Brown)

7.5k Elite Men

In the elite men's race, Green Racing Project athletes Ben Lustgarten and Adam Martin both made the podium, finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively. GRP athlete Akeo Maifield-Carucci took 4th place, followed by Raleigh Goessling in 7th and Braden Becker in 8th. Also, special mention to Craftsbury master Phil Lawson, who finished 4th in the masters men's category!

Adam Martin (3rd place) and Ben Lustgarten (2nd place) in the elite men's race (Photo Reese Brown)

7.5k Junior Men

The junior men's race was the largest of the day, with 68 competitors! Finn Sweet of Craftsbury Nordic had a great day, with a win the junior men's category. Other Craftsbury athletes included Jack Young in 18th, Makail Tipton in 27th, Tzevi Schwartz in 32nd, Grayson Davis in 33rd, Owen Jones in 52nd, Linden Stelma-Leonard in 61st, and Griffin Wright in 67th.

Finn Sweet, 1st place in junior men's race (Photo Reese Brown)

5k Course Women

Phoebe Sweet of UVM Nordic/Craftsbury Nordic had a great result in the 5k skiathlon, taking 3rd for junior women. She was followed by Adrienne Remick in 27th, and Marika Massey-Bierman of Williams College/Craftsbury Nordic in 35th. Avery Ellis of Middlebury College/Craftsbury Nordic also competed in the 5k course for open women and won her category!

Full results are available HERE. Also, make sure to check out a cool video from Everett Sapp of Falcon Filming covering the whole event!

Quincy Massey-Bierman approaching the top of App Gap (Photo Penni Rand)