Last Updated: 21.Mar.2016

This past weekend, most of the Craftsbury juniors wrapped up their racing seasons with stiff competition at the Eastern High School Championships held at the Rikert Nordic Center. The staff at Rikert worked tirelessly to maintain a solid 2.5k loop that held up nicely throughout the weekend. Eastern High Schools brings together top high school athletes from Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts for an action packed three days of racing.  Each state sends 24 girls and 24 boys to vie for overall Eastern Champion state and individual titles.

The races kicked off on Friday with a 5k skate. Callie Young led the way for Craftsbury in 7th place (and the 4th Vermonter), followed closely by Rena Schwartz in 8th, Alex Lawson in 12th, Phoebe Sweet in 16th, and Marika Massey-Bierman in 18th. Ani Koontz- Miller was 24th, Madeline Strasser 28th, Jordi 53rd, and Rebecca Thompson 62nd. On the boys’ side, Anders Hanson was 8th (5th Vermonter), Noah Eckstein was 27th, Matthew Lawlor was 35th, Jacob Morse was 42nd, and Philip Hekeler was 51st.

Saturday was a double day of racing, with a classic distance race in the morning and a skate sprint in the afternoon. In the classic race, Callie was once again the first Craftsbury racer, placing 4th (2nd Vermonter). Alex, Rena, Avery, and Phoebe were all in the top 20, in 8th, 11th, 16th, and 18th, respectively. Next was Rebecca in 36th, Ani in 40th, Marika in 47th, Jordi in 57th, and Madeline in 68th. For the boys, Anders was 16th, followed by Noah in 21st. Matthew was 35th, Jacob was 46th, and Philip was 65th. In the afternoon, fast and furious wave start sprint racing commenced. The race was 1.2k and freestyle technique. Callie was 6th, with Avery less than a second behind in 7th. Alex was 13th, Rena 14th, Rebecca 18th, and Phoebe 20th. Next was Ani in 31st, Marika in 41st, Madeline in 58th, and Jordi was 96th. In the boys race, Noah was 14th, Anders was 18th, Jacob was 40th, Matthew was 54th, and Philip was 58th.

On the Sunday, athletes were treated to a mixed gender, mixed technique 3k relay race. Craftsbury had a formidable presence: out of the 12 Vermont teams, there were Craftsbury juniors on nine of them. Callie was a member of the overall winning team, along with Mackenzie Rizio, Ben Ogden, and Forrest Hamilton. Alex and Anders were members of the 4th place team, with Kirsten Miller and Greg Burt. Rena’s team of herself, Anna Lehmann, Walker Bean, and Elliot Ketchel were right behind in 5th, followed closely by Phoebe’s team of herself, Sam Hodges, Charlotte Ogden, and Conor Munns. Avery was on the 8th place team, with Abby Kaija, William Haig and GRP sibling Scott Mooney. Marika and Noah Eckstein teamed up with Lillian Fisher and Erik Lindhal for a 10th place finish. Jacob and Rebecca were on the 18th place team, with Dani Laird and Matthew Bassette, followed by Madeline and Matthew’s team, with Charlie Cobb and Olivia Cuneo, for 19th. Jordi and Philip were on a team together with Neil Thorley and Helena Bigelow and finished 38th.

An exciting part of the weekend is determining who the state to beat is. This year, Team Vermont came out on top, 5000 points ahead of team Maine. Individual standings are also exciting to take note of. Five Craftsbury juniors were in the top 20, with Callie in 3rd, Rena in 10th, Alex in 11th, Avery in 13th, and Phoebe in 17th. On the boy’s side, two skiers were in the top 20, with Anders in 13th and Noah in 18th. Congrats to everyone on a great weekend of racing and representing two green suited teams- Team Vermont and Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club!