Last Updated: 02.Apr.2014

Winter may still be in full force in the Northeast Kingdom, but the GRP skiers have finished their season up with a jam-packed week of racing in Alaska for SuperTour Finals. Eight GRP skiers, four men and four women made the trip, where they were greeted by perfect snow and bluebird skies. Up until the week before the competitions Alaska was low on snow, but a storm brought in two feet of new snow and excellent conditions at the two race venues, Kincaid Park and Hillside.

The first race on Saturday the 22nd of March was a 10k/15k skate individual start. With a skiff of powder over a layer of hard ice, conditions were fast but the courses anything but easy. Top GRP finishers were Andrew Dougherty in 15th in the men’s race, Caitlin Patterson and Ida Sargent in 10th and 13th in the women’s. Gordon Vermeer and Pat O’Brien finished 30th and 35th, which left them wanting more in the remaining races. Clare Egan and Liz Guiney also finished in 19th and 24th, respectively.

The team had a great day in the classic sprint the following day. Things were off to a great start in qualifying when Ida qualified in 3rd and the rest of the GRP women made the rounds easily with Liz 16th, Caitlin 18th, and Clare 22nd. The GRP men also qualified three into the rounds, with Pat in 8th, Alex 10th, and Gordon 25th. Ida cruised through her quarter and semifinals to take 3rd in the A Final in a tight battle with Sadie Bjornsen. Caitlin made the semis and finished 12th overall, and Liz nabbed a lucky loser spot in her quarter and ended up 11th overall. On the men’s side, Alex wasn’t able to improve on his great qualifying position when he fell in his quarterfinal, but Pat was looking strong and advanced all the way to the A Final where he finished 4th, his best result of the season! 

After one (much needed) rest day, racing resumed with a 4x5km mixed relay. This was a unique format, where 2 men and 2 women from each club raced 5km each, starting with two classic legs and then 2 skate legs. The GRP had two teams competing, one team comprised of Pat, Ida, Gordon, and Caitlin, and the other Alex, Liz, Andrew, and Clare. The GRP A" team finished 6th in the club division after a great leg from Ida brought the team all the way up from 10th place. GRP "B" finished 9th in the stacked field. 

The relay race was the conclusion of SuperTour finals, but there was still one more race left, a 30k/50k classic mass start that counted as a US Nationals Race. Because of limited snow at Kincaid, the organizers moved the race to Hillside Park, where racers competed on a 10k loop. The loop actually contained more than the legal FIS limit of climbing, so it guaranteed a challenge for those racing 3 and 5 laps of the course. In the women’s 30k an early fall didn’t prevent Ida Sargent from placing 5th behind several of her US Ski Team teammates. Caitlin was 10th, Liz 15th, and Clare 26th in their last race of the season. The GRP men had a tough day but were all happy to finish their 50k with Gordon in 21st, Andrew 37th, Alex 38th, and Pat 44th.

Now the whole GRP ski and biathlon teams will take a break before gathering up again in May for the start of another training season! Thanks for following along, we’re already looking forward to next race season.

Full results from the week of racing in Anchorage are here: