Juniors at Rikert EC and Ski-O Race
Griffin leads the way in the men's 15k classic race (Dave Priganc photo).
U16 women start Sunday's 5k classic mass start (Dave Priganc photo)
Quincy bundled up and ready to go on Sunday (Dave Priganc photo)
Last Updated: 19.Feb.2019
CNSC juniors strapped on their skis for the third weekend of Eastern Cup racing on Saturday and Sunday, this time at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, VT. Saturday’s skate races were combined with the Middlebury Carnival while Sunday’s classic races were a standalone Eastern Cup.
Saturday’s combined Carnival and Forest Mountain Eastern Cup meant a large, deep field and stiff competition for our junior racers. The women all raced 5k, so even the U16’s got to test their mettle against the college racers! Abbee Streinz was the first CNSC finisher of the day, in 24th (2nd U18). Quincy Massey-Bierman was next in 71st (5th U16), then Camille Bolduc in 74th (6th U16), followed by Adrienne Remick in 85th (14th U16). May Lamb was 118th (16th U16), followed by Maggie McGee in 110th (19th U16) and Sydney Kulis in 169th (46th U18). On the men’s side, Griffin Wright led the way in 31st (2nd U18), then Finn Sweet in 52nd (6th U18), and Caleb Streinz in 73rd (24th U20). Jack Young was 114th (26th U18), then Makail Tipton in 132nd (37th U18), and Greyson Davis in 134th (38th U18). The U16 boys raced 5k, where Cormac Leahy was 9th, Aiden Casey was 11th, Lucas Streinz was 12th, and Orion Cenkl was 23rd. Tzevi Schwartz was 25th, Owen Jones was 30th, and Linden Stelma-Leonard was 40th.
On Sunday, most of the college skiers headed back to their schools and the fields were a bit smaller, but the mass start racing was fast and furious nonetheless. In the U16 girl’s 5k race, Quincy was 2nd, Camille was 5th, May was 16th, and Maggie was 19th. The U16 boy’s 5k was a sea of green! Aiden was 9th, Orion was 10th, and Cormac was 12th. Tzevi was 24th, Lucas was 26th, and Linden was 38th. In the women’s 10k, Adrienne was 16th (11th U18) and Abbee was 24th (16th U18). In the men’s 15k, Griffin kept up his stellar weekend, placing 2nd (2nd U18), followed by Finn in 20th (10th U18) and Caleb in 41st (13th U20). Jack was 43rd (21st U28), then Makail in 50th (28th U18), and Greyson was 51st (29th U18).
Rikert also hosted a Citizen’s Race 5k and 10k. Owen Jones won the 5k!
Back in Craftsbury, Adrian Owens organized a Ski-O race on Sunday with three distances: short, medium, and long. In the middle-distance race, which was 6.1k, Ruth Krebs and Amelia Circosta teamed up for 4th. In the long-distance race, which was 12.3k, partners Charlie Krebs and Leo Circosta finished 8th.
Junior racing continues next weekend at the Dublin School on Saturday and Holderness School on Sunday. These will be the final Junior National qualifying races. Next up for the Bill Koch racers is the BKL Festival which is the first weekend of March!
Eastern Cup results can be found here and Ski-O results here.