After a racing hiatus, the junior squad headed to Lake Placid for the combined SuperTour and Eastern Cup. The races took place at the newly renovated Mount Van Hoevenburg venue, which boasts steep uphills and fast downhills. The field was hugely and wildly competitive, with racers hailing from all over North America (hello neighbors to the North!). The frigid temperatures didn’t deter anyone from fast and hard racing.

Saturday was classic sprinting day, which is a long day no matter the weather, but made even more taxing by the chilly temps. There were 199 men and 170 women! Wowee!

Men’s Qualifier:

51. Tzevi Schwartz (10th U18)
69. Cormac Leahy (13th U18)
78. Leo Circosta (21st U18)
79. Charles Krebs (22nd U18)
92. Austin Beard (26th U20)
108. Samuel Clark (20th U20)
123. Charlie Kehler (15th U16)
130. Carson Beard (33rd U20)
156. Linden Stelma-Leonard (55th U18)

Women’s Qualifier:

37. Isabelle Serrano (10th U20)
62. Amelia Circosta (3rd U16)
77. Maggie McGee (19th U18)
78. Anika Leahy (7th U16)
93. Ruth Krebs (13th U16)
108. Margaret Voisin (31st U18)
122. Ayla Bodach-Turner (37th U18)
131. Sara McGill (2th U16)

Heats:

Tzevi and Cormac both qualified for the U18/U20 men’s heats, where they placed 4th and 5th, respectively, in their quarterfinal. Maggie McGee raced in the U18/U20 women’s heats, where she placed 6th in her quarterfinal. Amelia and Anika both qualified for the U16 heats. They were in the same Semifinal, which Amelia won by a slim margin and Anika was one of the lucky losers. This moved them on to the final, where Amelia was 1st and Anika was 3rd!

Amelia and Anika after the skate mass start race (Photo: Dave Priganc).

The weekend’s races were all nailbiters, with Sunday chock full of mass start freestyle races. Men and women both raced 10k. The weather was again super chilly, with overnight lows far below zero and the highs not very high. The Open divisions raced three loops of a 3k course.

Men:

44. Tzevi Schwartz (12th U18)
56. Cormac Leahy (17th U18)
76. Austin Beard (76th U20)
79. Leo Circosta (25th U18)
95. Samuel Clark (25th U20)
99. Charles Krebs (40th U18)
114. Carson Beard (31st U20)

Women:

55. Maggie McGee (14th U18)
84. Ayla Bodach-Turner (34th U18)

U16 Girls:
3. Amelia Circosta (3rd U16)
6. Anika Leahy (6th U16)
15. Claire Serrano (3rd U14)
23. Ruth Krebs (19th U16)
33. Sara McGill (29th U16)

U16 Boys:
16. Charlie Kehler

You can see full results here. Eastern Cup racing continues next week at home in Craftsbury with the Henchey Memorial, which will be an Eastern Cup, UVM Carnival, and SuperTour.

Juniors at the Lake Placid Eastern Cup