Last Updated: 12.Dec.2016

With the early ski season well underway, a few themes are emerging for Green Racing Project skiers. One is that Ida Sargent is consistently qualifying for World Cup sprint heats, proving she has the speed to compete with the world’s best in both skate and classic. Another is that the domestic GRP skiers keep consistently hitting the NorAm/SuperTour podium, especially in classic races. With period 1 of the SuperTour in the books, and just one weekend remaining in period 1 of the World Cup, they will look to continue and improve upon these results in January.

Davos World Cup
The World Cup in Davos, Switzerland kicked off Saturday with a 15k freestyle individual for the women. GRP skier Caitlin Patterson took 44th place on a tough course at altitude. In the following day’s freestyle sprint qualifier, Ida Sargent made the heats in 25th place, and Patterson placed 47th. Sargent went on to place 4th in her heat, just missing out on qualifying for semifinals in the finishing stretch. She improved her place on the day to 20th. Patterson will compete next weekend in the final World Cup of period 1 in La Clusaz, France, which includes a mass start distance freestyle and a relay. Sargent will head back to the States for the holidays and join the rest of the Craftsbury team for the Eastern Cup opener this weekend. Results from the Davos World Cup are available on FIS-ski.com

Silver Star NorAm/SuperTour
Five Green Racing Project skiers competed this weekend at the combined SuperTour/NorAm races in Silver Star, British Columbia. In Saturday’s classic sprint, all five skiers qualified for the heats. Ben Lustgarten took 14th in the men’s qualifier, and in the women’s qualifier Kaitlynn Miller led the way in 4th, with Liz Guiney in 6th, Mary O’Connell 7th, and Heather Mooney 9th. Lustgarten went on to finish 4th in a close sprint in his quarterfinal heat, and ending up 16th on the day. In the women’s quarterfinals, all four GRP women advanced to the semifinals, either by winning or placing 2nd in their respective heats. From the semifinals, Guiney, Miller, and Mooney were all able to advance to the A Final, where they placed 2nd, 3rd, and 6th, respectively. O’Connell raced to a 3rd place in the B Final, good for 9th on the day.
The following day the skiers took on a 10/15k interval start freestyle race. Lustgarten had the top GRP result of 6th on the day, racing to his 3rd consecutive distance top 6 this season. Guiney led the way for the GRP women in 8th, followed by Miller in 14th, O’Connell in 16th, and Mooney in 28th. The skiers are headed back to Craftsbury to race the Eastern Cup opener there this weekend. Results from the NorAm are available on Zone4.ca.