A new Eastern High School Championships award has been named after Graham Taylor, one of the founders of The Eastern High School Cross Country Ski Championship meet. The award will be given to the overall state winner this weekend at the Eastern High School Championships at Mountain Top Inn and Resort in Chittenden, VT. Graham has been involved in this major meet since its inception, and it is fitting that this award be named in his honor.

Originally, state teams were comprised of 28 skiers, 14 females and 14 males, with two events, an individual event and a relay. In 1990, the teams leaders decided the meet should be rotated and hosted by the five states. Massachusetts hosted the first one in 1991 at Mountain Top, Chitttenden, and again in 1997 at Craftsbury Center, with Taylor serving as Race Director at both. The state rotation continued through the 1990’s until NENSA got firmly established in 2001.

“I have been working with Graham for the past 10 years and he has been an amazing Team Leader for 33 years. Massachusetts is so lucky to have Graham not only leading our team but also being the driving force behind EHSC.” says Executive Director Amie Smith.

Over the years, the event has evolved into state teams of 48, four events spanning three days, with three individual events and a relay. Scoring includes the top 20 females and top 20 males and top 10 relay teams per state constituting the scoring for each state team with the focus on depth, using a scoring formula developed by Taylor. NENSA is very proud to present this award named after a living legend in nordic skiing.