Big Weekend for Zak and Club Cup Racing

One hundred and fifty-eight citizen racers participated in two Zak Cup races this Sunday in Vermont and New Hampshire.  Cold temperatures and deep snowpack greeted New England skiers at both events — creating wintery smiles and enthusiasm for a successful season.  The weekend marked the real kickoff of Zak and Club Cup competition for 2018, with perennial athletes and clubs attending both races hungry to score points!

The Gunstock January Thaw, which was moved from Saturday to Sunday, due to predicted arctic temps drew 64 competitors for a freestyle competition.  Kathy Maddock, an M5 from Dublin XC, took the overall women’s victory in the 8km competition with a time of 30:07.  Alex Jospe (M1) of the Cambridge Sports Union and Lillian Bates (U18) of Dublin XC secured second and third place, an overall podium that highlights the diversity of racing in New England.  Samuel Evans-Brown (M1) of Concord Nordic, bested the men’s field covering the 12km course in 38:39.  Two U20 skiers rounded out the top-3, John Henry Paluszek of Gunstock Nordic and Andrew Doherty, showing their class amongst a strong field of 44 racers.

You can find race results and links to photos from the event, as well as an upcoming race report at http://www.gunstocknordic.com/

Stowe Nordic hosted their first Crosscut Classic race on Sunday with nearly a hundred racers toeing the line for what some folks described as, “old school racing.”  The challenging 10km course required agility and endurance as skiers wound their way through much of Stowe’s trail network with a single track.  Hannah Hardenbergh, a U23 skier from Harvard University, skied to victory in the women’s race with a time of 36:23.  Charlotte Cole, another Harvard U23, took second place finishing ahead of Elissa Bradley (M1) from Ford Sayre who placed third overall and was the top master’s woman on the day.  Koby Gordon (U23) of Dartmouth College topped the men’s field with a time of 30:06.  Gordon was followed by teammate, Paolo Takagi-Atilano (U23) and Mackinley Fitzpatrick of Harvard on the overall men’s podium.  M3, Eli Enman, of NWVE took the top placement for masters on the day with the sixth place overall finish.

You can read an entertaining race report by Damien Bolduc here.  Photos from the event.  Results are available at barttiming.com

You can also always find race results on the NENSA Results Page.

Make sure you stay up to date on the battles for top spots in Zak and Club scoring, both are updated on the NENSA Rankings Page.

Zak and Club cup racing resumes next Monday the 15th, with the Geschmossel Classic Race.