It was another cold morning at Black mountain for day 2 of Eastern High School Championships. Coaches were out there early skiing the course and finding the right kick wax for the morning 7.5 km Classic races. The women started at 10 a.m. and with a mass start, to complete the 2 lap racecourse. Sophia Laukli skiing for Maine came into the stadium on the lap next to Vermont skier Rena Schwartz and Massachusetts skier Laura Appleby, closely followed by Vermont skiers Phoebe Sweet and Callie Young.
Coming into the finish it was Phoebe Sweet and Sophia Laukli sprinting to the line, with Phoebe taking the win and Sophia coming in 2nd. There was a group of skiers who came in next, and Callie Young came in 3rd, Laura Appleby took 4th, and Rena Schwartz skied to 5th place. In 6th place was Abigail Streinz from Maine, Charlotte Ogden from Vermont in 7th, Perrin Milliken from New Hampshire coming in 8th, Shea Brams from Massachusetts skiing to 9th, and Adrienne Remick from Vermont in 10th place.
The men started at 11:00 a.m. to complete the same course, and Ben Ogden skiing for Vermont had a commanding lead on the lap. The next group to lap through was Will Koch from Vermont, his teammate Greg Burt, James Kitch from Massachusetts, Joshua Valentine skiing for Vermont, and Jacob Jampel from Massachusetts.
It ended up being Ben Ogden coming into the finish with a minute lead to take the win, with James Kitch placing second and Will Koch in 3rd. 4th place was Joshua Valentine, 5th was Greg Burt and 6th was Jacob Jampel. New Yorker Scott Schultz placed 7th, Sam Hodges from Vermont came in 8th, Isaac Freitas-Eagan from Vermont placed 9th, and Finn Sweet also from Vermont rounded out the top 10.
The afternoon was set up for the sprint course, and the girls started at 2:00 p.m. in waves. The wave start is a chance for skiers to go head to head in the same seed skier from the other states, making it an exciting race to watch. Abigail Strienz from Maine came in first in the sprint, with three Vermonters following, Mae Chalmers came in 2nd, Phoebe Sweet came in 3rd, and Callie Young skied to 4th place. Laura Appleby from Massachusetts was 5th, Olivia Skiings from Maine skied to 6th, Vermont skier Rena Schwartz placed 7th, and her teammate Charlotte Ogden was in 8th place. Lillian Bates from New Hampshire placed 9th, with Maine skier Steph Nichols coming in 10th.
Vermonter Ben Ogden won his 3rd race of the weekend, with Scott Schultz from New York in 2nd. James Kitch from Massachusetts placed 3rd, Greg Burt from Vermont came in 4th, Oliver Snow from Massachusetts skied to 5th place and Joshua Valentine from Vermont was 6th. Caleb Strienz from Maine came in 7th, Matthew Bassette from Vermont was 8th with teammate Will Koch in 9th place. Brian Beyerbach from New York skied to 10th place today.
The dinner and awards banquet were held at the Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Maine tonight. One of the first things at the ceremony was the announcement of the Wendall “Chummy” Broomhall annual NENSA Award. This award is named after Chummy Broomhall, who was the Chisholm Ski CLub leader for 70 plus years, 2 time Olympian, and builder of the Olympic race courses for Squaw Valley, Lake Placid and Black Mountain. He was always able to enlist the best folks to carry out the tasks needed to run ski races, and he himself dedication countless hours to generations. It is in his spirit that an award in his honor be awarded every year for the unsung heroes of ski racing. This may be the groomer, bib checker, or starter at races who works behind the scenes with little recognition. NENSA will be taking nominations in April for this annual award. Graham Taylor also spoke some kind words about his friend Chummy.
The top 10 for each individual race were then recognized:
Top 10 Women in the 5 km Skate race: click here for full results
Top 10 Men in the 5 km Skate race: click here for full results
Top 10 Women in the 7.5 km Classic: click here for results
Top 10 Men in the 7.5 km Classic: click here for full results
Top 10 Women in the 1.2 km Freestyle Sprint: click here for results
Top 10 Men in the 1.2 km Freestyle Sprint: click here for results
Top three overall individual points leaders were Abigail Strienz in 1st, Sophia Laukli in 2nd and Phoebe Sweet in 3rd.
Top three overall individual points leaders were Ben Ogden in 1st, James Kitch in 2nd and Scott Schulz in 3rd.
The team scores were announced with New York in 5th, Maine in 4th, New Hampshire in 3rd place, and Massachusetts is in 2nd place with Vermont in the lead heading into tomorrow’s 4×3.5 mixed relay!
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