Fred Bailey

The NENSA staff is accepting nominations for folks in our New England ski community who fulfill the ideals of our Annual Awards. These awards honor the achievements and contributions of our members who work to support NENSA’s mission of sustaining a vibrant and active Nordic skiing community in New England. Click HERE to submit a nomination in any of these Award categories:

John Caldwell Award: One of NENSA’s finest traditions is presenting the John Caldwell Award. This award annually recognizes a single individual, or entity, which embodies the spirit, dedication, innovation, and pride of John Caldwell.

Coach of the Year: This award is given annually to honor a NENSA coach for their achievements and contributions in working with athletes, in support of NENSA’s mission to sustain a vibrant and active Nordic skiing community in New England.

Club of the Year: This award is given annually to honor a NENSA club that is making great strides in supporting the NENSA mission to sustain a vital and active nordic skiing community in New England.

Chummy Broomhall Award: This award is named after Chummy, 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 embodied the spirit of being a volunteer as he was a man who gave his time to generations. It is in this spirit that this award be in his honor for the unsung heroes of ski racing.

Bill Koch League Youth Leadership Award: The Bill Koch League Leadership Award is for those community members who embody fun, community, and a lifelong love of the sport.

See past receipts HERE.  Thank you!

Last weekend the top high school skiers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont traveled to the Holderness School in central New Hampshire to compete in the three day Eastern High School Championship event hosted by the Holderness School and Holderness Nordic Club. Eastern High School Championships (EHSC) is the premier event for high school and prep school racers in New England and New York. Athletes qualify for the EHSC through state qualifying races in which up to 24 boys and 24 girls are selected from each state. Thanks to a collaboration with U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing, EHSC hosted a team of three Para Nordic skiers from Maine and the Midwest.

Championship racing action kicked off at Holderness on Friday afternoon with an individual start 5k freestyle race. The girls raced first followed by the boys. Holderness’ new 2.5k snowmaking loop was a welcome sight – a wide ribbon of snow with lots of depth in an otherwise snowless woodland. It had been reinforced in recent weeks during the handful of cold nights to ensure the best possible conditions for EHSC. A huge thank you to the Holderness staff and volunteers for snowing the trails!

5k Freestyle Girls:
1: Ella Ronci, NH
2: Ollie Hanna, NH
3: Addi Englund, NH
4: Elli Englund, NH
5: Nora Mccourt, ME
6: Hannah Petersen, MA
7: Adah Chapman, NH
8: Hannah Grohman, ME
9: Estella Laird, VT
10: Georgia Eckhardt, NH
10: Zola Bruner, VT

Results

5k Freestyle Para Boys:
1: Noah Oliver, ME
2: Zhenghong Schlecthe, MW
3: Alex Altermatt, MW

5k Freestyle Boys:
1: Oliver Wilson, NH
2: Matthew Clarner, NH
3: Quinn Uva, VT
4: Ian Brenner, MA
5: Henri Mccourt, ME
6: Becket Cote, ME
7: Lorenzo Atocha, VT
8: Sully Sturtz, NH
9: Noah Branchflower, NH
10: Leo Ebner, NH

Results

Saturday morning kicked off with a three lap 7.5k mass start classic race. A large crowd gathered to watch the 100+ skiers take off all at once. Spectators could be seen running back and forth from the stadium to the edge of the woods to Peck’s Hill – it was a noisy energetic event!

7.5k Classic Mass Start Girls:
1: Elli Englund, NH
2: Ella Ronci, NH
3: Ollie Hanna, NH
4: Claire Serrano, VT
5: Addi Englund, NH
6: Adah Chapman, NH
7: Nora Mccourt, ME
8: Hannah Grohman, ME
9: Hannah Petersen, MA
10: Sarah Kirincich, MA

Results

7.5k Classic Mass Start Para Boys:
1: Noah Oliver, ME
2: Zhenghong Schlecthe, MW
3: Alex Altermatt, MW

7.5k Classic Mass Start Boys:
1: Quinn Uva, VT
2: Oliver Wilson, NH
3: Henri Mccourt, ME
4: Charlie Kehler, VT
5: Aiden Bondaz, NH
6: Becket Cote, ME
7: Jared Rife, MA
8: Joey Sluka, VT
9: Liam Sakakeeny, MA
10: Sam Currie, MA

Results

After a lunch break freestyle XCX sprinting action got underway. The course was fun and technical featuring a barrel turn and hoop pairing right from the start, with several dual slalom sections, rollers, and a drop jump. The race format featured waves of five athletes with one athlete from each state (MA, ME, NH, NY & VT), with an all Para wave in the middle.

Skate Sprint Girls:
1: Ollie Hanna, NH
2: Claire Serrano, VT
3: Elli Englund, NH
4: Hannah Grohman, ME
5: Nora Mccourt, ME
6: Hannah Petersen, MA
7: Addi Englund, NH
8: Sara McGill, VT
9: Holland Calcutt, NH
10: Antonia Schramm, VT

Results

Skate Sprint Para Boys:
1: Noah Oliver, ME
2: Zhenghong Schlecthe, MW
3: Alex Altermatt, MW

Skate Sprint Boys:
1: Oliver Wilson, NH
2: Niko Cuneo, VT
3: Becket Cote, ME
4: Ian Brenner, MA
5: Matthew Clarner, NH
6: Teo Steverlynch-Horne, ME
7: Lorenzo Atocha, VT
8: Sam Currie, MA
9: Sisu Lange, VT
10: Quinn Uva, VT

Results

Saturday evening teams were treated to family style dining in the Holderness dining hall, where representatives from each table had to bring out giant platters of food and bus their tables. Following this delicious pasta dinner, we honored the top 3 overall individual athletes whose ranking was determined using points from the first three individual races. Team rankings were updated, with close races between Vermont and New Hampshire for 1st and Maine and Massachusetts for 3rd!

Individual Overall Girls:
1: Ollie Hanna, NH
2: Elli Englund, NH
3: Ella Ronci, NH

Full Standings

Individual Overall Para Boys:
1: Noah Oliver, ME
2: Zhenghong Schlecthe, MW
3: Alex Altermatt, MW

Individual Overall Boys:
1: Oliver Wilson, NH
2: Quinn Uva, VT
3: Matthew Clarner, NH
3: Becket Cote, ME

Full Standings

Sunday morning was the final race of the championship event–the 4 x 2.5k mixed relay. The race was tight and exciting right down to the finishing stretch. Following the relay, team scores were tallied with Team New Hampshire winning the Graham Taylor Cup with the highest team score for the first time in many years!

Mixed Relay:
1: NH-1 (Elli Englund, Oliver Wilson, Ella Ronci & Matthew Clarner )
2: NH-2 (Ollie Hanna, Aiden Bondaz, Addi Englund & Sully Sturtz)
3: ME-1 (Hannah Grohman, Henri Mccourt, Nora Mccourt & Becket Cote)
4: VT-2 (Claire Serrano, Finn Payne, Seven Bowen & Lorenzo Atocha)
5: MA-1 (Sarah Kirincich, Sam Currie, Hannah Petersen & Ian Brenner)

Results & Unofficial Teams

Team Standings

Tom Bartol Photos

Before we wrap up, we want to take a moment to thank the Holderness School and Holderness Nordic Club for everything they put into hosting a fantastic event. We also want to thank our NENSA sponsors for their ongoing support of our Championship events, Eastern Amateur Educational Foundation (EASEF) for supporting athletes all across the East in attending EHSC. Also our race officials and Bullitt Timing for timing and data management. U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing for joining the event for what we hope is the first of many appearances. And last but not least, thank you to all the athletes and coaches for bringing your energy, enthusiasm, and love of skiing to this event!

Two weekends ago the top 14 and 15 year-old skiers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont traveled to North Creek, New York to compete in the three day Eastern U16 Championship event hosted at the Gore Mountain Nordic Center. Eastern U16 Championships is the premier event for U16 cross country ski racers in New England and New York. The goal of the event is to provide the highest quality competition for U16 athletes to learn and develop as skiers and people. Eastern U16 Champs (U16s) began modestly in 1992 and has grown into one of the highlights of the season for junior athletes. The Gore Mountain Nordic Center staff pulled out all the stops to ensure we had great snow coverage for the event. The Mountain even closed the adjacent alpine slope providing warmup and ski testing of the race course.

Below we have featured the top-10 results for the individual races and the top-5 for the relay as well as the top-3 overall individual standings. While we are highlighting these finishes, we want to take a moment to acknowledge every athlete who stepped onto the start line this weekend and tried their hardest out there on the race course!

Championship racing action kicked off at on Friday afternoon with a wave start 5k freestyle race. The girls raced first followed by the boys.  

Girls 5k Skate Top-10 Results:
1: Elli Englund, NH
2: Olivia Hanna, NH
3: Astrid Longstreth, VT
4: Tillie Lange, VT
5: Lucille Dent, NH
6: Claire Serrano, VT
7: Charlotte Crum, VT
8: Antonia Schramm, VT
9: Millie Larrick, NH
10: Anya Moriarty, VT

Results

Boys 5k Skate Top-10 Results:
1: Jed Bentley, NH
2: Matthew Northcott, NH
3: Tomas Masterson, VT
4: Will Wallace, VT
5: Aiden Guay, NY
6: Isaac Fellows, NH
7: Foster Whitworth V, NH
8: Damian Wynn, ME
9: Henry Swarzentruber, VT
10: Magnus Hayden, VT

Results

Saturday morning kicked off with a 5k wave start classic race in very spring-like conditions. Klister, zeros, or harries were on order for the race. The course was modified from the previous day to optimize the best available skiing, which had the added affect of increasing the ease of viewing on an already super spectator friendly course. Well over 100 parents, coaches and teammates could be seen and heard cheering on the hillside above the stadium!

Girls 5k Classic Top-10 Results:
1: Elli Englund, NH
2: Olivia Hanna, NH
3: Astrid Longstreth, VT
4: Claire Serrano, VT
5: Zola Bruner, VT
6: Tillie Lange, VT
7: Lucille Dent, NH
8: Antonia Schramm, VT
9: Charlotte Crum, VT
10: Millie Larrick, NH

Results

Boys 5k Classic Top-10 Results:
1: Jed Bentley, NH
2: Will Wallace, VT
3: Dean Ayotte, NH
4: Tomas Masterson, VT
5: Donovan Van Citters, NH
6: Henry Swarzentruber, VT
7: Patrick Holland, MA
8: Matthew Northcott, NH
9: Eli McEnaney, VT
10: Acer Verson, MA

Results

Saturday afternoon the 1.3km wave start sprint event got underway. This event featured three progressively steeper hills, with two downhill hairpin turns and rolling downhill to the finish. There were some exciting lunges at the finish to boot!

Girls Sprint Top-10 Results:
1: Olivia Hanna, NH
2: Astrid Longstreth, VT
3: Claire Serrano, VT
4: Zola Bruner, VT
5: Elli Englund, NH
6: Lucille Dent, NH
7: Tillie Lange, VT
8: Antonia Schramm, VT
9: Leila Griffith, VT
10: Millie Larrick, NH

Results

Boys Sprint Top-10 Results:
1: Jed Bentley, NH
2: Matthew Northcott, NH
3: Tor Webb, MA
4: Will Wallace, VT
5: Tomas Masterson, VT
6: Aiden Guay, NY
7: Dean Ayotte, NH
8: Jasper Lloyd, MA
9: Henry Swarzentruber, VT
10: Magnus Hayden, VT

Results

Saturday night Gore Mountain hosted a banquet for all the athletes at the main base lodge. A spaghetti dinner was on the menu, complete with vegan and vegetarian options and some delicious cookies! The cavernous room allowed for 300 people to be fitted simultaneously, with room to spare. During the banquet the top 10 athletes in each of the three individual races received their medals, in addition to the top three in the overall standings. Recognition was made of all the groups making this event possible: the host, volunteers, coaches, athletes, and parents. The evening was made even more exciting by several inches of new wet snow!

Girls Overall Individual 3 Event Standings (Top-3):
1: Olivia Hanna, NH
2: Elli Englund, NH
3: Astrid Longstreth, VT

Full Standings

Boys Overall Individual 3 Event Standings (Top-3):
1: Jed Bentley, NH
2: Matthew Northcott, NH
3: Will Wallace, VT

Full Standings

The final day of racing action featured the mixed relay. Sunday morning revealed excellent ski conditions due to ten inches of dense, heavy snow that fell overnight and many hours of work by the groomers that went into getting the course race-ready. After all the weekend races came to a close, Vermont had tallied the most number of points claiming the overall team win. Thank you to all the states for an action packed weekend of fun racing and camaraderie!

Mixed Relay Top-5 Results:
1: NH-1 Elli Englund, Dean Ayotte, Olivia Hanna & Jed Bentley
2: VT-2 Claire Serrano, Magnus Hayden, Astrid Longstreth & Henry Swarzentruber
4: NH-2 Lucille Dent, Donovan Van Citters, Millie Larrick & Matthew Northcott
3: VT-1 Antonia Schramm, Will Wallace, Zola Bruner & Tomas Masterson
5: VT-4 Tillie Lange, James Langan, Anya Moriarty & Samuel Swarzentruber

Results

Team Scores

Before we wrap up, we want to take a moment to thank the Gore Mountain Nordic Center for everything they put into hosting this fantastic event. We also want to thank our NENSA sponsors for their ongoing support of our Championship events, Eastern Amateur Educational Foundation (EASEF) for supporting athletes all across the East in attending EHSC. Also a big thank you to our race officials and Underdog Timing. And last but not least, thank you to all the athletes and coaches for bringing your energy, enthusiasm, and love of skiing to this event!

Written by Rangeley Lakes Trails Center staff

Traditionally held on the first weekend of March, the Rangeley Loppet is always a crowd pleaser, with many repeat participants and rekindling of old friendships. This year was no exception! The crew at the Rangeley Lakes Trails Center pulled out all the stops to host an exciting event, rising above the challenges from Mother Nature. On a course shortened by lack of snow, 36K, 18K and 9K races were held Saturday and Sunday.

Saturdays 36K brought a thrilling finish in the men’s race, with William Riley edging out Victor Sparks and Eske Ronneau for the win. Topping the women’s 36K field was Lucy Hochschartner with Agnes Macy in second and Francisca Feist in third. Another close finish in the 18K FS men’s race saw Walt Shepard squeaking out the win over Jordi St. John, with Jack Pierce in third.

In the men’s Burt Kettle classic, Anders Vikstrom took first with Joe Holland second and Dyhan Nirmegh third. In the women’s race, Elizabeth Ransom placed first with Valentine Desplat second. The 10K classic men’s race winner was Vim Smith with Jerry Curico second. Special mention goes out to three youngsters racing in the
18K- Marco Lombardo, Peter Colianni, and Ben Hankens.

This year’s Mansfield Skiathlon was energetic, fun, and a little exchange zone chaos, making a perfect recipe for a wonderful day of ski racing. BKL skiers kicked off the day. 84 BKL racers started in all age groups, making a very large youth competition. Participants represented clubs from all over Northern Vermont including: Sleepy Hollow, Mansfield Nordic Club, NWVE, Frost Mountain Nordic, Mad River Valley BKL, Craftsbury Ski Club, and from a little further a field: West River Sports. It was cool to see all the kids having so much fun competing and playing together after the races, including many belonging to our Master’s competitors!

In the Open men’s race, Mansfield Nordic Club juniors Nico Hochanadel and Anders Linseisen had a small lead over Justin Freeman, with Nico out pacing Anders for the win. On the women’s side, Emily Stitt held off Greta Kilburn (both Mansfield skiers) for the win, with NWVE’s Katie Enman out pacing Mary Stewart of Mansfield to round out the podium.

On the Club side, this year’s Mansfield Skiathlon was a big windfall for the Mansfield Nordic Club with 1061 points, cushioning their sizable lead in the Club standings. NWVE had strong showing as well, taking home 594 points. Ford Sayre with 178 points, Black Water Nordic Ski Club with 120 points, and West River Sports Association with 56 points rounded out the remainder of the Club competition.

A big thank you to the Mansfield Nordic Club and Sleepy Hollow for hosting such a fun event for all ages!

Results
Rankings