Justin Beckwith

The staff of the Rikert Nordic Center overcame one of the most dramatic winter events in recent history and provided a top notch Eastern Cup racing experience today in Ripton, Vermont.  Despite losing the majority of their natural snow in yesterday’s torrential rain, the groomers were able to tie together a 1.4km sprint course as temperatures plummeted into the single digits early this morning.  As teams arrived to the venue they were greeted by windblown sleet, however by competition time the precipitation turned to snow and the wind subsided.

Today’s event was a classic sprint with qualification starting at 11am.  The afternoon was filled with head to head heat skiing by the top thirty overall skiers, and the next 12 fastest U16 racers in male and female categories.  Daniel Streinz (Outdoor Sports Institute) of Hersey, Maine and Anna Lehmann (Stratton Mountain School) of Windham, Vermont were the top qualifiers on the day.  Streinz turned in a time of 3:21.91 and Lehmann 4:14.02.

Callie Young of Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club took the overall female victory of the day winning the Women’s A Final.  Mae Chalmers of the Stratton Mountain School placed second and Pheobe Sweet of Craftsbury was third.

In the Men’s A Final Daniel Streinz showed he was the class of the field by taking the overall victory after qualifying number 1.  James Kitch of the Cambridge Sports Union secured his first Eastern Cup podium by placing second.  He was followed by John Henry Paluszek of Gunstock Nordic in third.

The top three U16 skiers of the day in both the boys and girls races qualified and skied in the Open heats.  For the girls, Nina Seemann of the Stratton Mountain School took top honors, placing 15th overall.  Magdalena Lelito of Mansfield Nordic took second in 17th overall and Adrienne Remick from Craftsbury was third on Lelito’s heels in 18th.

Will Koch of the Stratton Mountain School was the top U16 boy finishing the qualifier and the open rounds in the 12th position.  Aidan Burt of Mansfield was the second U16 on the day placing 2oth overall and Finn Sweet was third with a 26th overall placement.

In the U16 rounds Carl Kellogg of the Green Mountain School took the victory in the A Final followed by Linden Niedeck of CSU and Gavin Blauch of Stratton.  Although five other U16 girls finished in the top 30 overall, it was Ali Priganc of Mansfield who skied to victory in the U16 A Final.  She was followed by Samantha Nolan also of Mansfield in second and home town skier, Malia Hodges in third.

There were three masters skiers in the Men’s field and Brad Bates of the Dublin School took top honors.  He was followed by Mark Rajack hailing from Trinidad and Tobago and Joel Bradley of Ford Sayre.

Racing resumes tomorrow with individual start skate races.  Temperatures are going to be near zero and rising into the single digits — dress warm and come check out the action at the Rikert Nordic Center.

Complete results can be found on the NENSA results page.

Photos by Dave Priganc.

Detailed information including schedule and course maps for Sunday’s race can be found on the Virtual Team Captains Meeting (VTCM) page.

 

Competitors for the Eastern Cup mass start classic events were greeted with railroad-track-like conditions on Fort Kent’s serpentine 5km course.  Temperatures were in the low single digits and the firm tracks rewarded those who had ample kick.

The U16 boy’s opened the day racing with a field of 27 competitors.  Finn Sweet of Craftsbury rose to the challenge and skied to a commanding 22 second victory (15:25) over Felix-Olivier Moreau of Club Nordique MSA who covered the course in 15:47.  Aidan Burt of Mansfield Nordic held off a hard charging Brian Bushey of GMVS to take the last step on the podium with a time of 15:53.

The U16 girl’s field was one larger than the boys with 28 competitors.  Quincy Massey-Beirman of Craftsbury/Mansfield skied a stellar performance to take her first Eastern Cup win with a time of 17:51.  Nina Seeman of Stratton was hot on her heels with a time of 17:55.  Liliane Gagnon of Skibec Nordique showed the depth of the Canadian contingent taking the third place position with a time of 18:08.

The open women’s field skied a separate 5km mass start with 65 athletes toeing the line.  Leah Brams spent the entire race with the lead pack and pulled away in the later kilometers for a fifteen second victory in 16:59.  Rena Schwartz of GMVS continues to be a threat in any distance race placing second with a time of 17:14.  Catherine Reed-Metayer, again of Skibec Nordique, skied to third place in 17:20.

Stratton’s Ben Ogden was out for revenge after finishing third in Saturday’s heats.  He strided to an impressive victory in the men’s 1okm.  After skiing a tactical race with the lead pack he surged ahead and saluted the crowd with a “bow and arrow” gesture with his poles as he crossed the finish with a time of 29:20.  Felix Longpre of Club Nordique MSA showed impressive classic form and moved up from his 11th place finish in the sprint to nab second place in 29:25.  Peter Holmes of the University of New Hampshire climbed onto the last step of the podium with a time of 29:29.

The open stadium of the Fort Kent Outdoor Center and mid winter conditions set up a beautiful arena for each of the mass starts.  The courses were meticulously groomed, offering fair racing for all on challenging terrain.  Spectators and athletes alike forgot about the significant distance they had traveled because the experience provided by the venue and its staff was bar none.

New England U18/U20 rankings for will be updated in PDF form to the Rankings Page tomorrow as we are updating our database to provide improved functionality to the site.

Over two hundred skiers competed today in a sprint competition at the Fort Kent Outdoor Center on a beautiful 1.4km track.  The temperature hovered in the single digits, and bright sunshine made for enjoyable environment for racers and spectators.

Ben Ogden of the Stratton Mountain School posted the fastest qualification of the day with a time of 2:58.25.  Local skier, Daniel Streinz, who now competes for Northern Michigan University posted the second fastest time at 3:02.45 and Nicolas Beaulieu of Orford placed third in 3:05.14.  Stratton’s Anna Lehmann set the pace for the women’s field with a time of 3:44.25.  She was followed by Catherine Reed-Metayer of Skibec in 3:48.43 and Abigail Streinz of the Outdoor Sports Institute in 3:49.17.

The afternoon was filled with dynamic heat races for open, U18/U20 and U16 heats.  It was Daniel Streinz who prevailed as the overall winner of the Men’s A Final, besting Tyler Smith of the University of New Hampshire and Ben Ogden in second and third respectively.  Craftsbury’s, Callie Young, topped the women’s field in an exciting photo finish with University of New Hampshire’s Silje Wilson and Leah Brams of Dartmouth College.

Although the majority of the open field consisted of junior racers, separate U18/U20 heats were held for the next twelve skiers outside the top-30.  Mainer, Marcus Wentworth, bested the junior field with an impressive final.  He edged out Brian Beyerbach of HURT Nordic and Cal Schrupp of Gunstock Nordic.  Madeline Kitch of CSU sprinted her way to victory just ahead of teammates, Olivia Cuneo and Emily Nottonson from the Green Mountain Valley School.

Four U16 skiers displayed strong early season form by making the open rounds.  Felix-Olivier of Club Nordique posted the 13th fastest qualification time and skied to 17th overall in the open rounds.  Stratton’s Will Koch qualified 21st and ended the day in 30th overall, after not starting his quarter.  For the girls, Liliane Gagnon of Skibec qualified 19th overall and skied her way up to 17th in the rounds.  Nina Seemann of Stratton posted the 15th qualifying time and finished the day in 21st.

Carl Kellogg of GMVS had a breakout performance and took the win in the U16 Final.  Aidan Burt of Mansfield Nordic and Finn Sweet of Craftsbury placed second and third.  Quincy Massey-Bierman of Craftsbury/Mansfield Nordic separated herself from the field in the girl’s final.  Ali Priganc of Mansfield finished second just ahead of CSU’s Shea Brams.

Complete results are available on the Results Page.

Tomorrow the action continues with Mass Start Classic races.  Start Lists are posted on the VTCM.

A huge thanks to the staff of the Fort Kent Outdoor Center and their volunteers for running a top notch event.  Stay tuned to Facebook and Instagram for updated event pictures and find live timing on Bart Timing.