The weather could not have been any better this afternoon at the start of the 5 km individual skate race at Eastern High School Championships. It was a blue sky day, and the sun shone brightly on the new snow that made up the 2.5 km loop which skiers skied twice. This year the championship weekend is being held at The Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Chittenden, Vermont over the next three days. These championships are the premier event for high school and prep school racers in New England and New York.
The girls started first at 3:00 p.m. today, with Vermont dominating the field taking the top 5 places. In 5th place, was Ingrid Miller in 15:11, 4th place was Callie Young in 14:51, in 3rd place was Alexandra Lawson with a time of 14:45, Kirsten Miller was 2nd in 14:39 and Rena Schwartz won overall in 14:35.
The boys started at 4 p.m. today and had fast times with Massachusetts skier James Kitch in 5th place with a time of 12:43.3, Caleb Strienz in 4th from Maine just ahead in 12:43.1, Walker Bean from Vermont in 3rd place in 12:31, New Yorker Scott Schultz taking 2nd in 12:27 and Elliot Ketchel taking the win from Vermont in a time of 12:24.
The weekend continues tomorrow with a 10 a.m. classic mass start 7.5 km race skied twice on a 3.75 km loop. The boys will begin at 11 a.m and in the afternoon there will be skate sprints starting at 2:00 p.m. for the girls with the boys starting at 3:00 p.m.