Gunstock Nordic's Sister / Brother Team of Katrina and Alex Howe Win Women's 10km and Boys' 5km Freestyle at the Banknorth Eastern Cup's Jackson Jaunt.
Sunday, January 25 (Jackson, NH): The sister / brother team of Katrina and Alex Howe, of the Gunstock Nordic Association, won their events decisively at Sunday's Banknorth Eastern Cup race, the 28th Annual Jackson Jaunt in Jackson, NH.
The mass starts meant tactics played a large part in the 5km race for the J2(age 14 and 15) division. Alex Howe came to the front at the end and won by one second over GNA teammate, Dylan McGuffin. Putney (VT) Ski Club's Kevin Cutts was third, two seconds back.
Howe's sister, Katrina won the Women's 10km race by over a minute, with Cape (Cape Elizabeth, ME) Nordic's Kate Barton also outdistancing the third place racer, Audrey Bouffard-Nesbitt from the Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, VT.
The J2 Girls winner, Jennie Bender of Johnson, VT, also won the 5km girls race by almost one minute over Putney Ski Club's Emily Dreissigacker, while Stratton Mountain (VT) School's Mae Foster was third.
In the Men's 10km freestyle race it was a duel to the finish with Putney (VT) Ski Club's Brayton Osgood finally outsprinting Team Atomic's Patrick Weaver at the finish line. Craftsbury Nordic's Nick Trautz came in third.
This was the 28th Annual Jackson Jaunt, the fifth event on the Banknorth Eastern Cup schedule. It was filmed by both the BBC and RSN for feature documentaries focusing on the long tradition of cross-country skiing in Jackson, NH, and the quality of racing and races that the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation, its members and volunteers put on year after year.
Urs Koenig(Seattle, WA) won the Methow Valley's two day “signature” race in a photo finish, beating Brad Bauer(Seattle) in 2:17:20. This 15K classic on Saturday at Sun Mountain and 30K skate on Sunday from Mazama to Winthrop continues to grow each year. This race is sponsored by the Methow Valley Sport Trails Association in Winthrop Washington.
If you have a race report, please send it to us.
