The weekend recap is a little late this week, but here is an overview of some regional events form around the country. Remember, if you would like to see your event listed, please email us by noon on the Monday following the race. We would like to include as many races as possible and need your help!
New England
Eastern Cup 5/10km Stowe, Vermont
Maine Winter Sports Center’s David Chamberlain (Caribou, ME) skied through six inches of fresh snow and challenging visibility to win today’s 10 kilometer freestyle event at Trapp Family Lodge. Chamberlain added to yesterday’s sprint victory to take a commanding lead in the TD Banknorth Eastern Cup Series. The series defending champion for women, Dartmouth’s Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT) picked right up where she left off last season and earned the win today over the 5 kilometer course. Combined with her second place finish from yesterday, Caldwell has jumped out to an early series lead.
J2 Boys started the day with Cambridge Sports Union’s Jackson Rich (Andover, MA) dominating the field, earning a 50-second victory over his nearest competitor, Patrick Caldwell (Ford Sayre/Lyme Center, NH). Yesterday’s J2 winner Hans Halvorsen (GMVS/Darien, CT) was third.
J2 Girls raced the same distance and were seeded with the women today. Stratton Mountain School skiers took the top two spot with Isabelle Pelletier (Grafton, VT) edging teammate Rachel Hall (Cumberland, ME) by just 7 seconds. Tara Geraghty-Moats (Craftsbury) was next, adding a third place to yesterday’s second place finish.
The cold air and constantly falling snow were the story of the day as picturesque Trapp Family Lodge was blanketed in over six inches of white during the course of today’s event. While the accumulating snow did force a fifteen-minute delay of the men’s start so that the groomers could re-pack the race course, organizers were able to keep things moving mostly according to schedule despite the weather’s challenges.
Intermountain
Wyoming High School / High Plains Juniors Season Starts On Casper Mountain
After the lack of snow caused the original dates of the Casper and Lander meets to be postponed, the Wyoming High School season finally began on Friday, December 19, under the lights of Casper Mountain.
The approximate 1k x 3 Night Relays are a quick and fun introduction to the race season. The mass start races were skied freestyle. In the Girls Relay, the hometown Casper Combined team of Bridget Weiner, Kacie McCleary and Shanna McCleary finished first in 12:52, followed by Lander (14:45), with another Casper team in third (14:52).
In the Boys race, the Casper Kelly Walsh team of Bryan Sanger, Nathan Hough and Russell Crouch crossed the finish line first (11:07) in a tight race, one second ahead of Laramie and 4 seconds ahead of the third place team from Lander.
A brisk Saturday morning (4 degrees F.) brought a 5 plus km classic race, with single interval starts. George Cartwright (Lander) won the Boys race in 17:52, followed by Johnny Springer of Jackson (18:41) and Levin Zars of Laramie (18:46). In the Girls race, Weiner (Casper Kelly Walsh) finished first in 23:47, followed by a pair of sisters from Casper Natrona, Shanna McCleary (24:35) and Kacie McCleary (25:00).
In the team scores for Saturday’s races, Laramie won the Boys race and Casper Natrona won the Girls race.
Full results can be found online at http://www.nordicski.org
Rocky Mountain
Steamboat Opener, Colorado Cup
Small Turnout for a Non Traditional Masters Race
Adam St. Pierre (Boulder Nordic) and Sarah Konrad (Madshus) took the Steamboat Springs opener of the Colorado Cup on Saturday. The 10k Classic interval start race was held at historic Howleson Hill, site of World Cup Nordic Combined events. St. Pierre, a coach for the Boulder Nordic Junior squad, finished coaching his junior athletes in a Junior National Qualifier earlier that same morning and then clocked the best time at 29:08. Konrad skied the same course in 33:56 to win the women’s side. It was a small field relative to a normal Colorado Cup race for both men and women.
The other and remaining events in the series are all historically popular races in the state of Colorado and Rocky Mountain Nordic took a calculated risk by placing the Steamboat event in the series this season. Colorado Cup spokesperson Matt Muir noted, “we really want to start stacking events to make cross country racing more sustainable for areas, municipalities, sponsors, and racers so we tried putting a masters race on the end of the JNQ today—some things worked, others did not but we’ve got to try.”
The next Colorado Cup is the Owl Creek Chase 21F in Aspen during the Aspen Nordic Ski Festival Weekend, January 15-18.
Complete results from the opener as well as the full Colorado Cup schedule can be found at http://www.rmnordic.org/
Alaska
Besh Cup #2 – Chugiak Highschool, Mass Start Classic
Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Series – 7.5/15km (previous weekend)
Marius Korthauer (UAF All-American in 2008) did most of the work during the race, but Reese Hanneman (FAST) came around him at the finish and threw a foot out to secure a tie in the men’s 15Km in the Gundeloppet, the Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Series Season Opener on Sunday, December 14 at Birch Hill Recreation Area. In the women’s 15Km, Davya (Baker) Flaharty topped Heather Edic (FXC) by 2:44 to earn the win.
In the women’s 7.5Km, Alaska Nanooks and UAF Students Aurelia Korthauer, Julia (Coulter) Pierson and Anna Coulter placed 1-2-3 within 10 seconds of one another, and two minutes up on Hannah Boyer (FXC).
Logan Hanneman (FAST) topped Patrick Nugent (FXC) by 1:46 in the men’s 7.5km. Robert Hovda (FAST) was third and Kipp Wilkinson (FXC) was fourth.
Winners of the drawings for the prizes, provided by Raven Cross Country, were Karl Hanneman, Alex Teslow and Dave Arvey.
The next race in the Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Series is the January Jaunt 20Km Classic on January 11. There is also a 10Km option. Prizes for the series are provided by Raven Cross Country.
Midwest
Minnesota Valley Sprints – JOQ
