A brief wrap-up of races around the country for January 11th & 12th
Banknorth Eastern Cup at Rumford,Maine:
UNH men and women romp the National's freestyle course              Â
Report by Dorcas Wonsavage, www.nensa.net
Rumford,Maine: University of New Hamphire's Margaret Maher, Kate Underwood, and Eve Pregitzer were the fastest women around the 6km freestyle course of the Banknorth Eastern Cup race today at Black Mountain, in Rumford, ME. Their teammates, Gretchen Czaja and Casey Collins added a 7th and 9th UNH racer in the top 10. In the midst of it all were two JIIs taking fourth and fifth, Burke Mountain Academy's sprite, Elizabeth Stephen and Berkshire Trail's Laura Spector. Less than a minute out of first were two Master skiers, Tracey Cote (Atomic/Colby) in 6th and Sue Foster (Sugarloaf Nordic) in 8th. Hannah Dreissigacker was the first J1 girl, coming in 9th.
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In the men's 12km freestyle race it was Tom Keefe and Michael Stemp from UNH one-two, with two biathlon members, Anders Osthus and Steve Scott 3-4, before UNH's Mat Schadow, all men within a minute of the first place time of 32:48. Sixth through tenth place were also separated by a minute. After Berkshire Trails' Bret Bedard's sixth place there was a 47 second gap to Jimmy Ades (CVU Nordic), then came Burke Mountain Academy's Silas Gill, Gus Kaeding (Stratton Mountain School), and Simon Thomas-Train (NSYEF) to round out the top 10.
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This Banknorth Eastern Cup is the second weekend in the Series, and the race for Junior Olympic Qualifying points drove the junior field, while the colleges – UNH, Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby – were using it as a tune-up and to choose their Carnival Teams. The NCAA Eastern Collegiate series begins next week with the St. Lawrence Carnival in Ontario.Â
 In the biting cold and bright sun, racers gave it their all around the same 6km course used this week for the Chevy Trucks National Championships races. The course and the cold drew everything the racers had.Â
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In the J2 boys field, it was Stratton Mountain School's Cam Mackugler who led by only 3 seconds ahead of the Maine Winter Sports Centers Russel Currier and Vermont Academy's Pavel Sotskov. And for the J2 girls it was Burke Mountain Academy's Liz Stephens who sped ahead of Laura Spector, Berkshire Trails, and Robyn Anderson, Ford Sayre. The results continued to allot a podium spot to a variety of clubs. In the J1 Girls race is was Craftsbury – Hannah Dreissigacker, Green Mountain Valely School – Jenna Farleigh, and Holderness School – Joy Erdman, 1-2-3. The JI boys raced with the 12km race with the Senior men and their results were included in the men's results.
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But it was the Cape Nordic Ski Club that fielded almost the entire Bill Koch League event. Alot of lollipops and ribbons made their way back to Cape Elizabeth, Maine tonight!
The Banknorth New England Masters Championships will be held next weekend in Waitsfield, VT, at Ole's XC Center. A Championships and a weekend of fun for the entire family, racers and novices, oldsters and youngsters alike. Then January 24th and 25th the Banknorth Eastern Cup Series heads to the snowy south of New England, to Prospect Mountain, in Bennington, VT and Notchview Reservation, in Windsor, MA.Â
Detailed information on this and future Banknorth Eastern Cups, Banknorth Marathon Series, and Banknorth Championship events can be found on the Schedule page of www.NENSA.net
24 Hours of Telemark
The 24 Hours of Telemark, WI, an ultra-endurance race where the person who skis the farthest in 24 hours wins, was held this weekend despite marginal snow conditions in much of the mid-west. We do not have any 24 hour results yet, but stay tuned for a report once we get them. As of midnight Saturday, <skinnyski.com reported the following results:
Matt Aro – 12 Hour Mens Solo winner
Josie Nelson – 6 Hour Womens Solo winner
Steve Sonnesyn – 6 Hour Mens Solo winner
JoEllen Torresani – 3 Hour Womens Solo winner
Mark Parman – 3 Hour Mens Solo winner
<24 Hours of Telemark Full Results – when available
Mt. Itasca Rumble Results
Full results of this weekend's Mt. Itasca races at <skinnyski.com
Torbjorn Karlsen First at the Potato Cup
<Full Report on this race in Pocatello, ID can be found here.
Wadsworth Wins Bend's Inaugural Great Nordeen Race
Despite only getting approval for the course from the US Forest Service last week, Bend Oregon held a very successful inaugural Great Nordeen Ski Tour on Saturday. It started at the Alpine base of Mt Bachelor and ran down part way to Bend and back up a bit, then headed toward Sun River before winding up half way to Bend. 36 kilometers, 1600 feet drop, lots of exciting downhill with a few long uphill grades about 20 km into the race. This race is similar to the Boulder Mountain Tour in Sun Valley and could begin to develop the same kind of popularity.
US Ski Team racer Justin Wadsworth ran away with the race, finishing 6 minutes ahead of the next skier. Wadsworth did not race at Nationals this week because of an illness he caught in Europe last month. He is now preparing for the World Championships, and if this race is any indication, he is starting to feel better. Second was Dan Packman, who just outsprinted Matt Grover. In the women's race, Suzanne King, who like Wadsworth is a member of Team Atomic, won the women's race in dominate fashion, eight minutes ahead of Molly Grove and Mary Schultz.
Great Nordeen Results – PDF
Alpenglow Freestyle at Tahoe Cross Country
Tim Hill and Beth Reid win. Full Results at Farwestnordic.org
<Alpenglow Freestyle
Lakes Basin 15K at Tamarack Lodge
Eric Ford and Ann Klinefelter take victories
<Lakes Basin Results
Adam Verrier, Rob Whitney, Tim Kelley Take Podium in Anchorage's Pia's Classic
There was a great turnout for the Pia's Classic races in Anchorage, Alaska on Sunday. In the premier event, the 30K race, former Olympian and Team Atomic member Adam Verrier took the win ahead of Rob Whitney, who has scaled back his training this year in order to focus on school. Tim Kelley, still keeping pace with the best of them, was third. The post-race feed and prize table made the race an overwhelming success for all participants.
