Caldwell Wins Again, Koons Takes Men’s Title in Classic Mass Start

The second day of NENSA’s opening Eastern Cup weekend at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, Maine dawned warmer than the previous day. With overcast skies and temperatures in the 20’s, it was a perfect day for a classic race. J2s started the morning with one lap of the 5 km course and the women and men followed, both doing 10 km. The mass start races began in a long, wide field that climbed for a while before turning into the woods, a set-up that allowed for relatively clean starts. The track held up well, an impressive fact given the minimal amount of snow and large number of skiers. In typical Morton fashion, the course was incredibly skiable with challenging downhills and lots of long striding sections. And in typical Maine Winter Sports Center fashion, the race was run smoothly. The announcing throughout the weekend, broadcast around the course and in the lodge and waxing areas, was particularly well-done.

Stratton Mountain School swept the women’s race with alum Sophie Caldwell, current Dartmouth skier, following up her win yesterday with another victory today. Gage Fichter was 24 seconds back in second. Isabel Caldwell finished third, 28 seconds behind her sister.

Ben Koons, a Maine Winter Sports Center skier who will be representing New Zealand at the Olympics, won the men’s race with a 13 second victory over Dylan McGuffin (University of New Hampshire). Sam Tarling (Darmouth) was third, 30 seconds back from Koons.

Corey Stock (CSU) won the J2 girl’s race over Stratton skiers Heather and Brooke Mooney who finished second and third, respectively. It was a tight race for the win in the J2 boy’s race. Jack Hegman (Mansfield Nordic) ended up on top with a 1 second victory over Eli Hoenig (CSU). Tyler Foulkes (Stratton) rounded out the podium.

Full results can be found here:

J2 Girls
J2 Boys
Women
Men

Photos courtesy of FlyingPointRoad.com