All Good at the Lake Placid Loppet

The Lake Placid Loppet attracted a number of skiers from the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond on Saturday, February 7th. The race course, which follows almost exactly the race course from the 1980 Winter Olympics, was offered at 25 or 50 kilometers in both freestyle and classic techniques. Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s challenging trails played host to this chapter of the American Ski Marathon Series. The race took place on a 25k loop, and competitors skied either one or two laps.

Jake Hollenbach of Winooski, Vt. finished the 50k course in 2:28:18 to claim top honors in the men’s freestyle portion of the race. Hollenbach edged out David Cahill (2:28:24) of Norwich, Vt. by just 6 seconds for the win. Ben Lannin (2:29:22) of Traverse City, Michigan was third. Phil Shaw of Rosemer, QC took first in a dominating performance in the classic 50k, finishing in a time of 2:45:23. Eric Seyse of Scotia, NY was second (3:10:51), just ahead of Luke Strauss (3:12:10) in third.

On the women’s side, Molly Housman of Cornish, NH was the top woman in the 50k freestyle, finishing in 3:33:06. Katherine Linton of Coventry, VT was second, less than 2 seconds out of first place. Ursula Posl (4:36:25) of Conway, MA was the first woman across in the 50k classic.

Matt Cook of Saranac Lake, NY won the men’s 25k freestyle in 1:17:06, beating out Eric Darling (1:17:26) and Eric Phaneuf (1:18:21). Bob Underwood of Kattskill Bay, NY  won the men’s 25k classic division in 1:23:23, beating out Mario Paradis (1:26:04) of Sainte-adele, QC, and Jon Santor of Plattsburgh, NY (1:27:03).

The top woman at the 25k distance was Heidi Underwood of Kattskill Bay, NY (1:29:26). Sarah Pribram (1:31:26) of Shelburne, VT was 2nd Maggie Ryan of Northampton, MA was 3rd (1:33:33). In the women’s 25k classic division, Keene, NY’s Betsy Richert (1:48:29) took top honors, narrowly beating Anne Samson (1:48:35). Janet Findlay was 3rd in 1:49:20.

Complete Results