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The Eastern Cup weekend at Titcomb Mountain in Maine dawned cold and beautiful and pretty much stayed that way throughout. The course was not long, but we have gotten used to skiing loops this year and it held up well for all the races.
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‘Our first race was a classic sprint: two times around a pretty flat loop that allowed most of the men and some of the women to double pole instead of using kick wax. Hans ripped around in his first action of the year, qualifying an impressive 20th before shutting it down to rest his back.
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Dev just missed the open rounds, qualifying 34th, but skied strong all the way through his loops.
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Friend and summer camp attendee Luke Costley worked the double pole kick, electing to go on waxed skis.
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Ian Moore, another summer camp attendee from Maine, cruised around the sprint course but was even more impressive in the skate race on Sunday.
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Ryley returned to action, skiing well in the sprint, even though he doesn’t think it’s his best discipline.
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MK didn’t feel like she had her best qualifier, but made it into the junior rounds and cleaned up, winning each of her heats to take the crown!
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She skied on wax until the final, when we made her and Fitzy double pole for practice, and to see what it was like.
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Fitzy in qualifying.
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Alums Elena Luethi and Kristin Halvorsen both qualified for the open rounds, and in a twist of fate skied every race together: quarterfinal, semifinal, and B-final. Elena was 10th and Kristin was 12th after a long day of racing. Congratulations to a good weekend of skiing for both of them.
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On Sunday, Kristin skied her first skate race in two years, ending up 28th. Nice!
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GMVS alum Tim Reynolds was also in action in the main heats. He finished second to Dakota in this hotly contested A-Final.
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Dev led much of his semifinal before running out of gas near the end, finishing in fourth for his heat. Sprint racing is always wild, and we always come out of it with an idea of what to do next time.
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MK with a sizable lead in the semifinal.
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And coming around the final corner in the A-final for juniors: she pulled away for the victory in the home stretch!
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Here’s Fitzy skiing the next day: she had a great weekend of racing, winning the B-final by a landslide once she switched to skate skis, and skiing to a strong 33rd place in the 8 km skate race on Sunday.
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Hans and Ryley toughed it out through a difficult 13 km course that climbed up the lower slopes of Ticomb’s alpine hill 8 times in single digit temperatures. The course was a challenge for everyone who stepped on the boards, but they both skied consistently throughout. I don’t have a photo of MK from Sunday, but she skied a great race, finishing 12th overall!
