First Ski Races of the Season

High School Kick-off

CRAFTSBURY – Thanks to the Bill Murray “Groundhog Day” Monday snowfalls, cross country skiers raced on longer loops on natural snow at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center this past week. Nearly 100 middle and high school skiers raced last Wednesday in an unofficial time trial (i.e., no team scores tallied). Finn Monahan, Mount Mansfield Union (MMU) took top honors in the JV race with Craftsbury Academy’s (CA) Xavier Chapdelaine in ninth. In the middle school race, MMU’s Astrid Longstreth placed first in 7:36 followed by CA skiers Oryon Hart (3), Amelia Terrone (6), and Hollis Allen (14). The varsity skiers skied almost 5 km with MMU’s Taylor Carlson winning in 13:05. Lake Region’s Max Demaine was fourth, Silas Hunt (CA) ninth, Amelia Circosta (Greensboro) 10^th (first female), and Soren Stelma-Leonard (CA) 20^th.

Rodrigues Sprints and Kendall Cup

CRAFTSBURY – Citizen racing took place this weekend at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, that started with a day of sprint racing on Saturday. Skiers raced a 1.6 km loop in the qualifier and then the field was divided into 20 groups of six skiers each in head-to-head competition. The two faster skiers in each heat moved up a bracket and the slower two skiers moved down a bracket for the semi-final round. This cycle continued one more time for the final 20 heats. It is a unique way to run a sprint where all racers keep skiing instead of being eliminated after each round. After four races, Benon Brattebo (UVM) finished first followed by Joseph Graziadei (Green Mountain Valley School), and Louis Bibeau (Mount St. Anne Quebec). Several large club teams came down from Quebec for the weekend, including Bibeau. Local finishers included Sisu Lange 24^th (St. Johnsbury Academy), Amelia Circosta 40^th (Greensboro), Ruth Krebs 41^st (Craftsbury), Camille Bolduc 45^th (Craftsbury/UVM), Emily Linton (Coventry), Damien Bolduc, Jessica Bolduc, and Tillie Lange. Men and women were racing each other throughout the day as movement and up and down the brackets was based on overall place, not gender.

On day two, skiers were treated to racing on the full 5 km race course instead of only on the 1.5 km loop of man-made snow. With a few dirt spots to dodge and temperatures rising into the 40s, over 170 racers competed in the 5- and 10-km events. The men’s 10-km race kicked things off with 76 skiers in the mass start. After the first lap, 11 skiers came through within a few seconds of each other before two Middlebury College and one Harvard skier put a larger gap on the field. Remi Drolet (Harvard/Canadian Ski Team) outsprinted Jack Christner finishing less than one second ahead in 27:24. Logan Moore (Middlebury) finished two seconds back. Former Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) skier, Ben Lustgarten, placed fourth. Local finishers included Sage Grossi (18), Sisu Lange (23), Max Demaine (45), Adrian Owens (60), and Damian Bolduc (65). The race start was seeded based on certain race results from last year. Because Remi Drolet raced only on the college circuit and for the Canadian National team, he did not have any points and started in the back of the mass start. The women started next with Haley Brewster (UVM) setting a fast pace and winning by a wide margin in 30:29. Annika Landis (former GRP/Boston) placed third and Craftsbury Academy graduate Camille Bolduc (UVM) ninth. Craftsbury’s Ruth Krebs (a junior at St. Johnsbury Academy) had a great race finishing 13^th. Amelia Circosta placed 24th, Isabel Linton 27th, Emily Linton 36th, Anika Leahy 39th, and Jessica Bolduc 49th. In the Under 16 girls race, Lea Perreard (Ford Sayre) placed first, and the boys were led by Samuel Fontaine (Orford, Quebec).

World Cup Update

FINLAND/SWEDEN – For those who do not follow U.S. Cross Country skiing at the World Cup level, the U.S. team is off to a great start after three weekends of racing in Finland and Sweden. Jessie Diggins (Stratton, Vt.) and Rosie Brennan (Alaska) currently are ranked first and second in the world after several top five results and two wins by Diggins. The young men’s team has also had some historic races with JC Schoonmaker (Truckee, Calif.) and Ben Odgen (Landgrove Vt.) placing third and fourth in the most recent sprint race. The U.S. men have never in history had two skiers in the top-six in the same race. For the U.S. to compete this well against Norway, Sweden, and other European countries where ski programs are much larger and better funded is pretty amazing.

U.S. Biathlon Trials

CRAFTSBURY – U.S. Biathlon trials will be held at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center on Thursday, Dec. 14, 10 a.m., Friday, Dec. 15, 10 a.m., and Sunday, Dec. 17, 9 a.m. Top finishers will earn starts for the U.S. Biathlon team in Europe. Athletes from Alaska, California, Montana, Minnesota and the Northeast will all be racing.