photo by Eric Hanson
The boys varsity skiers take off in five person wave starts every 30 seconds at a race in Craftsbury last week.
SOLDIER HOLLOW, UTAH – The best skiers in the country gathered for four races over six days at the 2002 Olympic venue.
In addition, aspiring junior skiers also took part with several local skiers in the mix. Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) skiers, Margie Freed and Alex Lawson, both had some quality races with Freed making the podium twice and Lawson once. In the opening 10 km classic race, Freed was the 2nd U.S. skier (5th overall) in 28:03. Craftsbury Ski Club juniors included Amelia Circosta (70), Ruth Krebs (136) and Anika Leahy (150). Tilde Baangman from Sweden/Montana State took the win in 27:13.
On the men’s side, GRPer Braden Becker, placed 15th. After a day of rest, Alex Lawson made it through four rounds of skate sprint racing finishing as the 3rd U.S. skier (4th overall). Freed placed 13th and Michaela Keller-Miller 15th.
In the junior races (under 20), Circosta placed 12th and Krebs was 23rd. John Schwinghammer (GRP) finished 11th making it to the semi-final round. Jack Young (Colby/GRP) finished 13th. In the 20 km skate race, Freed once again found the extra gear to finish 3rd (54:52) 15 seconds behind Haley Brewster of UVM who placed 1st. Lawson was close behind in 6th.
Becker had his best race of the week finishing 8th. In the junior 10 km skate race, Circosta was 16th, Krebs 68 and Leahy 75.
And on the final day of racing this past Sunday, Freed made it to the finals and finished 6th, while Lawson ended up 10th with a 4th place finish in her semi-final. Schwinghammer had a fast qualifier placing 8th but did not make it out of his quarterfinal. Young just missed making the heats placing 31st in the qualifier.
Only the top 30 skiers move on to the five quarterfinal heats. Both Lawson and Freed are knocking on the door to earn some starts on the World Cup for the U.S. ski team.
BFA Fairfax Hosts Ski Race at Craftsbury
CRAFTSBURY – Early-season skiing is always unpredictable, and this season is no different. There was great skiing in northern Vermont for much of December and then three weeks of rain and warm weather. With a few kilometers of manmade snow laid out on the Craftsbury Outdoor Center trails, many schools from the region will host and time their races there. BFA Fairfax was the host school this past week where Lamoille, St. Johnsbury, Craftsbury (CA), and Montpelier all attended.
In the boys varsity race, St. Johnsbury’s Sisu Lange came out on top over the two lap hilly course in 10:05. Max Demaine (Lake Region) was 3rd, Silas Hunt 4th (CA), and Soren Stelma-Leonard 14th (CA).
Ninth grader, Tillie Lange of St. Johnsbury, won the girls varsity race in 12:15. Ava Purdy of Wheelock (skis for St. J) placed 7th.
In the JV race, Xavier Chapdeleine (Lake Region) took top honors skiing a fast 6:49 in the one lap race. Livia Padulo (Lamoille) won the girls JV race. In middle school action, CA’s Oryon Hart came in first 6:05. Aemilia Terrone 6th (CA), Jin Ramsay 9th (All Saints Christian Academy), and Hollis Allen 15th (CA). Lake Regions does not have an official ski team, so Demaine and Chapdelaine train with the CA team.
Boys Varsity team scores: 1. Lamoille Union 16, 2. St. Johnsbury 20, 3. BFA Fairfax 52. Girls Varsity team scores: 1. St. Johnsbury 10, 2. BFA Fairfax 39. The other schools attending did not have four varsity skiers to field a complete team.
Stratton Vermont’s Jessie Diggins Wins the World Cup Tour de Ski (TDS)
EUROPE – The ski equivalent to the Tour de France took place over the past 10 days with seven races.
U.S. skier Jessie Diggins outlasted Heidi Weng of Norway to claim her second TDS title by 30 seconds. Diggins, Rosie Brennan, and Landgrove’s Ben Odgen all had podium finishes throughout the series of sprints, distance races, and the final hill climb (over 1000 meters of climb with some sections at 28% grade).
Former Middlebury skier, Sophia Laukli, won the hill climb for her first ever World Cup win.
Diggins and Brennan sit first and third in the overall World Cup standings after this event. Fifteen years ago, a good finish by a U.S. skier would be in the top 30 a few times. Now both the U.S. women and men are having consistent top 10 and top 20 finishes.
