LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – For junior cross country skiers who like to race, making it to the U.S. Junior National races is a pinnacle of success. Four Craftsbury Ski Club (CSC) members, Amelia Circosta, Ruth Krebs, Anika Leahy, and Sage Grossi, spent the past week racing at Mount Van Hovenberg for the Northeast team along with skiers from nine other regions across the country. Part-time Greensboro resident, Greta Kilborn, was also part of the mix.
Ruth Krebs’ best race of the week was the 7.5 km freestyle, where she placed 15th in the Under 18 (U18) category among the 100 finishers. Amelia Circosta found her form with a 6th place in the U18 freestyle sprint, and a 4th place in the U18 10 km mass start classic race. Anika Leahy placed 30th in the U18 classic race for one of her highlights of the week. Greta Kilborn, a first year student a UVM, had an amazing week skiing to 5th in U20 7.5 km freestyle and then went on to win both the U20 freestyle sprint and 15 km mass start classic races. Sage Grossi’s best races of the week were 27th in the U20 sprint and 28th in the 7.5 km freestyle.
All these great results helped propel the 48-person Northeast team to victory ahead of teams from Intermountain (Montana, Idaho), Alaska, Rocky Mountain, Midwest, Far West (California), Pacific NW, Great Lakes, High Plains, and Mid-Atlantic. CSC coach, Audrey Magnan, guided the U18 girls for the week, and CSC coach, Anna Schultz, was part of the wax team prepping 48 pairs of skis for every race.
Craftsbury Ski Club Skiers at Eastern High School Championships
HOLDERNESS, N.H. – A crew of Craftsbury Ski Club (CSC) skiers qualified for the Vermont Eastern High School team a month ago. This past weekend they headed down to Holderness as part of the 24 girls and 24 boys on the Vermont team. They skied in three individual races and a relay along with teams from New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York as part of the New England Nordic Ski Association’s (NENSA) Eastern High School Championships.
Charlie Kehler helped lead the boys’ team with a 4th place finish in the 7.5 km mass start classic race. Kehler only returned to skiing in February after letting a stress fracture from the running season heal. Kehler ended up 9th overall after combining the finishes from the 5 km individual freestyle, sprint, and 7.5 km classic races. Sisu Lange placed 16th overall. Other CSC skiers on the team included Sam Brondyke 28, Ben Wetherell 47, Zeb Whitlock 59, and Luke Murphy 64.
On the girls’ side, CSC skier, Claire Serrano, had some of the top results placing 2nd in the sprint and 4th in the 7.5 km classic race. She ended up 6th overall. Sara McGill finished 11th overall, along with Meg Voisson 18, Tillie Lange 22, Leila Griffith 32, Olivia Serrano 48. Isabel and Emily Linton of Coventry, who currently attend school in Sherbrooke, Quebec, also participated but as the two sole members of the Canadian team. Both plan to attend St. Johnsbury Academy next year.
Excitement was high going into the third day of the event as New Hampshire had 23,411 points ahead of Vermont’s 23,272, a 139 point lead. Could Vermont come back for the win? In recent years, Vermont has tended to win the overall team title, so to have New Hampshire in the lead going into the final day of racing added to the fun of the weekend. Vermont usually puts in an A-team with the top two girls and boys for the 4-person mixed relay, but then alters the team make-up dramatically. The coaches will match 3rd and 4th ranked skiers with the 23rd and 24th, the 5th and 6th with 21st and 22nd, and so on. It is a good team-building approach. Each state had 12 teams. Adding up all the results, New Hampshire came out on top with 8,410 points ahead of Vermont’s 7,950 points ensuring the team title. This was the last large racing event of the season for Vermont high schoolers.
