CRAFTSBURY – The northeast college ski circuit came to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center this past weekend, along with the New England Nordic Ski Association’s Eastern Cup series. Friday was college skiers only in classic sprint races for the UVM Ski Carnival. In this new event, the top 50 skiers move on from the morning qualifier to the five quarterfinals consisting of 10 skiers each. Traditional sprint racing consists of six skiers in each heat, thus the crowds were anticipating lots of elbow-to-elbow interaction in the ten person mini-mass start races at full speed. They were not disappointed. Most groups of 10 stayed very close together over the first 600 meters of relatively flat terrain before speeding down the one major hill in the race. The race was then on during the next 300 meter climb, two technical corners and the final 600 meters back to the finish. As sprint courses go, this one is long and might favor some of the longer distance specialists, especially by the fourth and final sprint. The skiers in the 10-person final are essentially skiing four, one mile long races with 25 minutes of rest between each sprint in 3 ½ to 4 minutes.
photo by Eric Hanson
Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) skier, John Schwinnhamer, jumped into the qualifier and showed why he is one of the top sprinters in the country besting the field by seven seconds, the equivalent of winning a 10 km by a minute or two. Only college skiers moved into the heats. UVM skiers took 1st and 3rd with Bennon Brattebo winning the final by two seconds (3:27), ahead of Middlebury’s Nathan Doughty. Bailey Finnegan was 3rd. Henrik Wist (St. Michael’s) finished 4th and Miles Miner (Williams) was 5th. Both Brattebo and Doughty won their respective quarterfinal and semi-final.
On the women’s side, UVM’s Haley Brewster made her way through the quarters and semis to win the final (4:01) with Emma Crum (Bowdoin) 2nd, Mica Bodkins (Middlebury) 3, Amelia Tucker (Dartmouth) 4, and Natalie Nicholas (UNH) 5. Crum, Bodkins and Tucker all avoided a crash in their semifinal when the lead skier from Middlebury, Shea Brams, caught an edge and crashed in the most technical downhill corner (see photos).
photo by Eric Hanson
On day-two of the UVM / Easter Cup weekend, racers faced 6 F at the 10 a.m. start that descended all day with a good northwest wind. It was a challenge to stay warm and race hard at the same time. Haley Brewster (UVM), who last year earned World Cup starts with the U.S. Ski Team, demonstrated why by winning the 10 km freestyle race in 29:13, over 40 seconds ahead of Hattie Barker (UNH) and Natalie Nicholas (UNH). Barker is an MMU graduate. Greta Kilburn (UVM) was the 2nd UVM skier placing 9th. Greta’s family has ties to Greensboro. Craftsbury’s Ruth Krebs (Bowdoin) placed 19th. Craftsbury Ski Club (CSC) junior skiers joined in the mix for the Eastern Cup portion of the race trying to keep up to the college skiers with Tillie Lange 95, Katherine Mackenzie 148, and Lila Mackenzie 150.
photo by Eric Hanson
One hundred sixty-four skiers started in the mens’ race with Brian Bushey (GRP) winning in 25:58. UVM’s Tabor Greenberg and Finnegan Bailey went 2 and 3. CSC skiers included Travis Roy 137, Soren Wilkens 140, and Oryon Hart 147.
On day-three, the sun made -2 F seem much warmer as skiers competed in 5 km for the Under 16 (U16) and 10 km for the men’s and women’s open races. Michaela Keller-Miller had the fastest women’s time in 32:39. Tillie Lange (CSC) jumped to 12th after most of the college skiers headed home after Saturday. Adele Pritchard was 21, Anya Moriarity 27, Katherine Mackenzie 37, Nora Demaine 39, Anna Wetherell 43 and Lila Mackenzie 47.
photo by Eric Hanson
Bushey won his second race of the weekend in 27:38 with GRP teammate Jack Christner 3rd. CSC skiers Soren Williams was 44 and Travis Roy 48. The U16s had their own races with Acadia Enman (Mansfield Nordic) winning in 16:57 with CSC skiers Hadley Abbene 11, Aemelia Terrone 14, Lillian Suddaby 17, Valerie-lynn Hivkova 22 and Anna Cotterill 24.
photo by Eric Hanson
For the boys, Wren Chalmers placed 1st in 15:10 with CSC skiers Isaac Nadzam 5, Oakley Crawford 6, Henry Young 12, Jin Ramsay 17, Salvador Doyle 19, Theodore Fournier 20 and Dean Roy 24.
Freed has Olympic debut in biathlon mixed relay
CORTINA, Italy – Craftsbury Green Racing Project’s Margie Freed anchored the U.S. Biathlon team to 14th place in the opening biathlon event. She teamed up with Max Germain, Campbell Wright and Deedra Irwin. Nerves and some not-so-great shooting by the U.S.’s top biathlete, Campbell Wright, set the team back a bit in the second leg but they maintained as best they could.
