RIPTON – Division 1 and 2 Vermont high school cross country ski teams gathered at the Rikert Touring Center for the freestyle individual and relay races on February 19. From December into February, most schools compete in weekly races within their region of the state, thus the state meet is a chance for all the schools to go head to head.
photo by Nordic Focus
In the boys 5 km race, James Langan of South Burlington had the fastest overall time of the day in 12:48. Graham Moriarity of St. Johnsbury was 12th among the D1 group. In D2, Jorgen Pirrung (Middlebury) was 1st in 13:10 with Isaac Nadzam (Montpelier) 2, and Tobias Counts (Arlington) 3.
More local finishers included Magnus Hayden (Peoples) 4, Oakley Crawford (Craftsbury – CA) 7, Max Demaine (Lake Region – LR) 11, Oryon Hart (CA) 13, Eli Davis (LR) 44, and Linden Urie (LR) 48. Lake Region trains with the Craftsbury team.
In the afternoon relay, the Stowe boys won the D2 race in 26:25 followed by PA in 27:16 and Lamoille Union in 8th. Three LR boys teamed up with CA’s Oryon Hart to have an unofficial time of 28:24, which would have put them in 4th in D2. To have a scoring team, each school needs four skiers, which neither LR or CA have.
In the girls individual race, Acadia Enman led the D1 girls in 14:35 with St. Johnbury’s Tillie Lange 3rd. Mary Harrington (Middlebury) placed first in D2 in 15:00 with Woodstock girls taking the next three spots. Aemilia Terrone had a good race for Craftsbury placing 6th with Nora Demaine of Lake Region in 14. Hadley Abbene led the Peoples Academy team in 7 with Ava Strattman 9, and Lilly Sudabby 17. Leah Jourdan of Lamoille was 12th. In the girls D2 relay, Woodstock showed their depth winning in 29:24 with Montpelier 2nd, Middlebury 3, PA 4, and Lamoille 5.
The second day of the state championships takes place in Craftsbury on Feb. 24 for the classic ski races. The overall team results will be shared next week.
Margie Freed skis, shoots for U.S. in Olympic Biathlon Relay
ANHOLTZ, Italy – Although the team struggled a bit on the range, Margie Freed of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) was part of U.S. squad that finished 18th in the 4×6 km women’s relay. Freed teamed up with Deedra Irwin, Luci Anderson and Joanne Reid.
The U.S. men’s team had their best Olympic showing ,placing 5th powered by Campbell Wright who has podiumed on the World Cup this season and placed 12th in the Olympic sprint race.
