Juniors throw down at Qualifiers

The Junior team just seems to be getting faster and faster, and just in time for the biggest races of the season! Today was the qualifying races for both Eastern High School Championships and U16 Championships. We had our biggest race contingent ever, including a hearty crew of U14 Devo Racers. Time to take a deep breath and recap some great results:

AM: 4.2km classic

This was a true New England doozy. It rained all day Saturday, and the groomers had to wait until 5am for the pouring to stop before they could hit the trails. Thanks to the generosity of the Solow’s allowing me to crash on their pullout couch in their suite I was able to stay on-site, test skis and spend 5+ hours in the wax room. The advance work paid off!

After the course was groomed, it began snowing on top of the slush. Then it started snowing harder. Then the sun came out. Then it snowed. Then it rained.

The track was composed of 1/4 slush, 1/4 ice, 1/4 heavy snow, and 1/4 tears of unprepared wax techs. I was loving it! We had skis that worked and racers ready to put them to good use.

Chloe finished a stellar 14th in the women’s race, easily her best race of the year, and possibly the past few years. Sneaking into the top-30 were MNC racer Eliza Thomas and U-32 racer Eliza Merrylees, who we were supporting today.

In the men’s race Greg fought into 11th, just ahead of Will who had a great result in 14th, skiing with or just ahead of Greg the whole time (they started 15 sec apart). Here’s a quick clip Sara snagged of Will and Greg crushing it together:

Charlie gave himself a shot for the afternoon with a good race while Baxter, Ben, Peter, Tim and Kai all finished right together.

Ben looking good!

After the stress of a hectic and challenging classic race, everything switched to skate. There wasn’t much downtime for the coaches! Sara, Rosemary and I spent a lot of time busting out skis and huffing fumes…but it was well worth it I think. Big thanks to those two for helping out in the ski department!

PM: 4.2km Freestyle

If the classic results were exciting, the Pugs blew the lid off in the skate race. Chloe nabbed 22nd to solidify her place on the Eastern’s Team, and Eliza had a killer race, taking 13th and also getting herself a trip to Rikert for the Championships! Eliza Merrylees is first alternate but is likely to earn her spot after the State Meet.

Eliza tearing up the skate race

Chloe powering up the hill

The men’s race featured some HUGE performances. Charlie set his crosshairs on Stratton’s Ben Ogden, who started 15 sec in front of him, and kept him in sight the whole time to take 7th place! A breakout race by all standards, as Charlie was solidly ahead of at least 4 skiers who are on the New England team for JNs.

Charlie hauling butt!

Not to be outdone, Will upped his performance by taking 11th, his best skate race by a long shot. What’s more, Will looked smooth and totally in control doing it. He again got to ski with Greg, who was out for blood after a somewhat lackluster morning race and took third overall (first U16) only 6 sec off the win. All three of these boys earned spots on the Easterns Team!

Will had two great races! 14th and 11th

Greg focused on the tight battle for the win in the men’s skate race

Timmy crushed it as well, in 15th overall. It is worth noting a breakdown of teams the top-15:

SMS: 5

MNC: 4

GMVS: 3

Frost: 1

Woodstock: 1

Craftsbury: 1

It’s been clear that this group of boys has been strong all season, and the MNC ladies had a killer effort that continued to prove that depth today. That deep strength continued with Kai, Peter, Baxter and Ben, who all had solid efforts. Ben nailed the pacing, Peter skied with more spunk than ever, and Baxter and Kai rebounded from back issues and body issues (respectively) in the morning’s races.

Peter with a combination of…joy and agony?

Baxter and Kai solidly qualified for U16 Championships alongside Tim, while Peter and Ben are setting themselves up to challenge for the States standard for earning a spot at Easterns. As Eurosport commentator David Goldstrum would say about all the MNC skiers today, they “took some notable scalps” of other strong racers in their respective fields.

The future is bright as well: Sammie, Ali, Magda, Camille, Quincy and Aidan all raced in the U14 category, which was the same race but un-scored. By my math however, all of these racers would have qualified for the U16 team despite only being U14 racers! Nice!

Awesome picture of ponytail action from Sammie

Eastern HS Championships Qualifiers:

Chloe Lemel-Hay

Eliza Thomas

Marika Massey-Bierman

Greg Burt

Will Solow

Charlie Cobb

(6 additional athletes TBD following States)

U16 Championship Qualifiers:

Tim Cobb

Kai Richter

Baxter Bishop

PLUS, summer training athlete Jared Leonard!

ALL RESULTS (thanks Max!)

PHOTO ALBUM (thanks Gary and Paul!)