This was a busy late-season weekend that featured the inaugural New England Club Relay Championships, hosted by our club! With ample snow, amazing trails, and great support, the Relays were a ton of fun and brought out a LOT of competitors. In a great display of the depth and health of the Vermont ski scene, some competitors had recently returned from All-American performances at NCAA Championships, while some were jumping into their first ski race ever!
Racers from elementary school to Masters age churned up the trails on teams with names that ranged from intimidating (“Jacked-Up Jim and the Wrecking Crew”) to self-deprecating (“MANSA: Moderately Athletic Nordic Ski Association”). Everyone put the hammer down on classic or skate legs and champions were crowned!
The club and racers can’t thank Craftsbury enough for helping make this event happen. From grooming to race setup to volunteers on course and off, there it nothing that the Craftsbury Outdoor Center doesn’t excel at. Many thanks also go out to Jim Fredericks who first brought up the idea of this event and made it a reality.
Sunday was the annual Spring Fling event, a race which many MNC members also contested. With beautiful weather and a tasty BBQ it really capped off the weekend on a great note! You can find results from both Saturday and Sunday’s events below.
Here are a few photos from Gary Solow, with the entire album linked at the bottom. Enjoy!
Action at the start: 3 Juniors who really don’t like to use kickwax. All three here just double-poled the classic course…Will and Brandon on skate skis, Glueck on “shiny” skis or “blank” skis, which are classic skis wax entirely for glide like a skate ski
Classic specialists Karen and Ellie!
Monica and Renate rocking some matching team colors
BKL, Juniors, and Masters…all in the same race!
Ali tagging off to Aidan, who was soon being chased out on course by Adam 😉
Steve and Steve, part of the Wrecking Crew
MANSA represent!
Find more photos from Gary Solow HERE
Relay results by category Club Totals | BKL |<200 Men | <200 Mixed BKL | >199 Men | >199 Mixed | >199 Women
Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus
