Given what nature doled out these past few months, it might be all too easy to remember this by the weather. While the “year of the purple klister” was certainly sad in terms of snowfall, there were some serious highlights for MNC. This club pushed past the brutal dry grass and pavement, and came away with big successes!
I’ve gone through some of the many stacks of results that have been filtering in throughout the season. While this club is far more than its results alone, I thought it would be cool to look back at some of our accomplishments. Be it a local, regional or national stage, MNC certainly showed it’s speed and depth this year!
-The ever-growing MNC Duathlon was a big success, and brought tons of skiers together for a day of racing for all ages. Podiums and wins were numerous!
-For the first-time ever, Mansfield Nordic was on the podium in the NENSA’s Zak Cup championship thanks to big participation and results in regional events. Heck, we even beat Dartmouth! Congrats as well to many MNC members who were on the podium in their respective age groups, and JoAnn Hanowski for capturing the individual crown.
-At the VT High School State Championships, MNC skiers achieved 17 top ten results, including 5 podiums
-MNC had 8 athletes on the EHSC/U16 Championship teams, and achieved 7 top ten results at these regional events
-MNC was represented by Greg Burt at Junior Nationals in Wisconsin. Greg picked up 2 top ten individuals and a 5th place finish in the relay
-On the Eastern Cup circuit, MNC athletes achieved 13 top tens, 6 podiums and 1 victory. What’s more, 4 U16 men from Mansfield Nordic ended the season in the top-15 of the rankings – a feat only matched by SMS
-33 top ten finishes, including 15 podiums, were recorded by MNC athletes at the NENSA BKL Festival
-Eliza, Marika and Tim picked up 8 podium finishes in the week-long North American Biathlon Nationals in Fort Kent. Tim swept the series with three gold medals in the Senior Boys division!
-Tim’s results in biathlon qualified him to race in the “Liatoppen Skiskytterfestival” in Norway this spring. That marks 2 years in a row MNC athletes have been racing in Europe!
Eastern High School Champions…Team Vermont!
JN relay action
Eliza racing at Jr World Biathlon trials in Alaska
Will, Baxter and Kai crushing the Eastern Cup
Don’t mess with these three! Future of the sport right here
It has definitely been a season I will remember…and NOT just because of the weather. The trips, the races, the venues, the training, the travel, the waxing, the cheering, the food, the games, and most of all the athletes, have made this an incredible 2016/2017 winter. Go Pugs!
