It has been an incredible start to the week at Junior National Championships here in Stowe. Today was a big race for Forrest Hamilton, who won a national title for the U16 Classic Sprint. This is the 2nd national champion we’ve had in the past three years (Henry Harmeyer in 2012 also in the sprint). Forrest skied a really awesome race on Monday and finished 3rd in the 5km classic, as well. Forrest missed out on Junior Nationals last season, and he used that as motivation to improve, and today he enjoyed the fruit of his labor.
Forrest atop the podium!
Henry Harmeyer skied an incredible race today and finished 6th place in the U18 boys sprint. Henry won his quarterfinal with the fastest heat of the day then eeked his way out of his semifinal and into the A-final. He hung tough all the way to the finish. It was pretty cool to see — Henry has been in the A-final for 3 consecutive years now! Henry also skied a great 10km classic race on Monday to finish 13th overall in U18.
Henry Harmeyer
Jack Hegman had a great race again today and finished 3rd in U20 in a photo finish with his UVM teammate Cole Morgan. Jack now has 2 podiums this week.
Ben Hegman started the week strong in the 10km classic on Monday. He was the top New England finisher in U18 with a 6th place showing. Today he made it into his first sprint heats of the year and finished 18th on the day.
Ben Hegman
Autumn Eastman also blasted onto the national scene on Monday with her 5km classic race. In her first event ever at Junior Nationals she skied up to 13th place in the U18 women. Great job and congrats Autumn!
Coach / Volunteer Jake Hollenbach
These races wouldn’t be possible without tons of help from volunteers, parents, sponsors and coaches. Coach Jake Hollenbach was on the trails all day today as a volunteer. The Harmeyer family, Dave Lustgarten, Lisanne Hegman, Amy Kuzio have all played important roles as volunteers. Ethan John, Marika Massey Bierman and Eliza Thomas helped as forerunners on Monday. The Supples and Mammut are also big supporters of this entire week. Annavitte Rand is helping as an event photographer. And lastly, a HUGE thanks to Bill Harmeyer who has basically become a full-fledged member of the New England wax staff. We’ve had great skis thanks in part to his tireless efforts testing wax. I imagine he has skied over 100km in the past few days. Thank you Bill !
