Fog swept over the Northeast Kingdom last Friday, a literal cloud that kept the mystery high as everyone arrived to see just what their summer and fall of preparations would yield. The first Eastern Cup of the season is always a big event, but this year the competition was tougher and deeper than ever. Whether it’s college skiers competing at the start of their winter break, World Cup athletes home for the holidays, or Canadians driving down from up north, the first weekend is always a notch above the rest in terms of difficulty. Races that might net you a top ten in a mid-season Eastern Cup might sneak you into the top 40 here!
But racing is what we’re here to do, and along with all the other clubs and ski academies and teams we arrived ready to rock. It seemed like everyone had the game plan down; coaches and athletes alike. Having the Sprint Doubleheader a weekend prior really helped get into gear. The athletes were well settled into the warmup mode for events, the coaches (thanks Sara, Rick, Lukas, and Liam) helped the wax bench hum along and crank out splits on course, and the general level was more pro than ever before. I only regret that this first EC wasn’t an overnight race trip, but more on that later.
Thanks to Craftsbury being Craftsbury, the courses held up amazingly well. Snow was dirty and wet for Saturday’s sprint races, especially the muggy warm qualifier before temps dropped later in the afternoon. Big highlights in the morning qualifier were Ava and Sammie for the women, and Aidan and Brook for the men. During last week’s skate sprint Sammie looked a little flat after a great classic sprint the day prior. Just as she left the wax room to go to the start I reminded her “time for some tempo and energy!” and needless to say she delivered and when I saw the video that Sara took on course I couldn’t believe the combination of tempo and glide. She whizzed right up to the SLU skier who started ahead of her and attacked the whole way. For someone who, even through last year, anyone would’ve considered a classic specialist, it was a huge step. Just wait until we get on some classic skis for the next races at US Nationals and EC2! Similarly, Brook learned a lot from skiing the course a week prior and upped his tempo and “float” skills this time around. If you don’t already know him, Brook is about 6′ 5″ and not who you’d pick to excel in a slushy soft sprint course. But just like Sammie, seeing him attack the hill with a super combination of tempo and light feet was awesome.
Despite their awesome skiing Sammie and Brook weren’t able to make it into the heats. However, Will and Isaac slotted into the Open and U18/U20 heats, respectively for the men, while Aidan was set for the U16 heats. For the women Ava continued her streak of strong races with a spot in the Open heats alongside Quincy, meaning that the two of them were locked for a 1-2 finish in the U16 race. This despite Ava being sick on Friday and potentially sitting out this race entirely. Sammie was 3 spots (and 3 seconds) out of the U18/U20 heats. Also tougher to swallow being 15th (they take 12) with 4 Canadians sneaking ahead of her. Next time!
Not everything went according to plan, however. The “bad luck” award actually got handed out twice: Meredith had her pole grip fall off as she pushed out of the starting gate, so she was forced to ski almost half the race course until Sara was able to toss her a space at the very bottom of the course. Julia also had tough luck crashing in the final 100m stretch of the race after working hard to close the entire gap on the CSU skier in front of her.
Hanna had her first Eastern Cup race ever and was only 2 spots (and 2 seconds) off the U16 heats
In the Open heats Will hung tough with a heat that included Ben Lustgarten and Ben Ogden, but settled for 6th. Isaac was en route to moving on when he got a pole stepped on up the final hill and ended up down on the snow. Ava also felt the effects of her sickness and got dropped on the final climb to take 6th but still an incredibly gutsy race for the freshman and first-year U16. 2nd place in the first race! Congrats to Lil Q who took 4th in her heat and the Win for U16 ladies.
The men’s U16 final was a long-awaited showdown that everyone knew was coming all year. Aidan Burt vs Trey Jones. Trey is a first-year U16 from GMVS (formerly Craftsbury) who has been crushing all sorts of events and tests. Aidan has been equally impressive all summer and fall, but it seemed like the two had yet to meet head-to-head. In the previous week’s skate sprint they’d finished within 3 seconds (advantage Aidan) and in the morning qualifier they were within the same second (again, advantage Aidan by a slim margin). In the final they pulled cleanly away from the rest of the field. Aidan led through the lower field, and up the climb by the lodge Trey put in a furious surge to pass Aidan. In the final 100m Aidan pulled even again and it came down to a lunge for the line that was too close to call for the announcer.
A duel you can likely expect to see more of
A minute or so later it came over the loudspeaker: 1st place for Trey Jones.
Now, if you don’t already understand the context this was an intense moment. Aidan had been close to victory at Eastern Cups many times last year. He even won the relay with his teammates at Junior Nationals last spring, yet had not won an individual Eastern Cup race. After a summer and fall of awesome training, he knew he was fit and fast enough to really make it happen. And then to have the taste of victory right in front of you, only to lose it by a lunge to a first-year U16 who just took a win in the first Eastern Cup he’s ever raced as a true U16, is not easy to work through.
I think Aidan and I shared a pretty similar mindset after that moment, and I realized that a true test of Aidan (or anyone in that situation) would be how he handled the moment and the upcoming rematch the next day. So, since the U16 men’s race was the first event of Sunday, we can pick up where the story leaves off right there.
Aidan races best under pressure, and suffice to say there was plenty on him now. We were both determined to make this happen, and both possibly more serious than ever on Sunday morning. Aidan had the benefit of starting 30 second behind Trey, and Sara was at the low point of the course to give a split. The standing where Sara was at in the race? Trey ahead by 2 seconds. I was at the top of Screaming Mimi, the brutal hill 3.5km into the race. All climbing from Sara to there…the split at that point? Aidan 5 seconds ahead of Trey. I skied over to the cabins with half a kilomter to go. The standing there? Aidan ahead by 15 seconds. The focus and drive helped Aidan give it his all on the toughest parts of the course and take a victory that I think was about as well-earned and deserved as you can ask for.
And THAT right there is what the sport is all about! Working hard, taking the disappointments in stride and using them to reach new heights. It’s definitely not the last battle these two will have all year, and they’ll both keep improving and learning.
Something tells me Ali just learned the news of Aidan’s win. Yeah team!
But man, that was only the first race! Next up was the women’s race, with the U16 and older women all combined for a 5km in some speedy snow conditions. Ava was feeling better than the day before and absolutely crushed it. 21st overall and 1st for U16s! Before lunchtime had even rolled around MNC was looking at a DOUBLE VICTORY day! Pretty cool, and I think this is just the beginning. Last season the club had 2 total Eastern Cup victories. This season the gang has already equaled that total in the first weekend!
More great races followed, with Rose making up for a sprint she wasn’t happy with by totally motoring the whole 5km for 45th overall and 10th for U18s. Oh yeah, that’s including some Canadians again 😉 with more races like that (and she’ll get many opportunities with some even longer distance races too) she’ll find herself climbing up in the rankings and the seed lists with every new weekend.
Rose making MOVES
Next up for the Pugs were Meredith and Ali. Meredith avenged her pole incident the day prior with a serious step-up on the results sheet. She also met her future incoming teammate at Bowdoin next year and found out they had finished very close to each other in the race. I was able to catch the end of Ali’s race as she came up from the cabins on the far end of the course. She was in a 3-person pack with Lily Bates (Dublin) and Madeline Kitch (CSU) who she has gone back-and-forth with many times. Those three have been duking it out since they were first-year U16s and it was pretty cool to see them all skiing in sync and working together yet again. A big step forward for Ali who is coming into form after being sick last week and working through PT for her back.
Meredith flying by the cameras, with both original poles intact 🙂
This race featured a lot of other MNC racers, including another strong U16 effort from Hanna (now ranked just outside the top-10 overall U16 list after the weekend) and some races that Lily, Julia and Jenny weren’t psyched with BUT…as I reminded some of the crew and remarked to Sara afterward, everything this weekend was a HUGE step-up, for the most part, from the Fort Kent opener last season which was in many ways quite a disaster for a number of reasons 🙂
Julia may not have had her best weekend but she sure captured the “game face”
Also, we need to shout-out Rachel, Greta, and Lydia (all U16 or younger) who competed in their first-ever Eastern Cups! Congrats guys!
The longest race of the weekend, the men’s 10km, was the final event. The fresh snow from the morning was quickly getting churned into sugar and the descents skidded into an icy sheet. Being a stable skier was rewarded for sure, and that has Charles Martell written all over it. Charles had a great race that found him 15th for U18s in his first Eastern Cup longer than 5km. And I think the longer the race the better for someone this fit and strong.
Also impressive, for the 2nd day in a row (and continuing a strong streak of races this season that’s only getting started) was Eli Grossman. Fresh off learning he was accepted and has a spot to ski at Bates next year, Eli finished ahead of several college skiers and has completely turned his racing style around. What used to be “hammer hammer hammer” until a burnout mid-race has now morphed into smooth skiing and even pacing that allows Eli to use his strength and technique to his advantage. Cool to see that progress!
Eli displaying the sleek new MNC headband, which looks great even when upside-down
The same can be said for Brook, who’s made miles and miles of improvement in his technique and smooth skiing. It already paid off with his first high school race win the week prior, and after Sunday’s race Brook told me “skiing just feels so smooth and good”.
If you’ve made it this far into the recap, I hope you’re feeling as inspired and excited for the rest of the season as I think everyone else is. I said earlier in the post that my only wish was that this weekend had been some type of overnight trip racing experience…this is all anecdotal, but I feel like the group races best when we spend time together before, during, and after the races rather than just arriving at the venue to compete. Whether it’s because we get to let off some stress by messing around, or just get to stay more on the same page by travelling, cooking, and preparing for the races together, we usually function even better as a group. When it comes to the club being both strong and meaningful I think that’s a pretty cool situation.
Next up is US Nationals, followed by some racing in New York (Gore) and then Eastern Cup #2, also in New York (Lake Placid). Registration pages for all three of those options (wax support for Nats, overnight trips for Gore and LP). Below are some more fun photos from the weekend. You can see more shots (and where the above photos came from) from the following photographers:
Coaches, skiers, and parents all together!
Hanna and Ida Sargent got to fore-run the BKL races together in the afternoon
Happy 18th birthday Jenny!
