[scroll to bottom for pictures]
The Eastern Cup race series finished this past weekend with 2 distance races in Waterville, ME. A small but strong group of MNC athletes attended these races, which are the final qualifiers for Junior National Championships.
It was a hectic day on Saturday for mass-start classic races. Temps between 32-36˚ F coupled with falling snow and wind made challenging conditions. The Harmeyer brothers persevered in the J2 category in a race that was sadly defined by equipment and wax. Ben Hegman skied another awesome race in the Open Men’s field to finish as the top junior and 6th overall!
Sunday was cold, very windy, and still had flurries in the air. Nathanael Kuzio, who sat out of the race on Saturday due to illness, had an amazing race in spite of being in a pressure-cooker battle for the JN team (3 boys fighting for last 2 spots). “Newt” skied a well-paced race and stayed upright on some very challenging descents to finish 3rd in the J2 boys category — and secure his trip to Alaska for Junior Nationals!
Although the Harmeyer brothers are only age 15 (J2 category), they raced up in the Open Men’s field to gain a point of reference for the future. Bill followed his pre-race plan of skiing smooth for 7km and then turning up the pace to finish 33rd overall. Henry skied strong wire-to-wire and finished 12th overall and he was the 7th place junior.
On the horizon are the Vermont State High School Championships, so be on the lookout for MNC athletes peppering the results! The freestyle races take place this Thursday @ Craftsbury, and the classic events are next Tuesday at Prospect. Good luck to all!!!
Ben in the 15km
Bill in the 10km
Nathanael racing at Craftsbury last weekend
Henry Harmeyer (right)
