The third weekend of Eastern Cup racing just finished up in Lake Placid, NY. It was a great showing featuring a brutally tough course, sunny warm weather and fast skiing.
First up is the congratulations to Greg for WINNING the U16 sprint event! Despite falling in his qualifier, Greg still advanced in 8th to the rounds where he rocketed to the front on the long downhill into the finish in both his semifinal and final heat. Greg stuck with the pack on the climb and was able to “slingshot” to a massive win! Here is some video from the last 400 meters, just before re-entering the stadium:
raw speed in the qualifier, coming off the sharp right turn
Greeeeg was not the only Pug having a great day on Saturday. We set a goal of three top-10 finishes and are still waiting on the “official” results to find out if Kai nabbed either 10th or 11th…both Kai and Timmy qualified for the heats as well, with Tim finishing 4th in his semi and Kai in 5th. Their first head-to-head sprint heats!
Kai catching his “15-second man” in the qualifier
Tim staying ahead of CSU in the semifinals
Just a few spots outside the heats was Baxter in 15th. In the open heats, most all were happy with their performances. Both Cobb boys were within the same second, Ben L was ripping the descent and Will was “hungry” and continues to pick up speed each weekend.
Baxter hammering the sprint
Saturday evening we walked up the road to dinner, and after our team meeting took a trip across the street to get after it with some cosmic bowling action. Baxter took the win and is still owed $1 by some team members at practice this week…
Ben and Baxter were definitely the most aggressive bowlers
The temps stayed warm overnight which meant the classic events were klister straight from the get-go on Sunday! Classic interval-start races were on tap, beginning with the U16 boys once again. Greg walked straight from the podium to the car on Saturday in order to make it back to VT for his winter ball, but otherwise all other Pugs were ready to rock.
Coach Sara and Coach Adam klistering furiously
Kai put down a negative split to go from 9th on his first lap up into 7th at the finish, while Baxter nearly matched him moving from 11th on his first lap to 8th place. Baxter’s previous best finish in the U16 Eastern Cups was 25th so to say this season has been an improvement is an understatement! Kai has become a top-10 regular and will find himself on the bubble for Junior Nationals heading into the final weekend in Stowe! Tim was not far behind in 14th.
The older Pugs were in the warmest and slushiest of tracks. Will topped his great classic race from Waterville with an even stronger race this weekend, 16th U18 in a tough field with a big last lap. Part of the success could be due to the reduced weight of going shirtless:
No-Shirt Solow
It was another well-paced distance effort from Charlie, who has made the most of injuries in the fall to come on strong this winter.
Passing and takin’ names
Both Ben L and Ben C skied strongly and showed that they are at the top of their game. After a strong Pursuit race last weekend for all the Pugs, the public high school duel between MMU and CVU particularly fierce…of course, I am rooting for all the athletes and wish them the best, but seeing this storyline play out makes things extra exciting!
CVU is probably still wishing they had Rachel on their side, but since graduating Rachel has only gotten faster! She looked phenomenal on the climbs today and had another top Eastern Cup result…those are becoming the norm! No photos of Rachel yet but Gary Solow (who took most all the photos here) snapped one of Marika in the qualifier Saturday. Marika had a killer classic race!
Marika in the skate race
The main Pug missing in action this weekend was Eliza, who was out sick upon arrival. Unfortunately according to Karen the only Lake Placid sightseeing she did was “the ceiling of the room” from the bed. With a little rest and recovery Eliza should be back in action for the final Eastern Cup of the season in Stowe next weekend. The races have flown by! Check out Adam’s Virtual Team Meeting HERE
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