Eastern Cup #1 - Craftsbury
January 21, 2025
Day 1: Classic Sprints
The initial schedule for the Craftsbury EC weekend included 2 distance races, but because the snow was lacking, the races were rearranged so that skiers would race a classic sprint on Saturday and a skate 10k on Sunday. EMXC skiers were enthusiastic about this change - especially with the expanded heat brackets that allowed for more opportunities to qualify and race in heats (top 30 open qualifiers, 30 U18/20 qualifiers, and 18 U16 qualifiers moved on to heats).
Sprint days can be challenging and busy because of the multitude of races that happen in one day. There can often be an added challenge when conditions change as the sun rises and warms things up. Unlike last year’s classic sprint, however, this year the conditions stayed consistent, making the job of the wax team a bit easier. Just a day before the first race, a coating of snow fell on the trails at Craftsbury, leaving us with a mix of manmade and natural snow. Tracks were firm, but not icy, and we were consistent in our choice of wax for most of the day!
The first race of the day was the women's qualifier at 9:30am. The men followed directly at 10:10. After some gritty racing from the whole team, we had 7 qualifying athletes, including Fran in open heats, Leigh, Alex, Polina, and Sam in U18/20 heats, and Nolan and Zach in the U16 heats. Hannah, Jared, Levin, Will, and Rowan missed junior heat qualification by less than 5 seconds! Abby, Anneka, Avery were not too far behind, and there were many prideful reports about how their races went. Everyone raced strong quarterfinals, and notably, Leigh and Nolan both made it to their respective finals, where they each placed 5th!
Day 2: 5/10k Individual Start
After tackling Day 1, athletes returned to the venue ready to take on another chilly day of racing; this time a skate individual-start 5k/10k. Once again, the wax team headed out early to get a head start on glide. The snow was cold, squeaky, and slow – making this process a bit tedious (we still ended up with zoomin’ skis though).
Our group of ten U18 Girls went off first at 9:30. They raced four laps of a hilly and challenging 2.5k loop. For our second-year U18s (Alex, Fran, Hannah, and Polina), this 10k distance was more familiar, and they shared their warmup and pacing knowledge with their teammates! Leigh, Abby, Avery, Anneka, Iris and Charlotte all skied their first Eastern Cup 10ks (and crushed it)! Leigh and Alex were our first finishers in the open race, taking 30th and 32nd places - fantastic finishes in a competitive field of juniors and collegiate athletes. Anneka felt happy with her mindset, Alex was proud of her technique during the race, and Iris said, “that was fun!”
Next up was our group of twelve U18/20 boys. Each racer had something to take away – whether it was something they did well, or a lesson learned. From wishing they had warmer mittens, to feeling excited to stick with a college skier, to rejoicing about a new pacing strategy, to wishing they had gone juuuust a little faster at the end… There was a mixed bag of reactions to the race. Jared was the first EMXC finisher, and he felt good about his approach to the race. Jared, Calvin, Sam, Dashiell, and Will all finished within a minute of one another – a testament to the collaboration and teamwork this group has demonstrated in their everyday training! For Jasper and Nathanael, this was their first 10k race as U18s, and they seized the opportunity to put down strong, determined races! Overall, the skiers should be proud of themselves for finishing a hilly, chilly, competitive race, and finding takeaways for next time.
The U16s valiantly ended the day of racing, starting at 2:45 in the afternoon (basically sunset at this time of year!). They raced 2 laps of a 2.5k loop for a total of 5k. EMXC didn’t have any U16 girls in attendance, but our group of seven U16 boys held down the fort. They each had notable performances – including Zach S-B and Lukas Webb nearing the top 10 in 11th and 12th place, Nolan holding strong form after Saturday’s big sprint day, Colin demonstrating some of his new technical gains, and Egor, Parker, and Lukey completing their first distance race with EMXC Juniors!!
