Oak Hill - Eastern Cup #4
March 22, 2026
Our last EC at Oak Hill felt like the perfect ending to regular-season races, with many of our skiers having personal best results, a record number of skiers getting to throw down in heats, older skiers tackling 15k (!!!) of racing, and EVERYBODY skiing for the joy of it.
Saturday:
Saturday was a classic sprint day, and 22 skiers qualified for heats. That’s a lot! It was a fun day of continuous racing. Coaches were kept busy from sun-up to sun-down supporting athletes through heats, testing kick as the sun came out, and waxing nearly 40 pairs of skis! Athletes knew the ropes well after a full season of dialing in their race routines, and everybody showed up with more preparation under their belts.
The race course for the day was an exciting one, with a big climb right out of the start, followed by an even longer descent. The speed from the downhill required some checking as the downhill quickly transitioned into a flat hairpin turn, then straight back into an uphill finish.
The girls kicked off the day with their qualifier. Leigh earned herself a spot in open heats, qualifying in 29th. She ended up working her way up to 19th in the heats! Hannah P, Lucy, Abby, Avery, Fran, Keira, and Hannah L all qualified for U18/20 heats. Hannah Petersen’s first time qualifying for heats took her all the way to the final, where she earned a 6th place finish! Lucy also had an exciting day, making it all the way to the semi’s for a personal best day of sprinting. Emma and April put themselves into the U16 heats. Emma fought hard to secure 2nd place, and April landed in 14th with some gritty classic racing.
The boys went second, and had some peak races! For the first time in recent memory, EMXC had boys in the open heats! Dashiell and Egor set themselves up for some fast heats, qualifying 23rd and 26th respectively. Zach qualified 36th, missing open heats by 3 seconds. Not to fear though - Zach fought his way to the U18/20 final to finish 2nd, followed directly by teammate Brendan who finished 3rd in the final! Nolan, Sid, Jasper, Lukas W, and Matthew crushed their quarterfinals, which for many of them, was their first time getting to race in Eastern Cup heats. Thomas, Saku, and Shay got to race in the U16 heats and they all had exciting semifinals. Thomas took the cake for worst luck, with a faceplant into the finishing stretch due to an unfortunately timed wax drag. All the boys fought so hard, and it was really cool to watch them in their element showing off the fitness they worked so hard for!
Sunday:
Sunday was another great day, and anticipation was in the air as the 15k mass start approached. Though the team has prepped for a 15k for the past 3 seasons, this was the first season in which the 15k wasn’t cancelled due to weather.
Coaches were really impressed with how calm, cool and collected all the athletes were. Although there were definitely some additional pre-race nerves due to the newness of this longer distance, most people were prepared to face the newness with a plan and an open mind. It helped that the team had practiced feeds and talked about pacing in the week leading into the race.
The boy's 15k mass start was the first to leave the line. The start was chaotic, but luckily no mishaps happened right away and the pack stuck together for the first lap. Lukas W had an unfortunate tumble partway through the first lap that resulted in a broken pole, but he kept grinding through the race to end in 58th. Dashiell had another best day, finishing 22nd, with Zach close behind in 30th. Eddie had one of his best races to date, finishing 44th and demonstrating some really consistent skiing through each lap. Matthew K, Jasper, and Brendan couldn’t bear being apart, so they skied the whole race together! It was really cool to see them working together and pushing each other. Matthew B. showed true perseverance, and claimed that if it weren’t for the feeds, he may not have made it. Yay for sugary drinks!
In the girls 15k mass start, Leigh went out hard with the front pack, and hung with them until a pole mishap caused a bit of separation. She worked with an SMS skier the rest of the race to keep the lead pack close, and ended in 7th place! Hannah Petersen raced a really smart race and kept moving up throughout the race to earn a top 10 finish. Abby also played it smart and really kept the engine steady the whole time. She held her technique together and finished 44th. Iris was really proud of finishing and as usual, had a lot of fun trying something new. Keira also finished with a smile and sense of accomplishment. Fran also came out after some time off for a taste of racing. We were so happy to see her!!
The U16s got to race a more familiar distance, with a 5k mass start. They went out FAST. The boys race was exciting, with Saku having a standout day in 9th place. It was awesome to see Saku staying focused and moving up throughout the race. Thomas was 12th, Shay 15th, Egor 21st, Andrew 30th, Lukey 32nd, Ian 39th, Landan 41st, Lincoln 44th, and Bennett 46th. Dylan hopped into the intro race to get a taste of the Eastern Cup!
The EMXC U16 girls included Emma, April, Elena, and June. Emma raced consistently with her past Eastern Cup races to secure a spot on team new england for junior nationals. April had a heroic race for her best finish of the season, placing 12th with a very gritty, fast finish up a steep hill. June and Elena cruised together for a bit, working off the skiers around them and making some passes throughout the race!
At the end of the weekend, we had two athletes qualified for JNs, and a bunch headed to U16s and EHS!
The coaches relay ended the day on a silly note, and coaches LOVED racing the other teams!
