Quarry Road - Eastern Cup #2
February 1, 2026
Eastern Cup #2 came quickly for the team, and we prepped leading into it with plenty of rest and some fun intensity sessions to get fired up for the weekend.
Friday Course preview
Before we dive into a recap of the racing, here’s a fun anecdote from Leigh about her time previewing the course on Friday night…
“What a weekend it was. Let me start by saying I almost died on Friday evening. Okay, that might be an exaggeration—but it could have ended very badly. I showed up to Quarry Road around 6 p.m. on Friday to get in a little pre-race ski and immediately noticed how poorly lit the upper loops were. While this might sound like a criticism, I don’t intend for that; the natural darkness of the woods, combined with the lingering light from the stadium, brought me so much joy.
As I set off on the course, my headlamp barely illuminated beyond my boot bindings. While climbing to the top, I stopped every now and then to look up and admire the stars—stars I rarely see in Brookline, MA, because of the light pollution. When I crested the top, I realized I would have to rely on my muscle memory from last year and quick instincts to make it down the series of turns before reaching the dimly lit stadium.
As I swept left and right, I dropped my head for a moment to rest my neck, which had grown sore from holding a tuck position. When I looked back up from my feet, I was suddenly nearing the edge of a left-hand turn. You might think, just snowplow—but that wasn’t an option. The surface was icy—very icy—and I was traveling at a respectable 23–24 mph (yes, I did go back and check my Garmin activity).
As I let out a scream (I’m pretty sure Ben Theryal heard me—he was also skiing, and I saw his headlamp flicker between the trees), I managed to quickly sidestep to the left and safely make it back to the stadium. I’ve amused myself—and several others—with this story since, and I wanted to share it with you all.”
Saturday 7.5k Skate individual start
The recovery-focused race-prep plan appeared to pay off with a great day for the team on Saturday during the first day of racing. All athletes across all age groups raced a 7.5k individual start skate race in a splendidly snowy atmosphere! Many of our U16s had never raced this distance, and many found it to be a challenge that they enjoyed tackling.
The boys race kicked off first with reportedly fast skis from the wax team. Dashiell was the team’s fastest finisher - he finished 40th overall, and was the 26th fastest non-college skier! Calvin and Jasper were not far off and finished within 2 seconds of one another. The u16 boys held their own in the mix with the older kids - Thomas cracked the top ten in the U16 field in 9th place, and Egor was just 20 seconds off of a top ten finish. Shay and Andrew had stellar days as well, noting that they felt super fast, especially with the help of the extremely good wax!
The girls raced next. Leigh and Emma had standout days, with Leigh in 7th (4th U18/20) and Emma in 8th (3rd U16). Hannah P got her first Eastern cup age-group top ten, finishing as the tenth U18/20! April had a fantastic day as well with a top twenty in the U16 category, and more importantly, found her stride in pacing for longer distance races. Keira had an impressive comeback from a fall into a ditch, fighting through the challenge to have a feel-good last lap up the final big hill.
Coach Marika recounted the day with praise for the team, saying “Everyone was super excited about the big snow storm but it was also quite cold…The course held up well despite the new snow although it got icy the second day. U16 boys did a great job cheering the u16 girls on Saturday. The hype was strong for the girls on Saturday after the two top ten results!”
Sunday Classic 5/10k Mass Start
Sunday was a bit icier after the snow stopped falling, which always makes a mass start more interesting… especially the first mass start of the season.
According to coach Marika, “Younger athletes did a great job with the first mass start of the season on Sunday. U16 boys had some great pack/tactics racing experience and there was good, excited energy about it.” Coach Nate had similar sentiments, saying: “EMXC skiers handled themselves well in the mass start and had some great tactics. The wax team masterfully handled a massive quantity of skis compared to other teams. The U16s supported each other which was cool to see.”
The older boys kicked off the race day and Dashiell held his streak of speedy racing, with an impressive top-30 finish where he moved up throughout the race. Brendan also had one of his best days, with a top 40 finish. We missed Eddie, Jasper, and Calvin, who opted out of racing due to illness. Matthew K also had one of his better races to date, landing in the top 50 - just ten seconds ahead of Zach, Nolan, and Lukas, who skied most of the race together.
The older girls went next. Leigh snagged another top 20 finish with some very consistently strong technique throughout the race. Hannah P also had a day, finishing in the top 25! Lucy continued demonstrating her growth on classic skis this year, with a huge jump up in placement from the classic race at Holderness. Iris had her best day of the weekend, racing in sight of her teammate and frequent interval buddy, Avery. Iris was happy with her racing, but more importantly, happy to be out supporting her team.
She said “The weekend was great, the races were challenging but super fun! I got a chance to watch both U16 classic races on Sunday and I was so impressed by all the great striding I saw, I could tell all the U16s were attacking the course and giving it their all. Overall a super fun weekend and I was grateful to be out there with the team!”
Next up were the U16 Boys. Thomas raced well, and just missed the top 10, with an 11th place finish just twelve seconds off of 10th. Egor had an exciting finish, beating out a prospect skier by under one second for 18th place. Shay, Lukey, and Andrew skied the whole 5k together - showing just how powerful training partners can be in pushing one another through a really tough race. Landan tackled his first classic EC of the season.
The U16 girls rounded out the weekend. Emma continued her streak of top three finishes with a 3rd place finish. April fought hard for a top 30 finish with a strong push through the finish line, and some great takeaways to think about for her next classic races. Elena completed her first eastern cup, and first classic race ever!!
