U16 Championships
March 18, 2025
The spirit of winter carried on through U16 championships to deliver strong winds, sporadic snow squalls, and some high quality racing conditions at Prospect Mountain, VT. EMXC had 14 athletes qualify for the event. The weekend started off quickly, with athletes arriving at the hotel at 11am on Friday, and races starting just a few hours later at 3:30pm.
Friday: Skate 5k
The first race of the weekend was a skate 5k wave start. It was one of the best days for team Massachusetts in recent history, with the team finishing the day in an impressive second place, ahead of Vermont and behind New Hampshire.
Team MA had some strong performances all around. On the boys side, highlights included Zach taking first place by just 1 second in a dramatic finish, Colin moving up from his seed place (42nd) to place 16th overall, with Lukas, Tyler and Matthew also moving up from their seed placements. On the girls side, April, Ulrika, and June laid it all out there and helped team MA land in second place on the day. Ulrika had a particularly good race, climbing 27 spots from where she was seeded.
Saturday Morning: Classic 5k
Saturday morning, the wind was howling as the wax team arrived to set up and begin testing. Athletes ate a big hotel breakfast and arrived just after the wax team, ready for two races in one day. The morning race was a classic race, and skiers were dialed! They arrived with plenty of time to tour the course and test their skis. Despite this preparation and taking every step they could to get their kick and glide *perfect*, a howling snow squall rolled through the venu just 15 minutes before the start of the race. This left the tracks filled to the brim with a thick layer of powdery, SLOW, snow.
As the boys race kicked off, spectators could tell it was going to be a hard race. The first two waves were at a special disadvantage, as the tracks had not been skied-in, meaning those skiers were basically setting the tracks for the following waves. This situation certainly shook things up, and although the top seeded skiers did not land anywhere in the top of the results, they made way for their fellow MA teammates to take first and second - talk about a team effort! Other noteworthy efforts came from Tyler and Colin, who improved in the results from where they were seeded! Nolan also had a strong race, finishing 22nd!
The girls race was more predictable in terms of weather. We saw skiers testing their kick and going back for more until they were confident in their skis - a testament to their knowledge of their skis and investment in the process. April, Ulrika, and June all had awesome races, and each of them improved from their seed. April not only moved up from where she was seeded, but finished as the second girl for team MA!
Saturday Afternoon: Skate Sprint
After the busyness of the classic races, athletes changed layers, ate food, and put their feet up in hopes to recover and race well in the afternoon sprint race.
With redemption in mind, Zach and Tor skied fast races to take 2nd and 4th respectively. It was especially exciting to see our skiers dominating their heats, either taking the lead or strategically hanging back to draft and make passes into the finish. Lukey, Tyler, Parker, Colin, Lukas, Nolan, all held great positions within their waves. Colin was thrilled with his finishing pass.
The girls sprint went similarly, with confident skiing from the girls within their respective waves. April won her wave and finished with a strong 34th place. June hung in with her heat and stayed competitive the whole time to finish 90th, and Ulrika had her best race of the weekend, with a 32nd place finish! These girls fought hard, knowing that every second mattered, and would contribute to the overall score for the Massachusetts team.
After both of Saturday’s races, Massachusetts sat in 3rd place, behind 2nd place VT and 1st place NH. Somehow, the athletes still had energy left at the end of the day to splash around in the hotel pool.
Sunday: Mixed team relay
The team relay is always a fun and spirited way to end a busy weekend. Each team of four had two girls and two boys, where one skier from each gender would ski a classic lap, and one skier from each gender would ski a skate lap. Classic first, then skate. Racing on a relay team often brings out extra motivation that allows athletes to go deeper into the pain cave than they ever have before - it’s a little extra boost when you know your teammates are waiting for you in the tag zone. We saw this play out, and there was loud cheering and effortful skiing in the air.
Noteworthy performances were Nolan’s 5th fastest time in the boys classic leg; Colin, Zach, and Tor’s top fastest times in the boys skate leg; Benjamin leading his team out strong, and Lukey, Parker, Ulrika making passes to bring their teams up multiple places.
At the end of the weekend, Team Mass was in 3rd place by just 309 points to 2nd place Vermont. The MA boys were first on both skate days, and the girls were 2nd in the sprint!
The awards ceremony was filled with team pride for having executed one of the strongest championship weekends for team Mass in recent memory.
