Opening Nordic Races
December 22, 2011 ~ The folks at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center really pulled off a miracle, as their snowmaking efforts weathered yet another visit by the “Banana Express” and resulted in a fast, fair track for the opening Eastern Cup races.
On Saturday, the racers competed in two classic races: a morning sprint and an afternoon ‘prologue’. GMVS alumnus Tim Reynolds ‘04, racing for the Craftsbury-based Green Racing Project, took both wins in an impressive effort. Placing 5th in the morning race was Middlebury’s Doug DeBold PG ‘08 with Peter Kling PG ’07 taking 7th. For the younger set, junior Devlin Shea had an impressive start to the year, taking 4th in the sprint and 5th in the prologue for the JIs. Sunday brought a 10K skate race, and Reynolds finished 6th. Dartmouth’s David Sinclair ’10 was 4th in the OJ ranks, while Devlin Shea pulled into 14th for the JIs.
In the ladies’ events on Saturday, junior Heidi Halvorsen had a great day, finishing 3rd in the JI sprint and moving up to second place in the JI prologue (11th overall in each). PG Mary-Kate Cirelli finished 9th in the OJ standings in both races. In Sunday’s 5K skate, Heidi once again took the bronze for the JIs, while Mary Kate was 10th in the deep OJ field.