January 20, 2014 (Rumford, ME) – NENSA’s EasternCup Series serves as the selection events for the annual New England Junior National Team. This Saturday’s EasternCup event also served as an unofficial opportunity for selection to the Olympic team. The Men’s 15K freestyle mass start was led by three elite athletes with Olympic aspirations, gunning for one last result that could open the door to team selection for Sochi. Only time, and the U.S. Ski Team, will tell if they pulled it off, but the level of talent and class they brought to the race was evident from the starting gun.

Kris Freeman (Maine Winter Sports Center), Sylvan Ellefson (Ski & Snowboard Club Vail), and Matt Liebsch (Central Cross Country) all added Rumford, Maine as the final destination in a long and wide-ranging racing schedule in the lead-up to the Sochi Olympics. All three have raced the familiar trails at Black Mountain of Maine before as the local Chisholm Ski Club has hosted U.S. Nationals and other premier events numerous times.

For Ellefson, the return to Black Mountain was a sort of homecoming as this was his home course while skiing for Bates College. He had high praise for the course and Chisholm Ski Club volunteers after the event, and said he welcomed the chance to come back to Black Mountain when word from his Coach, Eric Pepper, came that they should give it a shot. Ellefson finished second on the day Saturday, extending his streak of podium performances here. New Englanders, Kris Freeman and his brother Justin, who also raced this weekend, are certainly familiar faces on Black Mountain’s storied Nordic competition trails, and no strangers to the podium here either.

The EasternCup experience continues to escalate. With more great New England venues building seasoned volunteer corps and reliable snowmaking, the EasternCup Series is taking advantage of an expanding list of potential race sites across the region. As for the competition, the racing is as fast and competitive as ever. Junior athletes are preparing for the series extremely well under the tutelage of great coaching across New England. EasternCup races are seeing more elite athletes from local elite clubs, Canadian clubs, and eastern college teams in the mix and ratcheting up the racing.

With the tradition of great racing for which the NENSA EasternCup Series is known, it is no surprise that some of the nation’s best athletes would elect to jump in and race with us in New England. That, however, doesn’t make it any less exciting when they do!

This was one of the fastest men’s EasternCup fields ever assembled, with the top five starters boasting FIS points under 50 and the top 3 finishers all with FIS points under 35. Translation: these guys are really fast, not just on home snow, but also on an international level. In the end, Kris Freeman took 1st (34:19.4), earning the victory with a punishing increase in tempo that opened a small gap to the two chasers on the penultimate climb of the day. Ellefson and Liebsch closed in the final kilometers and the three put on a great show sprinting in the Black Mountain stadium. The podium was separated by just 1.2 seconds with Liebsch taking 2nd (34:20.0) and Ellefson 3rd (34.20.6). Craftsbury Green Racing Project rounded out the top five with Patrick O’Brien  (34:59.2) and Gordon Vermeer (35:00.5) in 4th and 5th.

In the Junior boys event, a 5k freestyle mass start, Daniel Streinz (12:01.8) of Maine Winter Sports Center out-sprinted Stratton Mountain School’s Russell Boswell (12:02.7) and 3rd place finisher Anders Hanson (12:04.7) of Craftsbury.  Pre-race favorite Forrest Hamilton went down with the flu, and did not finish.

The Women’s 10K event likewise showcased strong team performances from Craftsbury Green Racing Project as well as Maine Winter Sports Center and Cambridge Sports Union. The top three women separated from the pack, and then from one another as Caitlin Patterson (26:38:6) of Craftsbury Green Racing Project skied away with the win. Stratton Mountain School’s Katherine Ogden (26:53.0) turned in an impressive performance as a U18 skier for 2nd, ahead of Patterson’s Craftsbury teammate Liz Guiney in 3rd (27:07.1). Kate Brams (28:11.7) (Cambridge Sports Union) finished in 4th and Katrina Howe (28:18.7) (Maine Winter Sports Center) skied into 5th.

In the U16 girl’s race, Leah Brams of Cambridge Sports Union gapped the field by over ten seconds, winning in 13:40.3. Stratton Mountain School’s Mackenzie Rizio (13:52.8) was 2nd, and Chloe Levins (13:57.7) for Mountain Top Nordic raced into 3rd.

Katherine Ogden (15:35.5) of Stratton Mountain School ran away with the women’s 5K classic interval start race, finishing 45 seconds up on the duo of Cate (16:21.1) and Leah Brams (16:23.0) who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Brams sisters closed out an impressive weekend for themselves and their club, Cambridge Sports Union, with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th between them on the weekend.

Craftsbury Green Racing Project owned the field in Sunday’s 10K classic interval start race, sweeping the podium with Patrick O’Brien (27:09.4) in 1st, Gordon Vermeer (27:18:2) in 2nd, and Jake Barton (27:48.5) in 3rd.

Daniel Streinz of Maine Winter Sports Center completed a sweep of the Junior boys events, winning the 5K classic interval start race in 14:48.1. Mansfield Nordic’s Forrest Hamilton (15:16.2) came back from a bout of illness on Saturday, to finish 2nd on Sunday, just ahead of Stratton Mountain School’s Russell Boswell (15:22.7) in 3rd.

Complete results from the weekend can be found here.

Great images of the EasternCup will be available here.