December 20, 2009 (Presque Isle, ME) – Blue skies and cold temperatures greeted over two-hundred of the region’s fastest cross-country skiers as they arrived at the Nordic Heritage Center this morning. Today marked the first event of the 2009-2010 TD Bank Eastern Cup Series, the premiere cross-country ski racing series in New England.

The Nordic Heritage Center is host for the 2010 U.S. Junior Olympic Championships in March. This TD Bank Eastern Cup weekend provides an opportunity for athletes with dreams of making that team preview the venue and race courses.

2009 TD Bank Eastern Cup Champion and World Junior Championship team member Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT), a student-athlete at Dartmouth College, dominated the morning’s qualifier, finished second in her first round heat, then skied away from the field in the final round for victory. Second place in both qualifying and in the finals was her Dartmouth teammate Megan Killigrew (Putney, VT), another athlete with a long history of great sprinting results at the national level. Another Vermonter, Tara Geraghty-Moats (Fairlee, VT) from the Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club rounded out the podium, moving up to third place in the final after finishing the morning’s qualifier in sixth.

The men were led from start to finish by the long-gliding style of Stratton Mountain School’s Skyler Davis from Jericho, Vermont. After winning the qualifier by a large margin, he won each round of the heats including a dominating performance in the final. Putney, Vermont’s Kevin Cutts, home for holiday break from Northern Michigan University was second with UNH skier Dylan Mcguffin (Northfield, NH) grabbing the final spot on the podium.

Heather Mooney (Stratton Mountain School / Peru, VT), Corey Stock (Cambridge Sports Union / Lincoln, MA), and Brooke Mooney (Stratton Mountain School / Peru, VT) were the top three in the J2 Girls race. Jack Hegman (Mansfield Nordic / Huntington ,VT), Devlin Shea (GMVS / Waitsfield, VT), and Eli Hoenig (Cambridge Sports Union / Sudbury, MA) stood on the podium for the J2 Boys event.

The TD Bank Eastern Cup Series continues on Sunday at the Nordic Heritage Center with 5 and 10 kilometer classic mass start races, once again on the 2010 National Junior Olympic courses.

Full results here.