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Maine Crowned 2008 TD Banknorth Eastern High School Champions

March 22, 2008 on 9:45 pm | In Sports |

Published: Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:00 AM MDT

STOWE, VT (Trapp Family Lodge) - In some of the best and tightest competition in many years at the TD Banknorth Eastern High School Championships, 212 of many of New England and New Yorks top high school skiers battled it out over Trapp Family Lodges perfectly groomed and extremely challenging trails.

These Are the Type of Conditions You Dream of for March Racing. 35 degres, perfect snow, sun!

Friday Afternoon 5K Freestyle

Lia Van Dyke and Chris Stock win Opening Races at TD Banknorth Eastern High School Championships

The 2008 TD Banknorth Eastern High School Championships Kicked off today under bluebird skies and excellent course conditions. Boys and Girls raced a tough 5k freestyle course that wound through Trapp's scenic trails.

Women's top three were the hometown's Lia Van Dyke from Stowe, VT who won in 17:50. Gilford, New Hampshire's Jenia Badamshina grabbed second in 17:51. Shannon Mulshine, New York's number one ranked athlete finished third in 18:05 .

It was Massachusetts earning in the individual race victory for men with Chris Stock taking the win in 15:05, followed by Vermont's Peter Hegman and Mike Gibson.

Saturday Morning Classic Sprint
Olga Golovkina and John Dixon Grab Sprint Victories

The 1K classic sprint started off under very tricky waxing conditions. Just hours before the start a coating of fresh new snow fell at freezing point with rising temperatures.

The Sprint Start

Coaches were scrambling to test everything from klister, klister/wax combinations to hairies. Conditions varied on the rolling 1K course that challenged both wax coaches the skiers alike.

Massachusetts' Olga Golovkina grabbed a huge 7-second victory in the girl's sprint, followed by Maine's Erin Hatton and Vermont's Cam McDermott.

Maine's Page McKinley Sprinting

John Dixon (VT) also earned a huge victory, matching the 7-second margin Golovkina earned in the girl's race. He was followed New Hampshire's Will Anderson and Vermont teammate Mike Gibson.

Maine's Justin Fereshetian Knows that Every Tenth of a Second Counts in Sprinting

Saturday Afternoon Relay

Massachusetts Surprises With Victory in Mixed Technique, Mixed Gender Relay

The venue allowed incredible viewing of much of the race action with down-to-the-wire action. The girls scrambled with a classical leg, tagging to boys racing another classic leg, then tagging to girls freestyle with boys anchoring a last freestyle leg. The skiers blasted through the first 3k classic leg with Olga Golovkina (MA) in the lead over Maine, NH, and VT.

The boys flew through the first lap with Corey Hill (NH) turning the fastest leg and covering an 18 second gap to take the lead for New Hampshire. They held onto the lead going into the third leg, but final leg skier Nick Fogel from Massachusetts flew by to regain the lead by 12 seconds. The relay finished with Massachusetts wining followed by New Hampshire and Maine. Maine had four teams in the top-10, followed by New Hampshire with three, Vermont with two and Massachusetts with one.

Massachusetts Shocks! Wins Relay! Nick Fogel Brings it Home

Sunday Morning 7.5K Classic Mass Start

Mainers Strong, Complete Weekend Victory

The 7.5K classic race had more consistent course and waxing conditions, but there was still an element of panic in the team wax tents to hit that right combination of kick and glide. Just hours before the start, again a coating of fresh new snow fell at freezing point, and with teams of 24 boys and 24 girls, waxing is never easy!

In the boys race the field was packed together on the first hills, with the group snaking around screaming downhills in a manner that would have awed NASCAR fans. Chris Stock (MA) gapped the field on the last hill and won by over 10 seconds over the second finisher Adam Fissette(ME) who was followed by fellow Mainer Corey Park in third.

Boys Classic Mass Start

Boys Mass Start Classic - first downhill

The boy's race competition was very tight with the top 15 skiers packed into less than one minute.

The girls race was filled with excitement right from the start with the pack lead changing throughout the course between skiers from each state.

Girls Classic Mass Start

On the last climb on the tough Trapp's courses, Olga Golovkina (MA) surged to the finish for the win in 28:11, followed by Maine's Emily Atwood in 28:21, and Vermont's Caroline Carpenter a close third in 28:28.

Weekend Summary

Maine Wins Team Title; Massachusetts Sweeps Relay and Individual Honors with Golovkina and Stock

Massachusetts' winning relay team. From left to right Nick Fogel, Nadja Kern, Olga Golovkina and Chris Stock

Golovkina and Stock's individual titles speak volumes for the great work being done right now with both the Eastern Mass BKL program, the CSU club program, and their high school coaches. Congratulations to those individuals and their dedicated coaches!

Chris Stock won both the 5 km skate and the 7.5 km classic on his way to the overall title (Photo courtesy of Jaime Doucett)

Olga Golovkina climbs the final hill on her way to winning the 7.5 km classic mass start. Golovkina also won the 1 km classic sprint on her way to the overall crown (Photo courtesy of Jaime Doucett)

Maine's depth was phenomenal and included a mix of strong athletes from the northern part of the state (Maine Winter Sports Center), central Maine's high school programs especially at Leavitt and Mt. Blue, and southern Maine's Cape Nordic and Maine Coast Jr Team. It seems that Maine may have regained the depth that allowed them to dominate the Eastern High Schools and J2s for a few years before the recent drought.

New Hampshire, for some time, had dipped to some very low team totals at these championships. It was nice to see them fighting to almost earn second place as a team, earning some individual podiums, and working amazingly well as a team of coaches, wax techs, and athletes. With strong clubs at Gunstock, Ford Sayre, Mount Washington and others, look for continued improvement from New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Train

Let's not forget about the host state of Vermont. They were most effected by athlete absence for the Junior Nationals in Anchorage, Alaska and still earned numerous individual podiums and finished second as a team.

And thanks to New York for sending a crew over for the BKL Festival, J2 Championships, and this event. We hope to see full teams next year so that this event can return to its original 5-state field of the late 80's and early 90's.

There are Signs of Great Things to Come for NH and MA, but Vermont and Maine Remain the Teams to Beat

Final TD Banknorth Eastern High School Championships Results and Standings

Girls Free 5K - Boys Free 5K

Girls Sprint - Boys Sprint

Mixed Relay

Boys Classic 7.5 km - Girls Classic 7.5 km

3 Event Individual Standings

Team Score

Source: NENSA

(Unless otherwise noted photos by flyingpointroad.com)

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