Stafford, VT. — The Ford Sayre Ski Council welcomed 235 racers, both kids and adults, to its annual Silver Fox Trot race on February 23rd. The race, held for the second year at the Stafford Nordic Center, was a freestyle event over a beautiful and challenging course.
The girls first- and second-grade race was won by Esther Cuneo of Mansfield Nordic in 5:51, with Ford Sayre’s Sarah Glueck (6:47) and Eastern Mass’ Clara Lake (6:52) battling for the next two spots. Putney Ski Club skiers took the next three spots with Caroline Tarmy (7:10), Katerine Normandeau, and Sadie Bell (7:47) coming across the line. Craftsbury Nordic’s Alan Moody (5:37) and Cormac Leahy (5:44) lead the field in the boys race, followed by Frost Mountain’s Zachary Wilkerson (6:02) and West River’s Wyatt Teaford (6:18).
The boys third- and fourth-grade 2km race was extremely close with Putney skiers Darius Parker (8:53) and Mathias Boudreau Golfman (8:58) finishing just ahead of Lyme’s Evan Nichols (9:07) and Craftbury Nordic’s Cormac Leahy (9:08). Quincy Massey-Bierman of Mansfield Nordic won the girls race in 9:03 followed by Liza Bell (Putney, 9:13), She Brams (Eastern Mass, 9:22), Phoebe Hussey (Frost Mt., 9:37) and Lyme’s Elsa Bolinger (10:24).
As snow started to fall, the girls fifth- and sixth- grade 3km race was won by Norwich’s Ingrid Miller (12:25) with second going to Madeline Kitch (Eastern Mass, 12:42). Hanover’s Lucy Glueck (12:47) finished a very strong third and Lyme racers Casey Nichols (13:34), Greta Bolinger (13:45) and Kennedy Lange (14:12) finished in the top ten. The boys race had some fantastic times with Cooper Hartmann of Eastern Mass finishing first in 11:32 ahead of Mansfield Nordic’s Kai Richter (11:44) and West River’s Will Koch (11:55). Andy Rightmire (12:48) of Hanover was the top local finisher in sixth place with Norwich’s Daniel Bandler (13:14, 8th) and Patrick Osborn (14:22, 10th) finishing in the top ten.
Adam Glueck of Hanover surged in the final lap to win the boys seventh- and eight-grade 4km race in 13:14 ahead of Stratton Mountain’s Russell Boswell (13:33). Ben Ogden of West River (14:11, 3rd) and James Kitch of Eastern Mass (14:13, 4th) were close behind. Kristen Miller of Norwich, dominated the girls seventh- and eight-grade race winning in a time of 14:17. Mansfield Nordic’s Olivia Cuneo (15:26) and West River’s Mae Chalmers (16:14) took second and third. Three of the next four finishers were Ford Sayre racers as Alexandra Schaffner (16:31), Ann Osborn (17:08), and Sara Spencer (17:46) were joined by Eastern Mass’ Gabrielle Vandendries (17:27).
Ben Hegman of Mansfield Nordic won the inaugural men’s Citizen Race in 23:09 followed by Jack Hegman from the UVM ski team. Hanover’s Oscar Freedman (24:26, 3rd) and Lief Johnson (5th, 25:22) finished in the top five along with Ben Taska from Portland, ME (4th, 24:44). Carly Wynn of Queensbury, NY won the women’s Citizen Race race in 24:24 with Maddy Pfeifer (24:52) of Andover, NH and Haley Piske (24:57) of Steamboat Springs, CO finishing just ahead of Hanover’s Natalie Flowers (25:03, 5th) and Paige Elliot (25:04, 6th).
For more photos of the event, go to: http://losborn.smugmug.com/share/FordSayre