Eastern High School Championships took place March 15-17 at Holderness School in New Hampshire. The event takes the top high school skiers from five states – NH, VT, ME, MA and NY – including up to 24 girls and 24 boys for each state team. Ford Sayre athletes represented both VT and NH: Vermont skiers Quinn Uva, Izzy Cellini and Joey Sluka; and New Hampshire skiers Ollie Hanna, Millie Larrick, Noah Branchflower, and Isaac Novosad. Of note, Ford Sayre BKL alums Heidi Davis, Nicholas Van Citters and Wyethe Murray also raced for NH.
Friday’s 5K freestyle took place after a day of rain, leading to unpredictable snow. Ford Sayre skiers persevered, with Ollie taking 2nd in the race. Millie placed 32nd and Izzy 34th. The boys raced next, with Quinn taking 3rd and Noah 9th. Joey finished close behind at 12th and Isaac 29th.
The sun came out on Saturday, and with temperatures in the 40’s, skiers pushed (and especially double-poled) through slow snow during a 7.5K classic race. For the girls, Ollie stayed ahead of the pack and placed 3rd. Izzy and Millie finished 64th and 68th, respectively. When the boys took their turn, Quinn had a huge race and finished first! Joey stayed in the top 10 as the 8th finisher, and Noah and Isaac both raced fast and finished 20th and 27th, respectively.
The “fun” sprint later on Saturday saw big finishes from Ford Sayre athletes: Ollie first in girls and Quinn 10th and Isaac 11th in boys. Millie finished 27th, Izzy 37th, Joey 23rd and Noah 34th.
Sunday’s relay proved exciting with Ollie’s strong first leg giving her NH2 team the early lead. They ended the day in second place, only behind NH1 team. Quinn Uva’s VT1 team placed 6th.
What did this all add up to? A WIN for NH! Team New Hampshire placed first in the overall competition (the last time this happened was in 1995!!), with Vermont following second. And in individual results, Ollie finished first among all female athletes! A huge win for this freshman! And speaking of huge wins, Quinn placed 2nd overall, and the rest of the FS boys finished in the top 20: Joey 13th, Noah 17th and Isaac 18th. Well done, Teams NH and VT, and well done Ford Sayre athletes! Such an awesome way to end the season.
That’s a wrap on the 23/24 season!