Caribou’s Chamberlain sprints to first in Eastern Cup Series

Stowe, VT— Maine Winter Sports Center’s David Chamberlain (Caribou, ME) skied through six inches of fresh snow and challenging visibility to win today’s 10 kilometer freestyle event at Trapp Family Lodge.      Chamberlain added to yesterday’s sprint victory to take a commanding lead in the TD Banknorth Eastern Cup Series.          The series defending champion for women, Dartmouth’s Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT) picked right up where she left off last season and earned the win today over the 5 kilometer course. 
    Combined with her second place finish from yesterday, Caldwell has jumped out to an early series lead. 
    J2 Boys started the day with Cambridge Sports Union’s Jackson Rich (Andover, MA) dominating the field, earning a 50-second victory over his nearest competitor, Patrick Caldwell (Ford Sayre/Lyme Center, NH). Yesterday’s J2 winner Hans Halvorsen (GMVS/Darien, CT) was third.
    J2 Girls raced the same distance and were seeded with the women today.
    Stratton Mountain School skiers took the top two spot with Isabelle Pelletier (Grafton, VT) edging teammate Rachel Hall (Cumberland, ME) by just 7 seconds.  Tara Geraghty-Moats (Craftsbury) was next,  adding a third place to yesterday’s second place finish.
    The cold air and constantly falling snow were the story of the day as picturesque Trapp Family Lodge was blanketed in over six inches of white during the course of today’s event. 
    While the accumulating snow did force a fifteen-minute delay of the men’s start so that the groomers could re-pack the race course, organizers were able to keep things moving mostly according to schedule despite the weather’s challenges.
    The TD Banknorth Eastern Cup begins its fourteenth year as NENSA’s signature race series and features many of the nation’s best cross-country skiers.  
    The Trapp Touring Center has been blessed with early season snow and the snow cover has been enhanced with their expansive snowmaking system.          Today’s five and ten kilometer freestyle technique races used the center’s new John Morton designed race courses which will also be used at this February’s USSA Super Tour races.
    For more information on cross-country skiing in New England and on NENSA’s sponsors, please visit the NENSA Website.