McNamee, Rochester compete
More than 20 Maine Winter Sports Center athletes from throughout Aroostook County took part in the opening NENSA Eastern Cup races in Jericho and Craftsbury, Vt. Dec. 18 and 19.
The weekend served as the first measuring stick for most New England athletes, and was the final opportunity for high level competition in the lead up to the U.S. National Cross-Country Skiing Championships slated for Jan. 2-8 in Rumford.
In the Dec. 18 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint, MWSC was paced by Hilary McNamee of Fort Fairfield. McNamee qualified third in the field of over 100 women and used strong tactics to race all the way to the final round, eventually placing fourth.
Presque Isle High School sophomore Jon Rochester was 14th in the boys J2 competition.
The mass start classic races on Dec. 19 gave the distance racers their shot. McNamee again paced the MWSC women, moving up from her 30th position seed to earn 19th place in a particularly strong field.
