Home Run Weekend for NYSEF XC team in Rumford, ME

Exciting weekend for NYSEF athletes, here's the play-by-play:

On Friday afternoon we hopped in our trusty R.E.O. Speedwagon and made haste on Rt. 2 bound for Rumford where we promptly shoveled down a delicious dinner of steamed edamame and bison burgers before retreating to the hotel to wax and scheme up strategies for the classic sprints. Saturday morning saw beautiful, firm manmade tracks wither and wilt into ball-bearing esque corn snow, making for a rather stressful transition from hardwax to a corn klister frenzy. J2 boys kicked things off for our crew on the 1.4km sprint loop, with Joey Izzo, Will Fieroh and Nate Capone tapping in for 19th, 24th and 26th in the qualis, respectively. Morrisonville's own Maile Sapp then proceeded to blaze to 5th in the qualis, securing her berth in the finals. Elizabeth Izzo batted herself to a PR in the Women's qualifier, coming in 28th. Chuck Bencze and Sam Cowan were the last to duke it out in the Men's 1.6km qualifier, blasting it in for 19th and 50th in the qualifiers.

Sam Cowan

coach Dave McCahill proving that even as a Nordic combined guru he can still wax classic skis

The heats saw Maile Sapp strap on her batting gloves, handily winning both the quarter and final to walk away with the win in the J2 ladies class. Hakuna matata Maile! Elizabeth Izzo held on in an ultra competitive heat to end up 24th for her first race ever past the qualifier hurdle. Awesome! Chuck Bencze was our last contestant, ripping in for 22nd overall, a fine placing in difficult conditions.

Maile Sapp

Sunday was another delicious day for ski racing, with the soggy manmade snow freezing solid to present us with an ice-rink 5km race loop which hurtled skiers out of the stadium before spitting them back out in front of the notorious “High School Hill”. Maile Sapp reigned in a 13th place effort in the 5km frenzy, while J2 boys ripped to strong finishes: Joey Izzo topping us off in 4th, Nate Capone skiing out of the boonies in the mass start to a solid 9th, and Will Fieroh skiing strong before an epic finish line faceplant, coming home in 25th. But it was again J1's Charlie Bencze, Sam Cowan and DJ Lizzo/Miss Mixalot/Elizabeth Izzo who demonstrated confidence beyond their ages, battling in star studded fields (Men's race headlined by former Olympians Kris and Justin Freeman) for personal best performances. In his first 15km race, Chuck held on despite a frenzied mass start and eventual broken pole to roll home in 17th, second junior by only .4 seconds! Sam Cowan held his own in his first race of the longer distance, coming in 67th. DJ Lizzo surprised many of the top ladies contenders, including herself, by comfortably skiing in the 3rd position nearly the entire race before eventually squeezing across the line in 7th place, 4th junior.

Will Fieroh

Elizabeth Izzo fighting in 3rd place

All in all, a strong showing by all athletes despite tough snow and competitive fields. But that's what the Eastern Cups are all about, and valuable race experience was gleaned by all. Looking forward to this weekend's home races at the NYSEF Harry Eldridge Memorial; see you on the tracks!

Charlie Bencze hammering out of the mass start

-- NYSEF Nordic Assistant Coach Dave McCahill