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| Contributed photo COUNTY COMPETITORS — Competing for Team Maine at the J2 Nordic Ski Championships March 8-10 in New Hampshire were, from left, Brendan Cyr of Caribou, Lance McKenney of Fort Fairfield, Kamran Husain of Fort Kent and Daniel Streinz of Hersey. |
Holderness School in New Hampshire hosted the 2013 TD Bank J2 Championships March 8-10. Despite warm temperatures, the courses were well maintained and everyone enjoyed the sunny weekend. Every year, this race brings together 225 of the best Junior 2 or J2 (14 and 15 year old) Nordic skiers in the Northeast. This year’s participating teams included Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, with guest teams from the Great Lakes and CXC Idaho.
Twenty boys and 20 girls from each state competed in four races over three days, and out of the 20 boys from Maine, seven were from Aroostook County.
Day one kicked off with the five-kilometer skate race. Skiers started in waves with one skier from each state heading out on the course, skiing two laps in the woods and emerging to finish in the stadium. The top four skiers from Maine were from Aroostook County. Kamran Husain of Fort Kent won by seven seconds, Daniel Streinz of Hersey was in fourth, Lance McKenney of Fort Fairfield took fifth place and Brendan Cyr of Caribou was eighth.
Day two began with the 5K classic race. The course was the same as the skate race, and held up even with the sun shining on it. Despite tricky conditions, the Maine Team found the perfect kick wax and had another day of great results. Streinz won with a time of 14:27. McKenney was a close second in 14:27.2. Husain was the third skier from Maine and took fifth overall with a time of 14:51.
Other local skiers were Cyr placing 14th and Caleb Willett of Caribou placed 53rd.
In the girls’ race, Anna Soderberg of Caribou was 44th.
The exciting one-kilometer skate sprint race was on Saturday afternoon with a wave start. The course started in the stadium and quickly funneled skiers into the woods climbing upwards, before returning to the finish again in the stadium. Husain skiied away from his wave to win, with teammates McKenney in third and Streinz fourth.
Soderberg skiied to 36th place.
That evening, the overall point winners from the three individual races were announced. Out of 96 skiers, the top overall winners were from Aroostook County. Husain won overall, Strienz took second and McKenney placed third.
Sunday was the third and final day and also the most anticipated event — the mixed gender, mixed technique relay. Teams of four athletes skied two classic legs and two skate legs, with each leg alternating gender.
The first Maine team was made up of Daniel Strienz, Ellie Teare, Kamran Husain and Lily Koffman, the second Maine team was Brendan Cyr, Caitlin Teare, Lance McKenney and KaelynWoods. There was a heroic race to the finish between Maine’s first team and Vermont’s first team, with Vermont winning by an inch, putting Maine’s first team in second. The state’s second team place sixth overall.
In team points, Maine came in second overall, with Vermont taking the win. In all, it was a great weekend of skiing in New England with talented, young and ambitious skiers taking part.
