GRP sweep the podium at 2024 Rodrigues Sprints
[Visiting biathlete Jordan Thiesen reporting for Craftsbury.]
The Rodrigues Sprints, hosted by The Craftsbury Outdoor Center, is a season opener race for most athletes heading into winter 2024/2025. The race serves great importance as a re-introduction into a new season of competitions. The competitors today were blessed with phenomenal conditions due to fresh snow coupled with the tremendous efforts put forth by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center trail grooming staff.
In the men’s race, it was a great day to be a GRP skier as the Sprigs swept the podium! “We are using this first race as preparation,” Coach Pepa Miloucheva explained in what would become a familiar refrain from the coaches on site. “It was good timing to do a bit of intensity before we go for the Eastern Cup.” Coach Miloucheva seemed confident about the season to come, especially since she was able to witness one of her athletes, John Schwinghamer take the ‘W’.
When asked about his thoughts on his winning performance, John thoughtfully remarked, “It was fun! That was my first ski race win since high school.” Mr. Schwinghamer and his coach Pepa were dynamic with his racing strategy as he progressed through the heats. Tailoring to his strengths and recognizing areas for improvement assisted in John’s success today.
Braden Becker, just fractions of a second behind Schwinghamer, took a tight 2nd place. It was a sight to behold: a podium pack of three powerful Sprigs barreling down the straightaway to the finish line. Becker exclaimed “It was pretty cool! Especially at the finish to look around and see that it was just the three of us!” The trio drew on the combination of enthusiastic spectators, a good race course, and a home trail advantage - a trail in which Becker and teammates have skied hundreds, arguably thousands of times. When asked about that potent combination, Becker declared it “Definitely Craftsbury Magic!”
In 3rd place was Joe Lynch, also just fractions of a second away from both Braden and John. After some time to reflect, Lynch stated that what he’d be taking away from the day was that “it was a really good day for the process. Testing skis again, working on your routine, your fueling, your nutrition, resting between heats, doing a really good prep.”
Women’s Podium: Helland, Massey-Bierman and Kilburn (L-R). Photo Miloucheva.
On the women’s side of the competition, Quincy Massey-Bierman took home the gold for herself and Middlebury. Massey-Bierman made it to her spot on the podium the hard way. Last fall she suffered a PCL tear which made it difficult even to walk during the first stages of the injury. Not to mention that she was restricted in her range of motion on her affected leg for months. “But they couldn’t keep me down. I’m back!” exclaimed Massey-Bierman with confidence. She later went on to emphasize how grateful she was to be able to be racing at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center and how incredible the staff have been in supporting her and putting together phenomenal races.
Skiing for the University of Vermont and finishing strong with 2nd place was Kristen Maltun Helland. Originally from Norway, Helland noted that there wasn’t too much of a difference between skiing back in her homeland and the US. “I would say the main difference is the cheering. There’s a lot more people cheering! There are more people in the crowd at home, but it’s more quiet at the stadium in Norway.” Overall Helland seemed satisfied with her performance in her first “proper” FIS race of the season.
Also with skiing for the University of Vermont was Greta Kilburn, with a 3rd place finish. Kilburn doesn’t typically see herself as being particularly strong at sprinting in comparison to her ability to perform in longer races. Coming from a cycling background Kilburn stated “Bike races are usually longer, I’m kinda used to that!” She was quick to add “I still enjoy a good sprint!” Her performance today certainly showed her competition that.
Coach Patrick Weaver of UVM echoed his coaching colleagues about the importance of the races in his team’s preparation for the season: “It’s an opportunity to put a race bib on and go hard and just see where you’re at.”
Photos by Josh Hummel unless credited otherwise – expect more photos to be posted to galleries as they get processed.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s races!
