February 15, 2010
Putney BKL Short Course Sprints
Summary: The first ever Putney BKL Short Course Sprints were held this weekend! Check out details from this new and exciting race!
The first ever Putney Short Course Sprints were a blast for all involved. Following a radical format of breaking out of age and gender groups, over 60 skiers were on hand to flash around a half kilometer course with enough curves and hills to make it exciting and fan friendly (and the beautiful weather didn't hurt). The day started with all skiers doing one lap for qualifying times, which then were used to sort skiers into groups of 8 based on similar ski speeds. Within each group of 8, there were two heats of 4, from which the top 2 went to the A final and the bottom 2 to the B final. The racing in every group was close and exciting, and it was great to have 1 of every 4 skiers win a final.
PSC dominated the blue ribbon awards, with Toby Weed, Terrin Williams, and Isabelle Thurber each winning their first blue ribbons of their careers. Each of these 3 has shown incredible improvement in their skiing and are well deserving of these results. Koby Gordon took the premier blue ribbon in the top group, with a strong mix of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls and boys competing together.
The racing concluded with a hotly contest team relay. The final lap saw team leaders Poppet Boswell, Rob Fisher, and John Ogden going head to head as the kids on their relays went wild cheering. Poppet held off Fisher with some savvy work on the turns, but Ogden used his height and power to pass on the final straight to pull off a rewarding victory for some random group of kids. Just watching 50 kids and a few coaches ski together for the warm up laps for this mixed group relay was a sight that brought out the best in BKL.
Thanks to all for your help in making the races go so smoothly.
