EAST MONTPELIER — The Middlebury Union High School boys’ Nordic ski team opened its season last week with wins at U-32 and Woodstock, while the Tiger girls posted some strong individual results.
The Tiger boys edged host U-32 on Saturday, 40-42, in a 13-team freestyle meet featuring some Division I competition. Champlain Valley (46) took third, and Mount Mansfield (69) was fourth. The MUHS girls were 11th at 144 points in an event won easily by U-32 with 24 points.
On Thursday, Jan. 7, the Tiger boys took four of the top five places and coasted to a win in a smaller freestyle meet at Woodstock, with Sam Hodges and Nick Wilkerson finishing one-two just a second apart. In the girls’ race, Tiger Amelia Ingersoll cracked the top 10 in seventh, as did Mount Abraham independent Morgan Pratt in eighth.
U-32 MEET
In East Montpelier, Hodges came in second (14:50.99) behind winner Greg Burt of Mount Mansfield (14:06.71).
Also scoring for the Tiger boys in their two-point win over the host Raiders were Wilkerson (fifth in 15:12.32), Thomas Hussey (14th in 15:49.26) and Cade Christner (16:21.40).
Ingersoll was the top Tiger girl, taking 20th in 20:02.67, followed by Isabel Rosenberg (34th in 20:54.67), Katherine Koehler (36th in 21:13.48) and Kate Oster (54th in 22:48.81).
Pratt came in just outside the top 20 in 23rd (20:04.03).
WOODSTOCK
The Tigers dominated at Woodstock. Behind Hodges (13:20) and Wilkerson (13:21), Hussey took third (13:45) and Christner finished fifth (14:16) as the Tigers were a point away from a perfect score.
The Tiger girls scored 59 points. Exact team standings were unavailable, but they apparently finished behind Woodstock, Rutland, Brattleboro and Burr & Burton.
Ingersoll finished in 17:01 in taking seventh, and Pratt was right behind (17:05) in eighth.
For the Tigers, Koehler took 12th (17:47), Oster finished 19th (19:44), and Signi Livingstone-Peters was 21st (21:04).
Two Otter Valley girls also competed in Woodstock. Sophie Wood was 34th (21:47), and Emma Cijka finished 36th (21:52). 

MIDDLEBURY NORDIC SKIERS Amelia Ingersoll helped her team to a strong finish at U-32 Saturday.
Courtesy photo/Jill Madden