RIPTON — Two Frost Mountain Nordic Club skiers have been named to the 2014 New England Junior National Team’s under-16 group, Cornwall’s Sophie Hodges and Middlebury’s Nick Wilkerson. They were named after the last Eastern Cup competitions, held this past weekend in New Hampshire.
The top 20 racers in the Eastern Cup series qualified, and according to Frost Mountain coach Cam MacKugler, who will also coach the New England Junior National Squad, Hodges finished fifth overall while Wilkerson, who has a year of eligibility remaining, was 19th.
Frost Mountain alumni Alia Johnson and Mac Groves narrowly missed qualification for older teams, MacKugler said.
This past Saturday at the Waterville Valley, N.H., ski area, Hodges took fifth in a 5-kilometer skate race. On Sunday at the Holderness School in Holderness, N.H., Hodges took eighth in a 5K classic race, while Wilkerson was 12th.
MacKugler said the New England team has won the national competition, set for March at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, four out of the past five years, and in 2013 the region’s U-16 girls’ team swept the podium places.