New England Masters racing took on an international flavor this weekend as the Canadians came to town. Maxine Masse traveled with a group of six  competitors from Quebec and he won everything in sight this weekend, Feb 2-4. Brian Irwin (M3) was shutout of a speed win by only 0.02. One of the closest races this season, Irwin held off Jerome Guerard (M3),Tip Kimball (M5) and Jim Nash (M5) as the top five men were all within 0.83.  

Sally White (W6) made a rare appearance on the Sise Cup circuit and was in awe of Lisa Densmore’s  run. “I wish I could’ve seen that run, it was just amazing -- over THREE SECONDS, that‘s unbelievable!”  Nadine Price (W6), Margaret Vaughn (W5)  and Gay Folland (W7) rounded out the top five.

 The first speed event of the season, set snug in the middle, comforted the technical skiers, and for the most part still satisfied the speed skiers. Peter Cornish and the Okemo crew provided a well run, safe event which left racers craving more speed.

 A talent packed field showed up for the Sunapee GS on Saturday. Jessie McAleer (W3) took a “hit” near the top of the course, tweaking her knee. Luckily, she was able to walk (albeit gingerly) away from the hill, and hopefully will be back soon to defend her title. Kerry Brennan (W2) re-emerged from several weeks off with confidence. She closed the gap on the second run, but was unable to catch Carolyn Beckedorff (W3). Brennan quipped that she was fresh off the J IV-V circuit as a forerunner. “I crushed those little kids!” Edging Brennan in the first run was Abbi Lefebvre (pronounced “Le Fave”). Tracy Beckerman (W3) and Lisa Densmore (W5) held on to top five finishes.

 Matt Aeschliman (M2) won the first run, but followed with an uncharacteristically safe second run to finish behind Masse. Steve Ouellette (M2)  and Tip Kimball (M5) exchanged runs to finish third and fourth, and Guerard followed in fifth. Bob Hill (M5) returned to place pressure on the field with the second fastest second run, but had too much time to make up from the first run. His first appearance this season, Hill is sacrificing his own racing for his kids, “two kids racing, two cars, two different directions every weekend.” 

 Sunday, Gunstock: Completing her second win of the weekend, Beckedorff won the slalom and the combined, handing her 300 points towards the overall. Lefebvre eked out a 0.23 lead over Kim Wolff in the first run, but Wolff returned the favor and held onto 80 overall points. Ever-so-consistent Vaughn hung onto fourth followed by Meg Nutter (W6).

 Masse’s weekend would not be whole without completing his hat trick at Gunstock on Super Bowl Sunday, also giving him the combined win for a 400 point weekend. Max won the first slalom run, starting dead last. Dave Wolff (M4) won the second run, but settled for second, 0.24 shy of overtaking Masse. Mark Budreski (M3) and Aeschliman  tied for third, followed by ex-Clarkson and Gunstock local Ben Green (M1). Also making it into the Super Seed was Ouellete, Mark George (M6), Kimball, Scott Berube (M4) and Rick Cesati (M2).

 In the first Super Seed this year, nothing could be taken for granted as the top ten racers jockeyed for position, racing not in age categories, but racing together under similar conditions. Ouellete, with the third fastest time of the run, charged like a bull down the course. Mark George said in amazement after his run (following Ouellete), there was nothing similar about the course: “Oulette didn’t leave anything standing. He destroyed the course! I had to look for remnants - dye marks, tracks, then a stub of a gate here and there! I even had to dodge a gate laying in the track - it was still moving!”  Ouelette snickered  in the background. Good, friendly competition is what Masters is all about.

Injured this season, Stacy Weston visited and provided excellent photography at Gunstock. Links to the photos will be on the website along with complete results at  www.nemasters.org .

Finally, a warm welcome to all the new faces on the start lists. Keep coming back and bring your friends. This weekend, New England Masters head to Pico and Okemo for a GS weekend.

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