HENNIKER – The first of three Buddy Warner League Central Division Qualifier meets is in the books and five skiers from the Crotched Mountain Junior Race Team are in excellent position to advance to the state championships to be held in March.

Currently four Crotched Mountain racers are all in second place in their respective divisions after the slalom race held at Pats Peak on Jan. 24. The three locals sitting in second are: Ashley Humphreys of Lyndeborough (Girls J5 with four points); Anna Farrow of Amherst (Girls J4 with six points); and R.J. Humphreys of Lyndeborough (Boys J4 with 10 points).

Also in good point position is Rhiannon Allison of Mont Vernon in fourth place with nine points in the J4 race. The next meet is Feb. 7 at Crotched Mountain.

Racers compete at three qualifier races with the best two out of six runs earning points to attend the state championships. Points are awarded by their placement in an individual run (one point for first and so on). The lowest point combination ranks best. Points also determine starting position at the championships.

Crotched Mountain also has some other local skiers looking to advance. Ericka Wentz of Nashua is currently in 11th place with 21 points in the Girls J5 division. Amherst teammates Alana Barretto (23), Rhiannon King (26) and Kate Bermingham (27) are doing well in the Girls J4. In the Boys J5, Bryce Laurendeau of Bedford is in 11th place with 23 points and Hollis’ Luke Martin is in 16th place with 32 points. The Mont Vernon duo of Cameron Robertson while and Collin Titus are in eighth (23 points) and ninth (24), respectively, while Joe Dorow of Bedford in 12th (30), Lyndeborough’s Duncan Holden in 18th (41) and Wilton’s Kyle Grant-Neary in 21st in the Boys J4 division.

“This was a great slalom race for our athletes,” said J4 coach Drew Craig. “They have trained hard and the results are starting to show. The courses had some challenging sections and all the coaches were pleased with the way the athletes attacked those challenges.”

The team expects to send more racers to the state championship competition and will know the final number after the third meet.

Qualifying aside, awards were also handed out to the top 10 places for the overall competition from both runs during the day. On the medal stand for Crotched Mountain were Andrew Taylor of Amherst with an overall time of 2:12. 07 (eighth Boys J6), Ashley Humphreys with an impressive first run of 41.56 for second overall with a combined time 1:28.67 in the Girls J5 (8-10). The Girls J4 (11-12) were strong competitors with Farrow in second (1:28.08) and Allison in fourth (1:31.88). The J4 Boys also had a strong showing with R.J. Humphreys’ strong second-place finish on the second run to move himself up from eighth to third place overall (1:26.82), and Titus in eighth (1:35.54) followed closely by Robertson in ninth with a combined time of 1:36.41.

Krantz Open

The Crotched Mountain Junior Race Team competed at the Krantz Open Race on Jan. 3 at Pats Peak. The Crotched Mountain team picked up five awards in the slalom event.

In the J5 Girl’s Division (ages 8-10) Ashley Humphreys of Lyndeborough took home a third-place trophy with a combined time of 1:12.62 and Bedford’s Kaitlyn Laurendeau placed 11th.

In the Girl’s J4 race (ages 11-13) second place finish went to Amherst’s Anna Farrow with a combined time of 1:06.69 time while Rhiannon Allison of Mont Vernon was close behind her with a third-place time of 1:07.03. Amherst teammates Alana Barretto placed 18th and Rhiannon King took 21st.

The Boy’s J4 team was led by R.J. Humphreys (1:07.54) of Lyndeborough in fifth, Mont Vernon’s Cameron Robertson (1:11.43) in ninth, and Bedford’s Vincent Dorow in 18th.

In the Boy’s J5 Bryce Laurendeau of Bedford placed 18th and Luke Martin of Hollis came in 20th.

In the Girl’s J3 (13-14) Bedford racers Laura Costes came in 19th while Joe Dorow came in 13th for the Boy’s J3 division.