DANBURY – The second of three qualifiers for the central division in the Buddy Werner League (BWL) has local ski racers in the hunt for top spots in the division and hoping to qualify for the New Hampshire State Championships to be held March 12-13 at Attitash.

Ragged Mountain hosted the second of three qualifier meets for racers ages 9-12 on Feb. 20. Despite racing under some harsh conditions with fierce wind and extreme cold temperatures, the local racers from the Crotched Mountain Junior Race Team had competitive runs to take home 14 awards, with many other racers in contention to qualify for the State Championships.

The Girl’s J5 team, ages 9 and 10, had four racers finish in the top 10, led by Ashley Humphreys of Lyndeborough, who skied two strong and clean runs to placed third on the long giant slalom course with a combined time of 2:32.34. Bedford trio Kaitlyn Laurendeau had two good runs to earn fifth with a time of 2:37.96 and was followed closely by Laura Caron in sixth and Whitney Fitzgerald in 12 and all in contention to advance to the state championships. Katie Taylor of Amherst placed 16. Hollis natives Jocelyn Lysik and Mary Martin placed 22 and 25.

“They all did well, and it proved to me good skiers are always in the mix for placing well at a race,” said J5 Head Coach Ray Humphreys.

A one-two punch by the J4 Girls, ages 11 and 12, had Rhiannon Allison of Mont Vernon in first place after two aggressive runs with a combined time of 2:20.04 and Amherst’s Anna Farrow came in a close second with a time of 2:20.70. Both girls have earned two first-place runs at the qualifiers, securing trips to the championships and a battle for first place in the central division at the next qualifier. Alana Barretto of Amherst placed 6 with a time of 2:25.49. Erika Wentz of Nashua placed 20, Amherst 12-year-olds Kate Bermingham and Rhiannon King placed 25 and 27, while Bedford’s Samantha Smith placed 38 in a steep field of talented racers.

The local J5 Boys who got in the starting gate were Brandon Bernsten from Bedford, who finished 13, and Jack Ede of Amherst, who finished in 14. Milford’s Ethan Tronkowski placed 23 and Henry Howe of Amherst was going for it with an aggressive run but fell on the steeps and was not able to finish his run.

Leading the local J4 Boys were Bedford’s Vincent Dorow, who had clean runs to place 11, with a combined time of 2:25.36, RJ Humphreys of Lyndeborough placed 14 with a combined time of 2:26.26, Bryce Laurendeau of Bedford placed 18, Amherst’s Silas Howe placed 20 and Jacob Lysik of Hollis came in 26, while Luke Martin of Hollis was disqualified on his second run when his ski came off on the steeps.

The J6 racers, ages 8 and younger, are not age eligible to advance to the championships, but they all get out there and have fun in their race while getting some experience on the race course. Crotched Mountain’s youngest racers were Amherst duo Julia Tilton, who placed 17 in the girl’s race, and Andrew Taylor, who placed 13 in the boy’s race.

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