Vasa Ski Club rules North American Vasa Freestyle in Brumbaugh Cup
Tue, Feb 11, 2025 - By Ernie Brumbaugh
If the Frosty Festival of Races was Team NordicSkiRacer's home course, then the North American Vasa Festival of Races belonged to Team Vasa and they definitely ruled the day. Saturday was the 27K Freestyle race and Team Vasa won the men’s division by 24 points over HHCCSS, while finishing second the women’s competition by a mere 2 points to Team NSR while winning the day with 38 points to HHCCSS with 71 points. It was a cold day with several inches of new snow which was groomed quite nicely, in other words ideal classic waxing with blue glide and kick.
Team Vasa brought a bevy of really, really good skiers in the men’s race putting all five skiers in the top ten. Ed Roe won another Michigan Cup race in 1:13:06. Teammates, Brad White, 2nd, John O’Hearn, 4th, Kevin Tarras, 7th, and Milan Baic won the day for Team Vasa with 24 points. Drew Moore, 3rd, led Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop to second place with teammates, Wesley Dean, 6th, Weston Willoughby, 9th, Micheal Davis, 14th, and John Gravlin, 16th, 24 points back. Ryan Harris, 5th, brought a team of Grand Rapids skiers in third just one point behind HHCCSS. For GRNST, Eric Parrott was 8th, Denny Paull, 11th, Stephen Smigiel, 12th, and Aaron Ditty, 13th. Yvon Dufor, 17th, led Team NSR to fourth place while Patrick Keegan skied Cross Country Ski Headquarters to fifth place.
Team NSR won the day for the women thanks to three recruits from the Frosty Festival of Races. Sarah Duclos finished second, Ellie Callison, 4th and Karin Rand, 6th, for a team total of 12 points. Erica O’Hearn, Team Vasa, was the first racer across the line some 5 + minutes ahead of 2nd. Jenny White, 5th, Cheryl Darnton, 8th, gave Team Vasa second with 14 points. Mandy Paull, 3rd, and Mary Schlimmer-Willoughby, 7th, gave Team HHCCSS 23 points and third place. Wendy Anderson, 9th, Lizzie Osteen, 10th, and Deanna Spencer, 12th, gave the Headquarters team, 4th. Liz Forrester, 11th, led the GRNST team.
On the day, HHCCSS came in with a 53 point lead over second place, GRNST, and gained another 15 points. Team VASA, won the day and gained 39 points on Team NSR but remained in 4th place while the Headquarters remained in fifth.
2025 Brumbaugh Cup Team Scoring to date after the Boyne Mountain Classic
| Team | Forbush Time Trial | Winter Wolf Skiathlon | Frosty Freestyle | Krazy Klassic | Cote Dame Marie | Boyne Classic | Forbush Memorial Classic | Vasa Freestyle | Brumbaugh Cup Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop | 50 | 53 | 86 | 79 | 48 | 57 | 66 | 71 | 510 |
| 2 | Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team | 64 | 58 | 71 | 76 | 87 | 78 | 58 | 86 | 578 |
| 3 | Team NordicSkiRacer | 123 | 101 | 35 | 35 | 110 | 97 | 101 | 107 | 709 |
| 4 | Vasa Ski Club | 79 | 109 | 125 | 122 | 78 | 101 | 97 | 38 | 749 |
| 5 | Cross Country Ski Headquarters | 123 | 117 | 92 | 88 | 122 | 85 | 102 | 149 | 869 |
About the Brumbaugh Cup
The Michigan Cup Series has three team awards: The Baic Cup for best junior team, the Brumbaugh Cup for best senior team, and the Michigan Cup for the best overall team.
The Brumbaugh Cup is a team scored competition with each designated race counting each team's top 5 senior male skiers and top 3 senior female skiers. It is scored like a cross-country running event with first place receiving 1 point; down through the max of 35 male skiers (7 teams x 5 skiers) and 21 female skiers (7 teams x 3 skiers). The lowest point total wins each race and the lowest point total of all designated races wins the Brumbaugh Cup. The designated Brumbaugh races include those races where there is a single Michigan Cup points paying event.