Team NordicSkiRacer moves to 3rd in Brumbaugh Cup after Frosty Freestyle

Wed, Jan  15, 2025 - By Ernie Brumbaugh

Brumbaugh Cup

The Michigan Cup moved South for a weekend of races at Huron Meadows Metropark near Brighton. This is Team NordicSkiRacer’s home course and the defending Brumbaugh Cup champions began their defense. It was a defense of no small proportions. After the first two races Team NSR was 121 points behind Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop (HHCCSS) and 102 points behind Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team (GRNST).

Karin Rand blistered the women’s field with a 43:29 for the 15K freestyle race. She was followed by Sarah Newmister, 2nd and Kirsten Hensley, 8th to give Team NSR a victory in the women's race with 11 points. A strong contingent from Cross Country Ski Headquarters led by Rachel Rosenbaum,4th, Wendy Anderson, 5th, and Deanna Spencer, 7th, took second with 16 points. Rebecca Davis finished third for HHCCSS and Cheryl Darnton was sixth for Team Vasa. After the women’s results Team NSR had made up 10 points on HHCCSS and 16 points on GRNST.

Glenn Goodman. GRNST, spoiled the day for Team NSR, winning the 15K race for men in 43:02, Not to be dismayed, Yvon Dufor, second, led a hungry group of Team NSR skiers followed closely by Kevin Vasquez, third, Sean Neewmister, 6th, Doug Heady, eighth, and Marco Optzx in 10th to win the men’s division with 29 points. GRNST, hot on Goodman’s tail came in second overall with 44 points on the backs of teammates Dave Heitikko, fifth, Jukka Pietila, 11th, Bob Triebold, 11th, and Blair Zordell, 12th. HHCCSS, held on to third with 64 points even though they skied with one skier short. Michael Davis led the way in 4th, with Matt Meersman, 9th, Robin Luce, 15th and John Britton 16th. Scott Reis brought the Headquarters team home in 7th place followed by Mike Temkin, Rick Neier, Devon Thielfoldt and Tom Wernette. After the snow crystals had settled, HHCCSS was still in first, 9 points ahead of GRNST. Team NSR moved up to third, 71 points behind GRNST and 80 points behind Brumbaugh Cup leader HHCCSS. It was a productive day for Team NSR, but formidable task remained. One more shot was calling them, the Krazy Classic on Sunday.

2025 Brumbaugh Cup Team Scoring to date after the Frosty Freestyle

	Team	Forbush Time Trial	Winter Wolf Skiathlon	Frosty Freestyle	Brumbaugh Cup Total
1	Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop	50	53	81	184
2	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team	64	58	71	193
3	Team NordicSkiRacer	123	101	40	264
3	Vasa Ski Club	79	109	123	311
5	Cross Country Ski Headquarters	123	117	89	329

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.