Hanson Hills / Cross Country Ski Shop continues lead in Brumbaugh Cup

Tue, Jan  21, 2025 - By Ernie Brumbaugh

After two races in Southeast Michigan in which Team NordicSkiRacer made up 76 points on Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop, the Brumbaugh Cup competition resumed on HHCCSS’ home course, Hanson Hills, at the Cote Dame Marie in Grayling. While snow was limited, the course was in very good shape. Low temperatures and windy conditions were the main challenge.

The HHCCSS team wasted no time getting down to business in the women’s11K freestyle race, placing three skiers in the top four finishers. Rebecca Davis led the way in 0:39:15, with Northbound Outfitters owner, Heather Compton in second, 39:42, and Mary Schlimmer-Willoughby, 40:57 fourth for a total of 7 points, 16 points ahead of second place, Cross Country Ski Headquarters. Wendy Anderson, 6th, led the Headquarters to second place with 23 points, followed by Deanna Spencer, 7th, and Linda Weeke-Kaleita, 10th. Cheryl Darnton skied in 5th overall to pace Team VASA to third place with 24 points. Sarah Newmister finished third overall and topped the Team NSR skiers in 4th place. Liz Forrester was the top Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team skier placing 9th overall. When the snow settled HHCCSS had made up 29 points on GRNST and 25 points on Team NSR.

The men skied 22K and started 2 minutes before the women. As the competitors watched, Jordan Wakeley came roaring into the finish in first overall in 1:02 leading, HHCCSS to first overall with 41 points. Drew Moore was third overall, Weston Willoughby, 7th, Michael Davis, 14th, and John Gravlin, 16th. GRNST placed all five skiers in the top 15 to place second with 51 points, led by Eric Parrott, 6th, Aaron Ditty, 8th, Denny Paull, 10th, Stephen Smigiel, 12th, and Glenn Goodman, 15th. Team Vasa placed three skiers in the top 5 and finished in third place with 54 points. Ed Roe, 2nd, Kevin Tarras, 4th, and John O’Hearn, 5th, were there pacesetters. Team NSR amassed 80 points good for fourth led by Yvon Dufour while CCSHQ finished fifth with 90 points led by Dennis Medina in 9th overall. The was undoubtedly the strongest men’s race this year in Brumbaugh Cup competition.

In the final analysis, both HHCCSS and GRNST maintained their lead over Team NSR and Team Vasa moved into fourth place ahead of CCSHQ. Next up is the Boyne Mountain Classic, a 10K race on a challenging course. The racing should be fierce!

2025 Brumbaugh Cup Team Scoring to date after the Cote Dame Marie

	Team	Forbush Time Trial	Winter Wolf Skiathlon	Frosty Freestyle	Krazy Klassic	Cote Dame Marie	Brumbaugh Cup Total
1	Hanson Hills/Cross Country Ski Shop	50	53	81	79	48	263
2	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team	64	58	71	76	87	269
3	Team NordicSkiRacer	123	101	48	36	112	308
4	Vasa Ski Club	79	109	126	124	78	438
5	Cross Country Ski Headquarters	123	117	89	89	122	418

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.