Arielle Filiberti ’07 skated flawlessly to the finish line of the 5k skate race at NEPSAC Interscholastic Competition last Wednesday. The race was held in Bearnotch, NH, and the Andover Nordic team put on a fantastic show, finishing third overall for girls and ninth overall for boys. It was a long day for the team, who left campus before 6 AM to travel North to Bearnotch. By the end of the day, each athlete had skied a total of 20 kilometers, including a warm-up, a 5k skate race, a 12.4k relay race, and a cool-down. The team illustrated its stamina, showing great improvement from last year. A total of nine teams participated, including Andover, Vermont Academy, Holderness, Kimball Union, Putney, Proctor, SPS, Gould, and Hyde. The skate race featured a hilly 5k course. Good snow conditions as well as weather put the team in high spirits as they began the race. Andover took third in the girl’s skate race, behind SPS and Holderness. Out of about 40 girls, Filiberti finished fourth overall, with an awesome time of 15:17. Co-Captain Jim Elder ’07 said, “It was a narrow course, with lots of hills and it was hard to pass [other skiers]…still, the girls were just amazing.” Filiberti showed her skilled fitness and stamina in the most important race of the season, leading the team and improving from her 11th place finish last year at Interschols. Ahead of Filiberti saw Stephanie Crocker of SPS winning the race with a time of 14:16, followed by Phoebe Erdman at 14:20, and Anya Bean, both of Holderness at 14:57. Following Filiberti, Morgan Broccoli ’07 skated furiously in, finishing 11th overall at 16:28. Roxy Pierson ’07 finished in 15th place at 16:59. Right on her tail, Sarah Dewey ’07 skated in at 17:28. In her first Nordic Interschols at Andover, Berol Dewdney ’09 put on a great show, finishing 19th with a time of 17:39. Co-Captain Elder led the boys team with his 35th place finish in the boys skate race, skiing in at an awesome 15:45. Following him was Kit Halvorsen ’08 in 38th place at 16:18. Elder said, “All four of us were within a minute and a half of each other – that never happens!” In his first year skiing for the team, Dave Holliday ’08 left all he had on the course, finishing in 40th at 16:38. Newcomer Walker Washburn ’08 rounded out the PA squad in 45th place at 17:18. In the skate relay, teams of four athletes skated 3.1k each, totaling 12.4k. The girls A team of Dewdney, Pierson, Broccoli, and Filiberti finished third with a total time of 33:29, following SPS at 31:02 and Holderness at 31:48. Said Filiberti of the team’s success, “We did what we expected to do. We were consistent with our results this season. We’ve made a huge improvement for last year, [taking] third by only a minute and half compared to last year’s five minutes. Next year we’re hoping to move into second place.” The girls B team of Abby King ’07, Dewey, Betina Evancha ’07, and Co-Captain Anna Ho ’06 came in seventh place overall. Co-Captain Ho said, in the last race of her Andover Nordic career, “It was a great way to end the season. Both the conditions and the track were ideal, and the girls team saw a huge improvement.” In the boys relay, Andover’s team of Halvorsen, Holliday, Washburn, and Co-Captain Elder placed ninth out of 11 teams, leaving Proctor and Hyde in the dust. Halvorsen, who started the relay off for Andover, said of the intense sprint, “It was tough to start off the relay [for the team]. The mass of skiers made for a chaotic start with a lot of double poling and mayhem. It was difficult to break out of the pack and that slowed me down quite a bit.”
