Captain Mimi Tanski ’11 locked in a fifth-place overall finish at the Lakes Regional Championship on Wednesday to close out her senior season for Andover’s Nordic team. Max Block ’12 also finished fifth overall in the season and placed fifth at the championship. Propelled by Block’s finish, the boy’s team captured second place at Vermont Academy, ending the season second overall in the league, a significant improvement from last year’s fourth place finish. Sean Burkitt ’14 had has his best race of the season, finishing in 19th place. “I placed under 20, which was my goal this season. This race was more competitive for me. I was more prepared mentally because I really wanted to do well.” Burkitt reflected. The Lakes Regional Championship race was structured as a duathlon race, meaning half the race was classic-style and the other half was skate-style skiing. Each half was a lap around a hilly course, and the unusually warm temperature added to the challenge of the race. Piper Curtis ’13 said, “The course today was fast because it was a bit icy. Also, more than half of the course was uphill, all of which was at the beginning of both the classic and skate parts, so we knew that we could push hard up the hill since we had a long downhill afterwards.” Despite the tough conditions, Andover excelled, taking two top ten finishes on the boys side, with Cal Brooks ‘11 finishing eighth. “Today was definitely a happy yet nostalgic day for the Seniors. I know I’ll miss the team immensely, and I’m sure that I speak for the other Seniors as well. It’s been a great experience to be a member of this team and while I’m going to miss it so much, I’m just so glad I could be a part of this team on the rise and that I could go through all of this with the people on the team who have grown to be practically my family,” said Brooks.
