Andover Cycling finished third overall in the league championships last Saturday at Proctor Academy.
Like the race at Exeter last week, the league championships at Proctor had a different racing format from what Andover is generally used to. Instead of biking one long route as usual, the pack of riders had to ride around the same 1.5 mile track twelve times.
“The race was incredibly dynamic; we finished third overall for the season, which I am very happy with,” said boys Captain Matt-Lloyd Thomas ’12.
Rachel Wittenberg ’13 and Alex Morrow ’12 led the Girls A division with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Wittenberg and Morrow took turns pulling the pack until three riders pulled away from Wittenberg on the final lap.
In the Boys A division race, Lloyd-Thomas clashed with riders from Deerfield Academy and Proctor. In the end, one rider from each school broke away from the pack, with the Deerfield Academy rider coming in second to the Proctor Academy rider. Surrounded by other skilled Proctor Academy riders, Lloyd-Thomas finished in what he called “a disappointing sixth”.
Riding with Lloyd-Thomas in the Boys A division, Ian Whittall ‘14, Max Block ’12 and Brandon Sneider ‘12 rode solid races in the league championships.
Andover was represented very well in the Boys B division. Sean Burkitt ‘14 rode a nice race along with Nick Swenson ’15, who was competing in his second race of the season. Swenson finished in sixth place.
“It was a short course so it was really fast but it was a good learning experience in the B division. I really enjoyed it,” said Swenson.
Overall, Andover’s penultimate meet was a nice prelude to its big rivalry race coming up against Phillips Exeter Academy on Saturday, May 26.
Next year, cycling looks to improve its league standing under the leadership of newly-elected Captains Sean Burkitt ’14 and Rachel Wittenberg ’13.
