Sports

High Hopes For Cycling After Opener

En route to a first place finish amongst girls from seven other schools, Andover Cycling Co-Captain Zoe Chazen ’14 finished faster than Gould Academy archrival Melissa Seib ’15 for the first time last Wednesday.

“It was very exciting to place first in the time trial. [Beating Seib] was very exciting for me. It was a great first time trial,” said Chazen, who was the only girl racer for Andover and finished with a time of 24:09.

In Andover Cycling’s first race, a result of a previous cancellation due to icy roads, the team faced off against Kimball Union Academy (KUA), Proctor, Holderness, Gould, Exeter and Profile in a 4.54 mile race with an average slope of 5.7 percent hosted at the Killington Mountain School.

Ian Whittall ’14 and Co-Captain Sean Burkitt ’14 both placed in the top ten. Whittall, who took second place in the NEPSTA Division I Cross Country Championships last fall, finished with a time of 20:31, seventh place in the Boys A group.

Burkitt followed closely behind in eighth place at 21:05.

“[Killington] took the top four spots, but they are not in our league, so it doesn’t matter as much as the Proctor and Profile racers who finished ahead of us. Ian and I both know that those two racers are better at climbing, so once we get to the actual races we know we can beat them in the sprints on the flat,” said Burkitt. “I am really proud of how the whole team raced.”

Logan Blaine ’14 and Nicolas Swenson ’15 claimed the 17th and 19th spots, respectively.

“The course was really steep and I struggled to keep my cadence as high as I would have liked. It was my first ever Class A race so I was pretty nervous coming into it. I feel like I can definitely improve, and I hope to help Ian and Sean win races this year,” said Swenson.

In the Boys B group, Paxton Hyde ’15 finished in fourth with a time of 22:11. He was the only Andover racer to finish in the top ten in the B group.

Andover’s next race is this Saturday at Exeter.