Sprinting to the finish line in the last minute of Andover Cycling’s season opener against Proctor on Wednesday, Meg Davis ’17, Leah Adelman ’17 and Jessica Wang ’18 finished second, third and sixth respectively in the Girls C race within only three seconds of each other.
The success of the newcomers on the girl’s team has given their teammates a lot of confidence for the rest of the season, especially Co-Captain Liana Margolese ’15.
“The girls team killed it. The girls are off to a great start and have so much potential to get even stronger,” she said.
Paxton Hyde ’15, Scott MacDonald ’15 and Co-Captain Nicolas Swenson ’15 all finished in the top 15 in Boys A.
Hyde displayed his leadership on the team, leading the pack up until the last two laps. When he was in the breakaway, the Exeter rider he was riding with pulled ahead and the main pack of riders caught up to him. Hyde still finished first for the Boy’s team with a time of 30:28.
Also showing a strong debut, Hayden Weatherall ’18 and Isaac Newell ’18 secured ninth and tenth in their first Boys C race, respectively.
Swenson said, “We are disappointed with our overall results, but we feel like we can definitely improve. Hyde in particular looked really strong today and will do some damage in the future races.”
The unfavorable weather conditions in early spring prevented the Andover team from riding on the roads as much as it would have liked, rendering it underprepared for its first race.
Although the 16 person team contains 10 boys and 6 girls, the team trains as one and feeds off a collective energy during practice and races. After a decent first showing, the team looks to improve in the coming days from the top down, with its returning leaders setting the example for the newcomers and demonstrating what they have learned over their years on the team.
Andover will look to rout the competition in its next meet hosted by Killington Mountain School on Wednesday.
