Despite having its top racer Carmen Bango ’16 sidelined with an injury, Andover Nordic skied strongly at Proctor Academy last Wednesday, January 20, with several members stepping up to fill Bango’s absence. In the girls race, Evelyn Mesler ’17 came in 33rd out of 50 racers with a time of 22:36 minutes, and in the boys race, Rex Noble ’18 placed in 21st out of 59 competitors with a time of 16:47 minutes.
At Proctor, Andover raced in a four-lap classic style race against eight other schools. The team faced Northfield Mount Hermon, Vermont Academy, Proctor, St. Paul’s, Holderness, Cardigan Mountain School, Putney and Dublin. In the girls race, Claudia Leopold ’18 and Co-Captain Claire Glover ’16 followed Mesler to finish with times of 22:45 and 23:23 minutes, respectively.
The boys also raced well, with Tevis Vitale ’16 finishing at 18:32 minutes and Isaac Newell ’18 finishing with a time of 19:03.
The conditions were particularly challenging last week due to the fluctuating temperatures leading up to the event. The school that was holding the race lost most of its snow the week before, so Andover raced at Procter on its sprint loop.
Due to the unfavorable snow conditions, the team had to modify their skis to ensure that they would slide as quickly as possible.
Cole DeMeulemeester ’18 said, “The snow was really warm, so we had to break out the klister – tree sap that we have to blow torch on and off the ski.”
With three races left before the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) championship race, Andover looks to begin training for the postseason.
Editor’s Note: This article is covering last week’s Nordic race, as the results were released on Friday, after the paper went to print.
