Co-Captain Neil Thorley ’19 will help the team prepare for its first competitive race on Wednesday.
Andover competed against Proctor Academy in its first race of the year on Wednesday. Despite the fact that the race was not scored and will not count towards the team’s record, the race provided the team with the opportunity to practice on snow for the first time this year and prepare for the season ahead. Andover will have its first official race next week against Rivers and Belmont Hill.
In an email to The Phillipian, Posie Millett ’20 wrote, “I think the team did really well today—there were very high spirits and all of the new skiers did exceptionally well jumping into their first day on skis.”
According to Gwen Robinson ’20, the team highly anticipated the opportunity to race on snow for the first time this season.
“It was my first time skiing on snow since last winter, and the very first time on snow for some of the new members of the team, but everyone was really excited to ski, and did a great job of getting back into the season,” wrote Robinson in an email to The Phillipian.
Andover’s performance on Wednesday was an opportunity to prepare for the season ahead and work towards a successful season.
At Proctor, the returning members of the team participated in a two person relay circuit. According to Co-Captain Aki Charland ’19, skiers, including himself, took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere at the relay and wore hats and costumes.
Going into the race, Charland kept simple goals in mind with the hopes of doing well.
In an email to The Phillipian, Charland wrote, “Go fast. Ski well. Don’t fall.”
Despite only having the opportunity to ski on snow once so far this season, the team has been training rigorously in preparation for the season.
Robinson wrote, “Our workouts have been running and shorter strength exercises. Coach [Jack] Schrupp has introduced some new workouts and it has been really fun to have a new dynamic on the team. While it can be frustrating to not have snow, these workouts are a fun way to get to know people on the team.”
The team’s bonding workouts have been very important for the team, according to Amelia Vinton ’22.
In an email to The Phillipian, Vinton wrote, “The start of the season has been really fun. As a new person on the team it’s been so fun to get to know everybody.”
The team eagerly anticipates the arrival of snow and hopes to capitalize on the fact that there are many new skiers on the team.
Millet wrote, “I am really looking forward to (hopefully) getting a lot of snow! We have a lot of new people on the team this year so that should be good too. Because I have been on the team for the past three years, I hope I am able to help out some of the newer people with the logistics and the technique in the sport. I would also like to continue to have high team spirits and have fun at the races.”
Charland added,“I’m looking forward to a downhill bonding trip. This season, as a leader on the team, I’m really making an effort to give the team their most epic season and keeping spirits high.”
This season, Charland believes that the team must continue working hard in order to have the most fun possible. Andover hopes that its strong start, as well as its future opportunities to practice on snow, will lead it to an strong season.
