Nordic Sports Winter Sports

Nordic Caps off its Season

Andover Nordic finished ____ overall, with Co-Captain Neil Thorley, ‘19, finishing in 4th. Co-Captain Eli Newell ‘20 broke a pole within the first 3 seconds of the race, however managed to race a large portion without a pole and finish in 21st place according to Thorley. On the Andover Girls Nordic team, Claire A De Saint Phalle ‘21 was the top finisher, coming in 10th overall.

The meet was a combination of both skate and classic skiing, with a six kilometer classic ski in the morning and relay teams will compete in a skate style race in the afternoon.

Despite the lack of snow this season, the girls team has consistently placed in the top four, with the Andover Boys Nordic Team placing in the top half of many meets, usually coming fifth or sixth overall out of ten.

According to Coach Keith Robinson ‘94, the team “…graduated two seniors last year that were two of [their] top skiers, and we’ve had two new students come in and fill that role really well, two new lowers, and the group of four of them are all pretty close together in the league, so if any given day one of them has a bad race, another will probably have a good race and balance that out, so they’ve been really consistent on that front.”

Throughout the season, the relays have been a source of excitement for the team and are fun to race according to Claire A De Saint Phalle ‘21. In the week leading up to Nepsacs, Coach Robinson has put an emphasis on mass starts and relay handoffs, which co-captain Neil Thorley ‘19 says, will “be crucial to execute well during the races on Wednesday,” in order to place well

For many seniors NEPSAC’s is their last chance to compete with their Andover team before heading to college.

According to Thorley ‘19, “There were definitely some bittersweet [moments] today…knowing this was my last Nordic race was definitely sobering. Still, I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my ski career. Conditions were excellent, the race went really well, and everyone had a great time.”