Claiming first and second place in the three-lap race, Sam Gallaudet ’23 and Remy De Saint Phalle ’23 highlighted Andover Nordic Skiing in its first race of the year. The co-ed team traveled to Dublin, New Hampshire this past Wednesday to kick off the competitive season.
Due to winter break, the first week of Covid-19 quarantine on campus, and harsh weather conditions, the team did not have much time to train and faced challenges leading up to the race. According to Gallaudet, the team had to prepare for the first race of the season with little time or resources to spare.
“We haven’t gone into practice a lot. I think most people on our team just got on snow this Monday and then they raced, so it was like a very very quick ramp up,” said Gallaudet.
According to Co-Captain Amelia Vinton ’23, most of the new skiers, in the early stages of their first season, were focusing on introductory techniques.
“It’s been a lot of organizing, like figuring out gears like where everything goes… Monday was the first time we got on skis so everyone was kind of just learning how to ski…” said Vinton.
According to De Saint Phalle, the team showcased numerous strong performances despite it being one of the first races of the season and facing multiple challenges.
“ I was impressed by how many first-time skiers did well and showed up. Even though a lot of training was over like winter break, I think it’s nice to see the whole team doing well,” said De Saint Phalle.
According to Vinton, Gallaudet and De Saint Phalle led the way for the team as two of the most experienced skiers. However, inexperienced skiers also contributed greatly to team success, with Tori Darling ’22 finishing third in the one-lap novice race.
Vinton added “I think everybody did very well. We had three people who did particularly well. We had Sam Gallaudet and he was first in the boys’ race and Remy De Saint Phalle was second in the boys’ race as well… And then everybody else just did good as well and I think it was a good experience especially for those who are new to skiing…”
Andover Nordic will compete at Proctor next Wednesday.
