As an Upper, Andover Nordic Skiing Captain Sage Preston ’25 stepped into an important role as the sole Captain of the Nordic team this year. Preston acts as a mentor for the newer skiers and enacts such through her leadership and belief in the importance of support and looking out for teammates.
Preston began Nordic Skiing during quarantine while staying in Sun Valley, Idaho. She joined the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundations Nordic Prep Team for a season and then continued her skiing journey on the Andover Nordic team, which she has been a part of since her Freshman year. Although Preston was still relatively new to the sport, her year of competing gave her a head start, as many on the team began with little to no experience.
Preston said, “I had an extra year on people and I was feeling more comfortable with the level that I was at here as compared to back in Sun Valley. I’ve been playing the sport for four years now competitively.”
Utilizing her prior experience, both at Andover and in Sun Valley, Preston hopes to orient new players to the sport through engagement with the team. She uses her role as Captain as a means of building a stronger community with more experience and support.
“I just want to create a team where a lot of people [can] come in having not a lot of experience. It’s a pretty uncommon sport so a lot of people are learning as they go,” said Preston.
According to Zoe von Eckartsberg ’26, Preston hopes to build a culture of inclusion and bonding on the team. She mainly fosters this environment during the days the team goes for runs or trains off of skis, particularly in practice when all of Andover Nordic is together.
“When we’re not skiing, we’re all one team, so she uses that time to really connect with everyone and get to know them before it starts snowing and we’ll actually head out on skis and just kind of hang out with everyone and get to know them before we split off into those separate groups,” said von Eckartsberg.
Luke Williamson ’25 reiterated Preston’s friendly nature, emphasizing the impact that it has had on the team’s development during the winter season. He emphasized that she chooses to prioritize the team as a whole rather than individual racers.
“Sage is really focused on the team in general. Often, Captains will gravitate more towards their friends, or maybe a boy Captain is more focused on the boys [and] a girl Captain is more focused on the girls. I don’t think she’s like that. I think she’s really about the whole team in general… She’s leading it for everybody. She’s talking to everybody. If we’re skiing, she’s willing to help anybody. If we’re running, and somebody’s struggling, she’ll go run with them,” Williamson said.
Preston recognized the stress and intensity of an individual performance sport, such as Nordic Skiing. Because of this, she attempts to calm nerves and channel excitement before races and sets an example of how to race with the team rather than as an individual.
“It’s hard to stay motivated in individual sports, and it takes extra mental work than the other sports that I do… I’m always trying to make sure that I’m thinking about the other people on the team and not just my own stats when I race. I’m out there for a good time at the end of the day and I don’t place too much stress on my results at the end of the day because it was all a learning experience,” said Preston.
Williamson commended Preston for her ability to communicate well with Head Coach Keith Robinson ’96, emphasizing the importance of a connection between a Coach and a Captain. Her work with Robinson has allowed the team to connect even more over the sport as they work to meet the needs of new and experienced athletes alike.
“She really is good at bridging the gap between the coaches and the students because we all like [Coach Robinson], but he’s an adult and sometimes we’re not on the same wavelength and I think Sage understands his perspective really well. Obviously, she’s a student, and she understands our perspective.” said Williamson.
While adjusting her leadership to meet the needs of athletes unfamiliar with the sport, Preston hopes to not only offer advice herself but encourage teammates to rely on one another, as well. She emphasizes the importance of support on a team with newer skiers and hopes to build a team culture surrounding those values throughout the season.
Preston said, “I just want to be the type of leader who just makes others feel welcome, feel like they have room for error, feel like they can learn from me. I want to be able to have people feel comfortable coming up to me and asking for tips and I’m happy to give those tips. I just want to create a team where everyone feels like they can all rely on each other for advice. We can all cheer each other on and just learn together as we go.”
