Friday 2/9 – Andover 2nd place
Wednesday 2/14 – Andover 9th place
On Friday, Andover Nordic competed at the Weston Ski Track against Belmont Hill, Rivers, and Middlesex. Although there was little snow, Andover was still able to persevere and pull out a second-place finish overall in Pair Relays. On Wednesday, the Nordic team raced at Dublin but failed to finish in the top three.
Sophie Staii ’25 highlighted her relay partner Iris Liu ’26’s stand-out performance in the relay. Staii emphasized how, despite her falling behind in the first leg, Liu was able to catch up to the rest of the racers in her leg of the relay.
“Iris Liu did really well in her second race. She has improved a lot since the first time and she went a lot faster and she caught up to everyone. Since it was a relay, and I got behind, she caught up and I think she stood out a lot because it was her first race,” said Staii.
Henry Wall ’27 spoke on the team’s optimism on Friday, and how cheering one another helped build positive spirit and support teammates who were racing. He commented on the mental fortitude needed when competing in physically draining races.
“We did a good job of cheering everyone on even if they were not doing too well, and I think that we are also just optimistic. That was a really important and big strength of the team on Friday,” said Wall.
Wall continued, “There is a certain mindset you have to have. Where you have to be doing the race even if you don’t think your body can do it… My first race, I was so tired, and I wanted to drop out of the race, but I just had to keep going, and I think that perseverance is really important in Nordic.”
The meet on Wednesday was the last meet of the league that the Nordic team competes in before the NEPSAC Championships. Coach Keith Robinson ’96 described both the terrain the team raced on as well as the overall atmosphere at the race.
“It was the final one of the league, so we take this meet and all the other meets that we have in the league together and add them together for the final standings in the league. The weather and the sort of conditions made it a little bit chaotic at the start lines, but they have a nice stadium where the race comes through, and it’s a fun race. So they do a lap of it, classic style, and then change skis and poles on the clock, and do a lap skate style. That’s always fun, and it’s a great spectator event because you can see the whole thing playing out in between laps when everyone comes to the stadium,” said Robinson.
Nordic will have its last meet at the NEPSAC Championships on February 21 on Wednesday.
