Zoe Chazen ’14 and Co-Captain Rachel Wittenberg ’13 placed second and third place respectively for the girls in Andover Cycling’s first race of the season on Wednesday at Holderness. On the boys’ side, Logan Blaine ’14 was able to push through the 20 mile race and secure an eighth place finish. Although he did not finish in the top five, it was a good start to the 2013 season for Blaine. “The first race of the season is typically both a learning experience and a time to get reacquainted with the physical and mental aspects of cycling,” said Co-Captain Sean Burkitt ’14. He added, “If our riders can continue to work well together as a group in the future, I’d say we’re definitely in a position to do very well within our league.” Burkitt could not shift into his large chainring, which is the hardest set of gears. This inhibited him from sprinting and staying with the leaders. Despite this mechanical setback, Burkitt was able to have a strong race. Burkitt continued, “Although a few members of the team had some gear issues with the derailleurs and pacing, overall the team finished in good positions in the boys races.” “We had a couple of great finishes today, including second and third place in the Girls’ A race by Zoe Chazen and Rachel Wittenberg, respectively. Our Boys’ A race didn’t go as well as we might have hoped due, at least in part, to some mechanical issues with Burkitt’s and Ian Whittall ’14’s bikes, but, all things considered, we placed very well,” wrote Logan Blaine ’14 in an e-mail to The Phillipian. He added, “If our riders can continue to work well together as a group in the future, I’d say we’re definitely in a position to do very well within our league.” Proctor Academy finished first in the boys race and looks to be a strong competitor this season. “I think that the team has a good chance this year, and that we could improve from today. We have a very good chance of winning Girls’ A overall seeing as we got second and third in today’s race at Holderness,” said Nicolas Swenson ’15. Andover hopes to build off its first race and continue to improve against Exeter on Saturday.
