Elana King-Nakaoka ’14 glided to a sixth place finish out of 41 skiers at Gunstock Mountain on Wednesday with a time of 18:58. This result was especially impressive because Andover’s skiers had not been able to ski on snow before the race.
Captain Max Block ’12 led the pack for the Boys Nordic team, finishing the course in 16:13 to place 10th of 45.
Sean Burkitt ’14 followed Block closely in 19th place by one minute with 17:41. Anchoring the team were Aaron Finder ’13 in 30th and Will Bloxham ’13 in 36th with times of 19:57 and 22:06, respectively. For the girls, Piper Curtis ’13, Eve Simister ’12 and Kendall Goodyear ’12 achieved times of 23:16, 24:38 and 25:52 for finishes of 29th, 32nd and 34th places, respectively.
Having trained with another team over winter break, Burkitt did not have any trouble at all getting back on skis. He said enthusiastically of the race today, “There was a really good atmosphere, lots of people, really nice and fun people, and it was good to get our first race under our belt to get the jitters out of the way.”
Many team members like Charlotte Aaron ’14, however, have not skied since last season. “I hadn’t skied before I came to Andover, and my fingers freeze off every time, and it hurts really badly,” she said.
Coach Robinson was very proud of the team’s performance. “The Gunstock race was a short 1.2k loop that we did four times, so they skied a warm-up, and then even during the race you could see them improving as they got their legs under them and started to get it all back. Considering that fact we did quite well.”
“Overall I think we all had a pretty good starting race considering it was our first time on snow,” said Finder. “Right now we are all very optimistic for the future and hope to work on technique during our weekend excursions and during the week when snow begins to fall.”
Finder added, “Though outcomes of this race may not have been the best we’ve had, this race was both beneficial as a real racing experience and as a benchmark for the season ahead.”
Though the lack of snow has been an unavoidable and surprising setback, it has allowed the team extra time for good conditioning work.
Along with a practice on skis this weekend off campus and an optimistic outlook, Andover Nordic should be in good shape for its next race next Wednesday at St. Paul’s School.
