Charlie Ganner ’10 flew across the finish line of the Exeter Time Trial course with a time faster than any other rider in the Boys Division. Ganner’s impressive win led Andover Boys to a victory against a strong rival Exeter squad. With the conclusion of the New England Road Cycling season, Andover Cycling traveled to Exeter this Saturday to face its rivals in an individual time trial competition. Captain Austen Novis ’11 said, “The individual time trial is a nice way to end the season, a good change from the regular road races with dozens of schools. Plus, because we raced a team time trial earlier this season at Exeter, we weren’t at a big disadvantage racing on Exeter’s course.” For the Andover Boys, Ganner showed his dexterity on the bike, as he maintained a steady pace throughout the race, accelerating for the last few hundred meters to capture the fastest time. Although a specialist on hills and longer rides, Novis finished with a time just a few seconds behind Ganner’s. With this one-two finish of Ganner and Novis, along with fast times posted by Matt Lloyd-Thomas ’12 and Yuto Watanabe ’11, Andover Boys captured the Andover-Exeter victory by a large margin. Andover Girls Cycling finished its season with a few unfortunate situations. Due to serious injuries sustained from crashes in the NERC league final, Elizabeth Watson ’10 and Alex Morrow ’12 were unable to race against Exeter. In addition, Juliana Wessels ’12 veered three hours off course during her time trial, and, as a result, was unable to finish her race. As a result, Andover was left with two riders racing in the Girls Division. Pia Aehnlich ’10 finished fifth with a fast time in the time trial, within a minute of the four strong Exeter riders ahead of her. Aehnlich said, “As the last race I will race for Andover, I think it went pretty well. At first it felt as if the time trial was never going to end because I was on my bike alone, without anyone in sight for most of the time, but then it ended quickly. I was very satisfied with how I did. Two months ago I would not have thought I could race nine miles this fast.” Eve Simister ’12 finished seventh, only a few seconds behind Aehnlich, also posting a solid time. She said, “The time trial was really exciting because it was only between us and Exeter. We had a lot of motivation to make it a great last race of the season, especially against our rivals. It’s a shame that only two girls finished, though.” In the end, Exeter Girls Cycling was just too strong in its depth for the depleted Andover Girls squad.
