Nordic Sports Winter Sports

Athlete of the Week: Nikita Muromcew ’21 Enjoys Nordic’s Unique Team Bond

With six years of Nordic knowledge and alpine experience, Nikita Muromcew ’21 raced nordic casually in her hometown of Jackson, WY. before coming to Andover.

According to teammate Victor Tong ’22, Muromcew balances maintaining a focused attitude and developing a fun team atmosphere.

Tong said, “Nikita shows great leadership and she’s an amazing skier. She is so fast and dedicated to the team and makes the Nordic season so fun! I felt really welcomed onto the team and Nikita is very professional while still making us all have a great time.”

Due to her extensive knowledge and strong leadership, Muromcew has earned The Phillipian’s Athlete of the Week.

What’s your favorite thing about Nordic?

The team bond is pretty unique to the Nordic team because all of us are constantly working together to become better skiers. I want to say there are about 17 of us so our bond is super close.

How long have you been doing Nordic?

I’ve been doing Nordic for about six years. I skied back home so I’ve been skiing for a while. I raced in Nordic and I did alpine casually. 

What is a Nordic race like for you?

We pack up our skis the day before, then we leave as soon as we can which is usually at noon. It’s usually about an hour and a half to two-hour drive to the race course. When we get there, we do a warmup for about 30 to 45 minutes and then we race. Sometimes girls go first, sometimes they don’t—it really depends on the school that’s hosting. Whoever goes first will cheer on the second group.

What is your biggest support system at your races?

I’d say the biggest support system is the team and that they’re all racing with me. I think it’s really comforting to get ready, nervous, and excited together as one team. It’s very grounding because you know you’re not going crazy when you’re like “I’m really nervous!” Sometimes skiers from other teams next to you, depending on your opponents, will talk to you and say “Oh my god I’m so nervous,” and you’re like “Oh my god me too!” It’s really nice to hear that you’re not the only one.

What are you practicing in practice?

Because of the limited snow, usually we do a mix of endurance, strength, and speed workouts to get us trained for races. We also work on the fundamentals of skiing like weight transfer, getting comfortable gliding on one ski, and balance.

What are your goals for the rest of the winter?

I guess my goal is to be a good team member. I want to continue to strengthen the team bond that we have right now because it is what has kept me on the Nordic team.

What’s your spirit animal?

I’ve never really thought about it, I think two years ago I would have said a raven.

Are you competing at any more races?

We have the Nepsac race. We don’t compete against Phillips Exeter Academy because they don’t have a ski team, but the league does have a final race, which is fun.

How does the weather affect your skiing?

For the most part not much, we can’t race if there’s not enough snow but because of the storm this week we should be fine [at Nepsac]. There have been races when it has been disgustingly cold out and there have been other races where I’ve skied in a T-shirt

Do you have any Coaches in particular that have really helped your skiing and the love of the sport?

I of course have to thank my coaches back home because they got me skiing in the first place, but I’d also like to thank K-Rob, [Keith Robinson], the head coach [at Andover] for keeping me skiing here. He’s just a really great coach and Biology teacher.