Sports

Dual-Captain Posie Millett ’20 Appreciates the Physical and Technical Challenges of Nordic

Co-Captain Posie Millett ’20 was in the G2 boat during last year’s Crew season.


Posie Millett ’20 joined Andover Nordic her Junior year[a] because of Andover’s lack of an alpine skiing team, with which she had been familiar in Colorado. Her background in cross country running eventually led her to both run and ski for all four years at Andover; Millett also served as the Captain of Andover Girls Cross Country in the fall.

Millett said, “I skied with my hometown’s alpine skiing team, and when I came to Andover, there was no alpine ski team[b][c], but I’ve always ran cross country at home, so I figured nordic skiing was just the combination of the two and it just made sense to try it out when I came to Andover.”

Millett’s favorite part of nordic skiing is how it combines the need for physical endurance with technical challenges.

“I think that it’s a really good combination of cardio work, like working yourself up the hill, but also the exhilaration of getting to ski down the hills and technically stay on your feet as you’re going down the hills, which are oftentimes icy and untracked,” said Millett.

Millett looks to her Junior year captain, Aditya Krishnamachar ’17, as a role model for her own leadership style.

“He made me feel really welcome on the team as a [Junior] and was always really encouraging. He would invite us to sit in Lower Right for team dinners, and he was just a really enthusiastic and kind captain. His leadership was something that really introduced me to the team and introduced me to how great both your relationship with your nordic teammates and your relationships with your coaches [can be],” said Millett.

Millett also hopes to help her teammates also establish positive relationships with the nordic coaches.

Millett said, “I also want to help everyone make a connection with the coaches, because I think that we have a really incredible coaching staff and we’re really lucky to get to interact with them everyday.”[d]

According to Hannah Justicz ’22, who was also on the cross country team, and Co-Captain Eli Newell ’20, Millett is able to unify the team, and her positive energy keeps the team motivated during practices.

Justicz said, “I think she’s really good at connecting with people… I think that [the] connection of everyone to our captain brings our team together to make some really great team camaraderie and unity. She has really great energy that she brings to the sports, especially for running and nordic, because sometimes it’s like ‘Ugh, we’re going for a run,’ but her positivity really gets everyone excited,” said Justicz.

Newell added, “It’s so much fun being [Co-Captain] with her, and she brings this great energy to the team and connects with the skiers really well.”

Millett is supportive of all of her teammates at meets. She also serves as a role model through her dedication and continued effort during races, according to Claire de Saint Phalle ’21.

“Posie’s always cheering people on at meets and leading by example. She tries really hard during races and always does well because of it, and I think I look up to her in that aspect,” said de Saint Phalle.

With many new members joining the team for the first time this season, Millett hopes to share her love of nordic skiing with them and make the most of the snow.

Millett said, “One of my primary goals is to get people out onto skis and show them how much fun it can be to be outside in the winter when everyone [else] is in the gym and enjoy the outdoors even though it’s cold and the sun sets a lot earlier.”

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TRANSCRIPTIONS

Posie millett ’20

I skied with my hometown’s alpine skiing team, and when I came to Andover, there was no alpine ski team, but I’ve always ran cross country at home, so I figured nordic skiing was just the combination of the two and it just made sense to try it out when I came to Andover.

I think that it’s a really good combination of cardio work, like working yourself up the hill, but also the exhilaration of getting to ski down the hills and technically stay on your feet as you’re going down the hills, which are oftentimes icy and untracked. I think that it’s a good combination of physical strength and ability, and also mentally knowing whether or not you’ll be able to complete the course, like telling yourself you can do it.

Last year we graduated a lot of seniors and we have a lot of new people to the sport this year, who are either new to the team at Andover or to the sport in general, and so something Eli and I would like to try to do is to bring the team together to feel really cohesive, because it’s also one of the only very much co-ed teams on this campus where we practice together, we’re always at races together; it’s not two separate teams. I think that having both the cohesion of the team, where there’s a lot of returning and new people, and also coming together where we’re practicing with both girls and guys on the team, is something that would like to help to make that transition easier. I also want to help everyone make a connection with the coaches, because I think that we have a really incredible coaching staff and we’re really lucky to get to interact with them everyday.

For skiing, it’s been hard especially this winter, because we had snow at the beginning and it’s all melted, so we’re doing a lot of running and circuit work on the side, but it’s not as fun as getting out on the snow and getting to ski. Eli and I have both tried to show up to practice everyday, whether we’re skiing or whether we’re running on roads or doing circuits, with the best attitudes possible and being really encouraging to make sure that even though we’re not skiing, we’re still training together and working hard to be able to ski well at the meets on wednesdays.

I really look up to my freshman year captain, Aditya [Krishnamachar ‘17]. He made me feel really welcome on the team as a freshman and was always really encouraging. He would invite us to sit in lower right for team dinners, and he was just a really enthusiastic and kind captain. His leadership was something that really introduced me to the team and introduced me to how great both your relationship with your nordic teammates and your relationships with your coaches. Also, Eli, who I’m the captain with now, was one of our captains last year, so it’s been kind of fun to compare with him how he led last year with Neil and how we’re leading together this year, seeing what changes he wants to make or kind of working off his experience from last season.

Because we have so many new skiers, I think one of my primary goals is to get people out onto skis and show them how much fun it can be to be outside in the winter when everyone [else] is in the gym and enjoy the outdoors even though it’s cold and the sun sets a lot earlier. As far as races go, just having everyone feel like they were able to improve this season, because we don’t get all that many chances to practice on snow, just taking advantages of our Wednesdays when we do go and travel to places to snow, and taking advantage of those moments to better ourselves as a team. I also really want to work with K Rob to organize a weekend trip, because we have done that in years past, where we take one Saturday and we leave at like 9 and go to Waterville and are just all able to ski together as a team. I think that’s a really great way to bring us together as a team and also to get some really great training together on the snow.

On Eli: Eli is a really good captain, in that he’s a really friendly and positive presence on the team. I find that he is always so enthusiastic and I think that makes him an incredible motivator. He’s always really incredibly passionate and kind of leads by example that way. Eli is very communicative and so it’s really easy to work together with him as a captain. I think that we both care a lot about bonding on a more individual level with our team, and so through that, we work together well in that sense too.

Hannah Justicz ’22

Posie is really great at uniting the team. I think she’s really good at connecting with people; no matter who they are or what they’re like, I think she’s a really good people person, so I think through that connection of everyone to our captain it brings our team together to make some really great team camaraderie and unity.

Posie’s a really big runner; she’s also the captain of the cross country. A lot of time we don’t have a lot of snow, so when we’re not skiing we’re running, and she’s really enthusiastic about that also, so I think that her talent and fitness and her running expertise is just really great for the team.

She has really great energy that she brings to the sports, especially for running and nordic, because sometimes it’s like ugh, we’re going for a run, but her positivity really gets everyone excited.

Eli Newell ’20 (Co-Captain)

I absolutely love working with Posie and I think that she’s such a good co-captain. It’s so much fun being in this role with her and she brings this great energy to the team and connects with the skiers really well. It’s also been really exciting for me to see her bring a lot of girls from the cross-country team who really admire and look up to her. It’s really exciting to see so many of my teammates look up to her so much and to see Posie bring this admirable and exciting energy and considerate thought.

Claire DeSaintPhalle ’21

She’s very friendly, welcoming to everyone and is just a very nice person. She’s a great model, in terms of how she takes it very seriously and helps lead the newer skiers in their learning how to ski. She’s someone that we can all look up to.

Posie’s always cheering people on at meets and leading by example. She tries really hard during races and always does well because of it, and I think I look up to her in that aspect. She has really positive energy, she’s very smiley and positive in general. She was also captain of cross country, so we got a lot of new skiers from that. It’s really fun to have her as captain of two of my sports.

[a]beginning of lede is kind of similar to the eli lede

[b]repetitive. can I cut this?

[c]yes

[d]kind of repetitive from the last part of last sentence