MISL race #6

The alpine ski team finished a terrific season with great results in the final league race, a single-run slalom at Eaglebrook.   The JV team concluded an UNDEFEATED SEASON (30-0 record) in securing their league championship title, the team’s fifth title since 1997.   The boys’ varsity team, carrying the momentum from last week’s success, earned their first league victory of the season.  The girls’ varsity team finished second, completing a perfect 6-for-6 sweep of the silver medal this season. 

Looking to avenge last year’s collapse at the final race in which the Hoggers saw their perfect season spoiled with a loss, the JV squad went into the race focused and determined to complete their quest for an undefeated season.  With dreams of dinner at Ford Cottage (the traditional reward for this accomplishment) running through their heads, Kevin Lalli and Geoff Brock got the team off to a great start by taking the top 2 spots, and Emily Krall, Mike Dunn, and Colin Mitts swept the 12-14 positions.  Evan “Blue Thunder” Hefner and Doug Garrison rounded out the team scoring to secure the team’s victory.  The JV alpine team is the first NMH team to celebrate a perfect season this year.

The varsity boys’ team completed their amazing run this season with a narrow victory over rival Deerfield.  The boys’ varsity competition this season featured a tight battle between NMH, DA, and Mohawk High School.  With a 345-339 point win over DA (and the other seven teams), NMH also played the spoiler and prevented DA from overtaking Mohawk for the league title.  On a day when Mohawk suffered its worst defeat of the season and nearly squandered its lead in the standings, NMH’s victory actually helped Mohawk win the title in a very tight race, 52-51-50 points (NMH finished third).  Misha Sidorsky won his 5^th race of the season, and also the overall individual title.  Senior captains Ryan Koppes and Tim Scialabba finished their NMH career with a solid performance (7^th, 8^th), and Andy Allen (10), Sam Wilson (14), Tyler Nielsen (18) and Jon Tillson (19) each skied well in helping the boys dominate the competition.  It should be noted that Sidorsky, Koppes, and Tillson each finished every race run this season with competitive times (15-for-15), a very impressive feat.

In the girls’ varsity competition, Samantha Palmer again led the team to 2^nd place with the third-best run of the day.  Senior co-captain Abby Eldridge had, in her final race, one of her best runs, finishing 8^th.  Brittany Sinclair, Kate Kaufmann, Cristina Manent and Katharine Schulman all motored down the hill with impressive runs.  It was also the final race for senior co-captain Susie Slater, who in her three years on the team has earned more team points than any girl in recent history.

The full list of seniors who closed out their time with us:  Ben Bray, Geoff Brock, Mike Dunn, Dave Heyman, Dave Klingener, Ryan Koppes, Tim Scialabba, Jon Tillson, Abby Eldridge, Cristina  Manent, Susie Slater.  We’ll miss these folks!

Season Records:
Coed JV:            30-0
Boys’ Varsity:     57-8
Girls’ Varsity:     35-8

For complete results and final team & individual standings, visit the Mount Institute Ski League website at:  http://www.prepskiing.org/misl

New Englands

NMH Boys -- 2003 Class B New England Prep School Alpine Skiing Champions!

The NMH boys’ alpine ski team won the class B New England Prep School Alpine Skiing Championship today, in races held at Butternut Basin in Great Barrington, MA.  It is the first New England Championship title for the NMH boys’ alpine team.  The girls also had a remarkable day, finishing 3rd of the 11 teams, by far their best performance in 15 years.  Both of the teams excelled through consistency and high-level skiing.  The 11 athletes accepted the challenge from their coach that "consistency wins championships" and they amassed a perfect 40-for-40 record on the day.  That is, out of 40 race runs, every one was executed flawlessly, an absolutely incredible accomplishment in ski racing!

Misha Sidorsky ’04 won the slalom title and placed second in the giant slalom.  He was backed by strong performances by Ryan Koppes ’03, Tim Scialabba ’03, Andy Allen ’05, Jon Tillson ’03, and Tyler Nielsen ’04.

The boys started the day with a strong performance in the morning giant slalom, but emerged from the event two points behind Milton Academy.  Determined to use their strength in slalom as a means to victory, NMH put forth their best team effort of the season and overpowered the competition in the afternoon race.  Their exceptional slalom skiing propelled the team to a commanding 13-point victory in the overall standings.

The NMH girls alpine team also had a terrific day.  Samantha Palmer ’05 started the day off well with a 4th place slalom finish, then kicked it up a notch in the GS as she came in second of the 53 girls.  Three-year veterans Susie Slater ’03 and Abby Eldridge ’03, along with Brittany Sinclair ’05 and Kate Kaufmann ’04 provided critical finishes to earn the result.  As they have done all season, these girls used their amazing consistency as a team to perform to their potential today, and finished third, just 3 points out of second place.

Throughout the day, the focus and determination by all 11 team members to do whatever was necessary to perform at the highest level both individually and as a team was evident.  Their superior preparation, effort and mental toughness was rewarded with exceptional results.  It was an impressive demonstration of teamwork, and of what can happen when a group of athletes works hard together to attain an established goal. 

Special thanks to coaches David Blackall and Greg Lotze for their hard work, and to the many parents who showed up at this midweek race to give the team such strong support.

Complete results are available at www.prepskiing.org

(The season isn't over quite yet -- we have one final league race, next Wednesday at Eaglebrook.  League results are independent of New England Championships.)

Race #5

Despite losing two top team members who were called up to varsity duty, the JV team cruised along on its march towards a perfect season with their 5th straight victory today. Colin Mitts stormed back from a three-week absence in the rotation to win the race. Harv Schaefer followed him in 4th place. Joachim Thraen (career-best 10th), Jason Taylor (20th), Mike Dunn (23rd), Doug Garrison (27th) and Evan Hefner (29th) worked together to raise their team’s record to 25-0.

In the girls’ varsity competition, Samantha Palmer had her best result of the season today, placing 3rd of the 37 girls. Senior co-captains Susie Slater and Abby Eldridge followed with strong performances (8th, 11th), and the ever-reliable Kate Kaufmann turned in another good pair of runs (she has been in the top-17 all 5 races this season). Cristina Manent and Katharine Schulman completed the team scoring (20th, 22nd). The girls' team has been incredibly consistent this season, placing second every week.

The varsity (A) boys’ team overpowered the Deerfield and Eaglebrook teams but lost to Mohawk in what has been a 4-way power struggle all season. Mohawk was firing on all cylinders today, grabbing 3 of the top 4 spots. But the Hoggers skied very competitively today, placing all five team scorers in the top-15. Misha Sidorsky was 2nd (his first non-victory this year), Ryan Koppes was 9th, and "Mr. Reliable" Jon Tillson was 12th. Both Misha and Jon are 10-for-10 in near-flawless race runs this season, a remarkable accomplishment. Tim Scialabba was 13th, while Tyler Nielsen was in peak form, responding with a career-best 15th. Tyler’s result proved to be crucial in NMH’s 7-point defeat of Deerfield. David Klingener and Andy Allen rounded out the scoring.

The varsity B team had a solid result as they beat "B" teams from Mohawk & Eaglebrook, and "A" teams from Williston, Charlemont and Frontier. The Hoggers were powered by good performances by Sam Wilson, Geoff Brock, Sam LaCroix, Ian MacDonald, Ben Bray, Simon Cohn, and Kevin Lalli.

The boys and girls are both skiing very well as a team, and are in great shape heading into next week’s New England Prep School Alpine Skiing Championships. These take place at Butternut Basin, all day on Wednesday, February 12, and feature teams of the top 5 racers from 13 schools.

Race #4

The girls' varsity ski team continued its hold on the #2 spot in the league with another strong team performance in today's slalom.  Samantha Palmer again led the team with a 4th place finish.  Abby Eldridge, Brittany Sinclair, Kate Kaufmann, Emily Krall, and Katharine Schulman all contributed to the team's second place finish today.  These girls have been racing very consistently all season, and have pulled together to turn in solid performances week after week.  Great job, girls!

Race #3

Despite frigid temperatures (wind chill factor approximately - 20 degrees) that forced today's giant slalom race to be shortened to a single run, the NMH alpine ski team put together a very solid performance.  The co-ed JV team (which competes in the boys' JV division) won its third straight race to remain undefeated on the season with a record of 15-0.  The girls' varsity team placed second for the third straight week, despite racing without top skier Sam Palmer (out with an injury).  The boys' varsity squad had its best result of the season, also placing second, just ten points behind Mohawk.

Race #2

The alpine ski team had some mixed results in today's giant slalom at Berkshire East.  
The girls' varsity team continued to perform very well as a team, matching last week's performance with a second place finish.  The fact that 2 of our top 3 girls didn't score points (one was not racing due to injury and another fell) makes this result all the more impressive as the girls really pulled together as a team, and some newcomers earned some critical points.  Samantha Palmer led her troops with a stellar 4th place finish.  Kate Kaufmann had an incredible day, placing 11th (career best) as the team's second finisher.  Brittany Sinclair, Katharine Schulman, and Cristina Manent, all new to the team, grabbed the 17-19 positions.  Schulman's performance was all the more impressive given that it was her first varsity race ever.  Emily Krall was close behind her teammates in 23rd. 

Race #1

Two months after starting the season with weeks of dryland training, the alpine ski team had its first team competition today, a slalom for varsity and giant slalom for JV at Berkshire East.  
The girls' varsity team had a terrific first race, placing 2nd of 6 teams.  Powered by a strong mix of veterans and newcomers, the girls put together their best team result in several years, nabbing 4 top-10 spots.  Newcomer Samantha Palmer '05 got the Hoggers off to a great start with her 5th place finish while senior co-captains Susie Slater and Abby Eldridge followed in 6th and 8th.  New sophomore Brittany Sinclair took 9th, marking the first time in several years that the NMH girls have put four finishers in the top 10.  In yet a third pairing of consecutive finishes by a veteran & rookie combination (Palmer + Slater 5,6 and Eldridge + Sinclair 8,9), veteran Kate Kaufmann '04 teamed with Cristina Manent '03 to take 17th-18th.
It was an outstanding team performance, indicative of just how competitive this group of girls will be in the league this year. 

The boys' varsity team had a disappointing 4th place finish to open the season.  Facing very tough competition from Deerfield, Eaglebrook, and Mohawk, the Hoggers started strong with excellent performances by junior Misha Sidorsky and senior co-captain Ryan Koppes, who placed first and second out of the field of 68 racers.  Andy Allen '05 followed in 11th, but then the team couldn't provide the depth necessary to beat the aforementioned strong squads.

This year, due to a higher number of team members, we race two varsity boys' teams (as do Eaglebrook, DA, and Mohawk), but for team scoring the results of each team are mutually exclusive.  Three of our varsity B team members -- Jon Tillson '03, Sam LaCroix '06, and Geoffrey Brock '03 -- had particularly noteworthy performances.  Tillson's 15th place finish was by far his career best after spending last season on the JV team.

Finally, the JV squad (a co-ed team competing in the boys' JV division) emerged victorious with a narrow 2-point margin over Eaglebrook (202-200).  Harv Schaefer '06 (4th), Katharine Schulman '04 (7th), Doug Garrison '05 (10th), Kevin Lalli '04 (12th) and David Engel '06 (17th) combined to earn the points for the win, which was especially impressive given their collective lack of racing experience.

For complete results, visit the Mount Institute Ski League website at:  http://www.prepskiing.org/misl