MISL race #6

Eaglebrook was the site for the alpine ski team's final race, a single-run giant slalom today. BOYS VARSITY: 
In the boys varsity division, senior Misha Sidorsky completed a perfect season by winning the final race of his brilliant NMH career.  No skier in recent history -- perhaps ever -- has won all the varsity league races in a single season.  Misha won all 6 league races, plus the two events at the New Englands.  He also won 5 of 6 races last season, plus the NE slalom, and was second in the other two races.  In his four years on the team, Misha has raced in 23 league races -- and he has finished every single one of them.  Not a single "DNF" (did not finish) in his career!  This is an absolutely incredible accomplishment.  He has contributed a massive number of points for NMH in the team standings; since the third race of his freshman year when he sat out due to illness (Jan. 24, 2001), Misha has never finished lower than 3rd in a league race!  This combination of consistency and high-level performance is very rare in ski racing.
Misha thus captured the individual title in the boys' varsity division, and helped his team finish with the #3 ranking.  Fellow senior captain Tyler Nielsen also finished his fine career today with another top-10 result.  Over his four years, Tyler has been a strong, steady force for the boys' team.  He has finished an amazing 21 of 23 league races in his career, generating many team points for the Hoggers.  Backing up Misha and Tyler today were:  Sam Wilson (14th), Simon Cohn (22nd), Kurt Thibault (29th), Harv Schaefer (33rd) and Sam LaCroix (34th).

GIRLS VARSITY:
The girls' varsity team was once again led by junior Brittany Sinclair (5th place today), who proved to be a steady force this season.  Brittany captured third place in the season-long standings.  Michaela Culver was the second NMH finisher today in 8th place, while senior captain Kate Kaufmann, skiing in her final race, was right on her heels in 9th.  Other team finishers:  Christine Culver (11th), senior Katharine Schulman (15th - career best in her final race), Asako Kakuta (20th) and Sophia Toraby (21st).  It was an especially nice closing event for our senior girls, who have come a long way since their inaugural race!

JUNIOR VARSITY:
Colin Newman led the JV team to second-place in the league standings.  He finished #2 in the individual rankings, behind Bement's Brooks Whitehouse.  Evan Hefner had a fantastic run, placing a career-best 4th.  Hoon Ha (8th), McLaren Gilmore (20th), and Gabriel Susca-Lopata (31st) were the other point-scorers for their team, which came in 3rd today but still held off Charlemont for the silver medal in the final league rankings. 

Final Team Records:
BV        53-11
GV        23-13
JV         32-9 

Complete results are available at   http://www.prepskiing.org/misl 

I'd like to thank the many parents who supported the team so well this season, and especially my assistants, Greg Lotze and David Blackall, for their tremendous work.

New Englands

Both the girls and boys alpine ski teams placed 5th at the 2004 Class B New England Prep School Alpine Championships at Shawnee Peak, Maine on Saturday.  Among the day's highlights was a historic performance by senior co-captain Misha Sidorsky, skiing in his fourth and final NEPSAC Championship.

Misha won both the slalom and giant slalom events, defending his title in the slalom event and thus going 3-for-4 in NEPSAC individual championship titles over the past two seasons.  Misha's domination at this year's event did not come without a few bumps in the road, however.  In the first run of the morning race (GS), Misha crashed when his ski popped off in the fourth turn of the course after he dropped into a developing hole in the course.  The rut also caused 3 of the first 4 racers to crash at that spot, forcing officials to halt the race, reset the course to avoid the problem spot, and restart the race.  Thus, Misha had another opportunity, which he capitalized on.  He finished third in the first run, then crushed the field in the second run to emerge with the victory over the other 68 racers from 14 schools.

In the afternoon slalom race, Misha held off a strong challenge by two Deerfield skiers to win yet again.  In the first run, DA's Kyle Avery edged Misha by 0.06 seconds.  Having never lost to Avery (and they square off each week in league races), Misha stormed down the hill in the second run and beat him by 0.7 seconds, easily making up the difference.  However, Avery's teammate Marshall MacNabb had a great run, faster than Misha's by 0.12 sec.  In the final tally, Misha's combined run time was 89.49, versus 89.50 for MacNabb -- the narrowest possible margin of victory!

For the team scoring, each school's top 3 finishers count.  Unfortunately, NMH was not able to put another boy in the top-20 in either event, but the relatively inexperienced squad (it was the first trip to NEs for 4 of the 6 team members) fared admirably.  Sam Wilson was 28th in the GS, followed by Kurt Thibault (35th).  In the slalom, all 5 competitors finished both runs cleanly -- a very impressive feat.  Senior co-captain Tyler Nielsen avenged his fall in the GS with a 21st place in the slalom.  Sam Wilson (28th), Simon Cohn (31st) and Harv Schaefer (32nd) all represented NMH well in the race.

In the girls' races, NMH was 5th (of 10) overall.  The day started off on rough ground as 3 of the 5 girls fell in the slalom.  Senior captain Kate Kaufmann led her team with a very strong 13th place finish.  Brittany Sinclair, despite having to hike in the second run after she broke a gate and fell, still managed 23rd, followed by Christine Culver (26th).  The girls rebounded with a terrific team performance in the afternoon GS, where they placed 3rd, by far the best team result for NMH that day.  All five team members nailed down two solid runs as they demonstrated their true potential in the competitive field of schools.  Brittany, who has paced the team all season with consistent top-10 finishes, was 8th.  Kate capped off a strong day by contributing crucial points with her 17th-place finish, and Michaela Culver was right behind her in 19th.  Senior Katharine Schulman, skiing in her first New England Championships, had a terrific set of runs (finishing 21st).  Christine Culver, bravely rebounding from an injury that sidelined her most of the season, followed in 23rd.

Neither the freezing rain, nor snow, nor 8 hours in the vans could dampen the spirits of the Hoggers as they represented their school well at the event.  Thanks to the numerous parents who made the long trek and provided the massive mid-race feast which clearly fired up the troops for a great afternoon performance!

We have one final race this Wednesday at Eaglebrook, which has important implications in the MISL standings.  The varsity boys have an outside chance at winning the league title, and Misha will look to close out his career with an undefeated season if he can manage one more win.  Please come down and support the team!

race #5

(makeup of week 1)

Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for the NMH alpine ski team.  All 3 squads -- boys' varsity, girls' varsity, and boys' JV -- skiied a strong race and finished in second place in their respective divisions.  The team is seeing the results of hard work throughout the season -- incredibly, 11 different team members had their career-best result!

The girls' varsity team showed they are peaking as we head into the final two races -- New Englands and the final league race.  They have had their best team results of the season in both of this week's races.  5 of the 7 girls had a career-best day at Friday's race.  Leading the team once again was Brittany Sinclair in 3rd place.  Senior captain Kate Kaufmann was 8th, followed by Michaela Culver (10), Christine Culver (13), Katharine Schulman (16), and Carla Canepa (23).  Going into this week's races, the NMH girls' team was ranked third in the league, 3 points behind second-place Mohawk.  Their strong results this week not only erased that deficit, but have now essentially guaranteed that NMH will finish the season ranked #2.

The boys' JV team skiied well in defeating 6 teams in their division, but lost a close race to Bement (243 - 229 pts).  Colin Newman returned to the form that earned him 2nd place in week 1 with a repeat performance.  Colin is presently the #2 ranked individual racer in that division (out of 56 racers).  McLaren Gilmore (8th) and Hoon Ha (9th) also had career-best races.  Evan Hefner (18) and David Engel (19) helped put all 5 team scorers in the top-20.

The boys' varsity team has been quite consistent this season and is locked in a tight battle with Deerfield and Mohawk.  Senior co-captain Misha Sidorsky continued his domination with another victory Friday night.  Misha has won every race this season, and he won 5 of 6 in the 2003 season.  Sam LaCroix (9th) and Harv Schaefer (20th) had especially strong performances in helping their team to capture second place.  Also contributing to the result was senior co-captain Tyler Nielsen (15th place), who has finished a remarkable 20 of 22 league races in his four years on the team in both varsity and JV competition.  Simon Cohn (21st), Kurt Thibault (33rd) and Sam Wilson (35th) rounded out the results. 

As is historically the case, there is a tight contest for the MISL (Mt. Institute Ski League) boys' varsity title.  Mohawk leads the race with 46 points, NMH is currently second with 44 points, and Deerfield is making a late charge with 43 points, having won the past two races.  With Mohawk unable to attend the final MISL race due to the Mass. State HS Championships, DA and NMH will square off in what figures to be a winner-take-all showdown.

Team records:
BV        39-6
GV        17-8
JV         28-7

Remaining races:
New Englands, Sat 2/21 @ Shawnee Peak, ME
MISL final race, Wed 2/25 @ Eaglebrook

Complete results are available at   http://www.prepskiing.org/misl

race #4

The girls' varsity team had their best showing today, placing second in a slalom race held at Berkshire East.  Brittany Sinclair once again led the Hoggers with her 5th place finish, followed by Michaela Culver (8th), Kate Kaufmann (10th), Christine Culver (19th), Katharine Schulman (20th), Sophia Toraby (22nd) and Asako Kakuta (24th).  The girls have been training hard and put together a great team effort, boosted too by the debut of Christine Culver, racing in her first meet of the season following long rehab from injury. 

The boys' varsity team was 3rd of the 10 teams today.  Misha Sidorsky continued his win streak following a bit of a shock from the first run, after which he stood 4th.  But, Misha stormed back in the second run to win by an overall margin of 0.05 seconds.  The team performed to their potential today with good results from the rest of the troops, but DA and Mohawk proved to be too tough to beat.  Following Misha were Sam Wilson (10th -- a career best), Tyler Nielsen (16th), Sam LaCroix (19th), Kurt Thibault (20th), and Harv Schaefer (41st).

The boys' JV team also placed 3rd, edged by a single point by Charlemont (221 vs. 220 points), with Bement the winner once again in that division.  Colin Newman was again the top finisher for NMH (8th), with teammate McLaren Gilmore right on his heels (9th).  David Engel (14th), Hoon Ha (16th), and Jason Taylor (21st) completed the team scoring.

The alpine ski team has another competition this week -- a rare Friday night race, 5:00pm start, at Berkshire East.  Come on out and support the team!

Race #3

In the alpine ski team's third race, a giant slalom at Berkshire East, today:

The boys' JV team was victorious, knocking off previously undefeated Bement by a score of 245-238.  The team followed the traditional method of securing victory in our league, that is by placing all 5 scorers in the top-12.  Colin Newman led the troops in 5th.  On his heels were Evan Hefner in 6th -- by far his career-best finish -- and McLaren Gilmore in 7th.  David Engel (10th) and Hoon Ha (12th) gave the team crucial depth in the win today.  The victory is a nice tribute to how hard these guys have been working in practice; battling through cold conditions, the team members have trained hard and made great progress in recent weeks.

The girls' varsity team finished in 3rd place, behind Deerfield and Mohawk.  Brittany Sinclair continued to inch closer to the top with a great 4th-place result (another career-best result).  Michaela Culver was the team's second scorer in 10th, followed by Katharine Schulman (17), Sophia Toraby (21) and Asako Kakuta (24).  The team was dealt a blow with a pre-race injury to Carla Canepa, and a second-run crash by the usually-steady Kate Kaufmann.  With the healthy return of these girls, and hopefully the addition of Christine Culver (on injured reserve all season thus far), the girls' squad looks to demonstrate their true potential next week.

The boys' varsity team placed 3rd of the 10 teams.  Senior co-captain Misha Sidorsky continued his dominance of the league, winning his third race of this season (and 8th of the past 9 going back to last season).  Fellow captain Tyler Nielsen followed in 9th, while Sam Wilson (18), Simon Cohn (19) and Kurt Thibault (23) picked up team points as well.  Thus far it looks to be a tight race between Mohawk, Deerfield, and NMH for the boys' varsity title, and the Hoggers will need to be sharp in their final three races to emerge with the title.

Complete results are available at http://www.prepskiing.org/misl

Race #2

The Alpine Ski Team had its second league race of the season today. (1st Slalom race of the year)  Coming off a second place finish last week, the varsity boys came up HUGE today with the overall victory out of 10 teams (with Deerfield and Mohawk coming in tied for second a distant 15 points back).  Senior co-captain Misha Sidorsky won his second race of the season by 2.36 seconds.  While Misha's continued dominance is a huge boost to the team, the rest of the boys team responded by finishing in a tight pack led by Senior co-captain Tyler Nielsen (20th), Harv Schaefer (22nd), Sam LaCroix (23rd), and Simon Cohn (24th).  The team's ability to ski consistently solid runs, with tight groupings in final standings, is a great tribute to this team's hard work on the slopes.

The varsity girls team had another strong 3rd place finish out of 6 teams behind winner Deerfield and 2nd place Mohawk.  Leading the girls were Brittany Sinclair (7th) and senior captain Kate Kaufmann (8th).  These two girls continue to push eachother from week to week, consistently moving up in the standings. Sophia Toraby, competing in her first slalom race ever, finished in 18th place. 

The JV team finished 2nd out of 8 teams, paced again by Colin Newman who finished 6th, followed closely by David Engel (9th).  The team had a strong grouping with Evan Hefner (16th), McLaren Gilmore (17th), and Hoon Ha (19th).  Brendan Egge (36th) and Gabriel Susca-Lopata (43rd) rounded out the scoring.  These up-and-coming racers continue to show improvement from week to week.

Complete results are available at http://www.prepskiing.org/misl

Race #1

The alpine ski team had its first team competition today, a mere 74 days after its first practice back in early November.  Needless to say, the team was ready and geared up to compete!

The JV team finished 4th of 8 teams, paced by Colin Newman who cruised to an impressive 2nd place finish. David Engel followed with a career-best 8th place result, and Evan Hefner was 18th.  Rounding out the scoring were McLaren Gilmore (25th), Hoon Ha (32), Jason Taylor (34) and Gabe Susca-Lopata (47).

Complete results are available at http://www.prepskiing.org/misl