Seven skiers from the Bromfield-North Middlesex boys and girls ski teams competed in the MIAA state championships at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area on Tuesday, March 7. The five-member Bromfield boys team finished 12th among 25 teams with a combined time of 5:25.80 minutes.
Coach David Bobruff praised the skiers, saying that qualifying for the state championships was a tremendous accomplishment as it was the first time in several years Bromfield sent a team to states (with five boys qualifying this year).
Starting in 121st place (in the starting lineup that is determined based on league ranking), Bromfield senior Jack Donaldson finished 28th out of 128 finishers in slalom, placing first for the West Alpha League. Although he did have to hike after falling during his grand slalom race, he managed to finish in 103rd place out of 113 finishers. North Middlesex junior Haydn Hammill started in 107th and finished 54th in slalom, third in the league, but was disqualified in giant slalom after missing a blind gate. Bromfield junior Benjamin Williams matched his seed in slalom by placing 96th and improved in grand slalom, finishing 68th. Captain and North Middlesex senior Camden Maddalone also beat his starting order of 124 by finishing 11th in slalom, although he did not finish in giant slalom. North Middlesex freshman Callum Hammill, seeded 55th, managed to pick himself up after a fall in giant slalom to finish 72nd.
Too few Bromfield-North Middlesex girls qualified to make a team, which requires three qualified skiers, but the two who qualified did well. Captain of the girls team and North Middlesex senior Brigid Griffin finished 109th in slalom and 77th in giant slalom with a start in 124th place. Bromfield sophomore Sage McFarland started in 107th and did not finish in giant slalom after losing a ski, but finished 93rd in slalom.
The boys finished the season first in their league, having won three of their six races, and the girls finished fifth. “It was truly a great season,” said coach Bobruff. Both teams showed tremendous improvement, he said. “Overall, just a very solid and consistent season.”
Big improvements
The boys jumped from fifth in the league last year with a record of 23–19 to first this year with a 36–6 record, winning the league championship. The girls had an equally impressive season. This year they doubled last year’s nine wins to 18 and jumped from seventh to fifth place.
“I think [the improvement in both teams was] thanks to huge improvements by the returning skiers who all demonstrated increased consistency, while [the] new skiers added more skill to the team.”
Bobruff praised several individual skiers. Newcomer Callum Hammill as a freshman helped the boys team while senior captain Camden Maddalone was recognized as the most valuable skier, contributing more points to the team than anyone else, Bobruff said. Among the girls, freshman Norah Pride was a great addition, he said, although her injury allowed her to ski at only two races. The most valuable skier award went to senior Grace Barton, who had been on the team four years, but whose best races were really the last three of the season, “which just goes to show how much improvement and consistency the returning skiers have,” said Bobruff. “I would say both Grace and Cam, who both finished all six races, contributed more to the team than anyone else in terms of our raw results,” he added.
The team will miss its seniors, Bobruff said. “Losing all of them will certainly hurt our results but will hurt our leadership even more.” The four boys and the two girls “set great examples by working hard every day,” said the coach. Two other seniors, Tom Berthoud and Eli Fraser, may not have gotten as much individual recognition, he added, but both “worked really hard to set a really great example for the newcomers.”
Looking ahead to the new season, Bobruff said, “Both the boys and girls teams have a real core of strong skiers.” Justin Patenaude, who won several JV races, and Patrick Keiran, usually a top-five finisher, will be filling in the gap. “They would have skied on the varsity team of any other school in the league,” said Bobruff, “and Izzy, Sage, Norah, and Colleen are all really strong skiers, so having them, I’m still optimistic for the next season.”
The team wrapped up the season with a banquet on Monday, March 13.
Results – MIAA State Championships
Boys slalom
- 28, Jack Donaldson, 42.21 seconds
- 54, Haydn Hammill, 43.80
- 96, Benjamin Williams, 46.90
- 111, Camden Maddalone, 49.36
Boys giant slalom
- 68, Benjamin Williams, 1:02.79 minutes
- 72, Callum Hammill, 1:02.92
- 103, Jack Donaldson, 1:07.18
Girls slalom
- 93, Sage McFarland, 48.76 seconds
- 109, Brigid Griffin, 50.10
Girls giant slalom
- 77, Brigid Griffin, 1:05.75 minutes
