The Bromfield–North Middlesex ski team competed in the third meet and first slalom race of the season Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the Nashoba Valley Ski Area. The girls finished first for slalom while the boys tied for fifth.
Eighth-grader Norah Pride cuts hard on the pitch to finish with a great time. (Photos by Isabel Barton)
Bromfield freshman Sadie Keiran has a nice line as she blocks a gate on the pitch.
The girls first-place finish was the first in more than four years. The last victorious meet was the first race in 2014. The girls improved tremendously from the previous week, when only four of the five varsity skiers finished the course. This time, all six varsity skiers finished among the top 25. Bromfield eighth-grader Norah Pride finished fifth, with a time of 28:09 seconds, a personal record. Junior Sage McFarland finished in ninth place with a time of 29:91 seconds, tying with her prior personal record. Bromfield junior Isabel Barton narrowly beat a Westford Academy skier by 0.08 seconds to win 17th, also beating her personal record with a time of 31.90 seconds.
The boys tied for fifth place with Groton-Dunstable as only four of six varsity skiers finished. But “the fact that we beat two teams and tied another is a tribute to how well our four finishers skied,” said Coach David Bobruff in a postmeet email interview. There was still personal growth for those who did finish. Halston Wilkey finished third for his first-ever top-three finish with a time of 27:36 seconds, while Justin Patenaude beat a personal record top-10 finish with a time of 28:81 seconds.
After three meets, the boys maintained their reign as first in the league with a 16–4–1 record while the girls moved up to fifth place (from seventh last meet), with a 9–12–0 record. Each meet is against seven other teams; the record shows how many of those teams Bromfield has beaten, lost to, and tied. The team’s fourth and fifth meets were scheduled for Monday, Feb. 5, and Tuesday, Feb. 6.
Bromfield results
Boys slalom
- 3, Halston Wilkey, 27.36 seconds
- 6, Callum Hammill, 27.81
- 10, Justin Patenaude, 28.81
- 11, Alex Lesbish, 29.01
League standing: First among eight schools with a score of 1,323
Girls slalom
- 5, Norah Pride, 28.09 seconds
- 9, Sage McFarland, 29.91
- 13, Evelyn Bagley, 30.95
- 17, Isabel Barton, 31.90
- 21, Brigid Griffin, 32.51
- 24, Sadie Keiran, 34.03
League standing: Fifth among eight schools with a score of 1,130
Ivy Wang is a Bromfield senior.
