At their third and final Bay West Alpha Division slalom race Feb. 11 at Nashoba Valley Ski Area, the Bromfield/North Middlesex boys Alpine ski team finished a solid second, just 2 points behind meet-winner Westford Academy. The girls finished seventh, hampered by a disqualification and lack of their sixth skier, who was out with an injury.
For the season, with a 28-8-0 record, the boys placed second in their division, just behind Westford Academy (30-6). The girls, with a 6-29-1 record, placed sixth among the division’s seven teams.
At last Tuesday’s race, skiers braved rain and soft, heavy, and wet snow, “which we just can’t seem to get away from as of late,” wrote Coach Ray McCarthy in an email. Among the boys, senior Callum Hammill finished fourth; seventh-grader Ian Lebish 10th; junior Dylan Winchell 12th; and junior Alex Lebish 17th. Noah Bagley fell but “had the presence of mind” to get up, finish, and score much-needed points for the team,” McCarthy said.
The girls finished last, but were handicapped by having only five skiers available to compete against the six skiers of other teams. In addition, one racer was disqualified for missing a gate, leaving the team with a zero for its fifth-best score. “That’s ski racing,” mused McCarthy, who noted that the team posted “some pretty good finish results.” Freshman Imogen Slavin finished 10th; junior Sadie Keiran 14th; senior Colleen Makosky 20th; and sophomore Ashley Regan 38th.
The MIAA State Championships will be held all day Wednesday, March 4, at Berkshire East beginning at 8 a.m. There are 12 ski racing leagues throughout Massachusetts, and each league sends its top 14 racers to this event. Among Bromfield/North Middlesex girls, Slavin and Keiran have qualified, and Hammill, Alex Lebish, Bagley, Winchell, and Gavin Maddalone will represent the boys.
“I’m really proud of this team and these kids and how far they have come and how much they have improved as skiers and racers,” wrote McCarthy. Competing at the state championship “is an amazing accomplishment for any high school ski racer and to have so many from our team representing our league is awesome.”
