Isabel Lawrence
News Editor
The NCHS varsity ski team raced to victory at Mt. Southington on Mar. 11, placing first at States. With juniors Jeffrey Cole and Wilson Fleming along with senior captain Courtney Cole receiving All-State First Team Honors, the team, 3 time Class M state champions, once again proved their skill.
Throughout the season, preparation for the win was equal parts bonding and training. Sophomore Emily DeTour, who raced in states, experienced both with her team, even through challenging times. “What lead up to the win this year was definitely a season full of fun and ups and downs,” she said. “We had a great season all in all, but with all the weather it was difficult at times. We all kept positive and we just wanted to get back to skiing. During the week before, we trained indoors with our trainer, and had a team dinner to get us all pumped up.”
Senior Captain Courtney Cole recognized the importance of training when gearing up for the big race. “During the season, we do dry land training after school with D1 Prep,” she said. “This is basically training without physically skiing. We work on our core, legs, arms, and endurance so we’re ready to go when we get on the slopes!”
According to junior Alex Dobbin, who placed 15th in states, all the training paid off. “We had an overall great season,” he said. “We always had at least two people finishing top ten, sometimes three. There were races where not all of us performed well, but because the team is so good in general, one man’s loss ended up being another man’s virtue.”
Alex was not the only skier who recognized how an individual could help the team. Junior Wilson Fleming, who placed 9th at States, did his best to contribute. “We take two runs down the hill, and everyone’s individual times get added up,” Wilson said. “They’ll take the team’s six best times and they’ll add that up, and that will compete against the other teams’ best 6 times. From there, the team with the lowest time will win. Putting in two solid runs definitely helps the team.”
These top finishes were reflected at States, where the team not only took home gold, but individual skiers were recognized with All-State First Team Honors. Junior Jeffrey Cole, who placed 6th, was one of these skiers, along with Courtney and Wilson. “All state is basically the best 12 girls and the best 12 guys. It is given to the kids who did the best throughout the season,” Jeffrey said.
Despite the competition, Wilson still focused on enjoying himself and his time with his team on race day. “I think we all knew that we were all just going to have fun no matter what,” he said. “I think everyone just put in their best effort, and because of that we did really well. I think it was definitely a team effort, it wasn’t just one person’s effort. It was more of just everyone, and everyone really tried hard and we did really well.”
With yet another state title, Alex is more motivated to continue the team’s winning streak next year. “Next year is my senior year, and I want to go out with a bang,” he said. “So next year I’m planning on going up to Vermont for the weekends to get the most reps. I want to do really well and make it a memorable season, therefore I will most likely stay very focused and simply give it my all.”
This determination to continue taking home first place is reflected by the rest of the team, as seen by Emily. “Next year to prepare I think we’re going to do pretty similar stuff,” she said. “Keep up with dry land, try to be skiing in gates as much as we can, and just keep focused on making it to states, and winning them again like we have in previous years.”
