Wayland Nordic Ski Team Proves a Point

The Wayland High School Nordic ski team was out to prove a point this week.  After the girls’ team skied to a surprising third-place finish in the first meet of the season, the skiiers wanted to show that it was not a one-time performance.

The team competes in the Mass Bay West League. All of the races this season have been at the Weston Ski Track.

The first race was a short sprint, but the races get longer as the season progresses. The longer races would test the team's fitness and abilities.  

Last week, for its second race of the season, the race distance increased from 3 kilometers to 5 kilometers. The Warriors did even better than in their first race.  The girls increased their total score from 421 to 437. The Wayland boys also improved, moving up from sixth to fifth and improving their score from 186 to 273.

This week, the race was even longer. The six-kilometer course included more hills and the snow was soft and slow, making it a much more difficult race. The Warriors handled it in stride, with the boys improving their score to 283 and the girls holding steady at 436 points.

For the girls, junior Hannah Brigham continued to lead the way. Brigham skied the best race of her career, finishing in fourth place and only 23 seconds off the leader. She skied the entire race at the back of a pack of five girls, a short distance off the two leaders. With about one kilometer to go, she made a move and jumped into the front of the pack of five skiers. She led the pack for a while, but then two girls passed her again. She was able to fight back and pass one of them on the final stretch and hold off the rest of the pack. Brigham’s fourth place finish scored 97 points for the team.

Sophomores Phoebe Morss and Elizabeth Karpacz were next for the Warriors.  Morss improved nine positions from her first race, jumping from 18th to ninth and scoring 92 points. Karpacz has been a steady contributor to the team. She skied a strong race, adding 89 points to Wayland’s tally with her 12th place finish.         

Juniors Alice D’Orlando and Rebecca Harris were close behind, with D’Orlando in 20th and Harris in 24th. 

The next two finishers for Wayland were Julia Lavenson and Kira Palmer, finishing 34th and 47th, respectively. 

Also skiing for Wayland this week was Hannah Osborne (63rd), Sam Kovolson (66th), Grace Perkins(74th), Olivia Lucier (81st), Tess Star (84th), Sarah Mitty (87th), Julia Chinman (90th), Dana Henderson (95th)  and Melanie Barber (96th). 

The Wayland boys’ team has been improving with each race. Freshman Elijah Bucher was the top finisher for the Warriors. His 17th place finish was a big improvement over his first race. Bucher jumped 17 positions, scoring 84 points for the team.

Another freshman, Paul Longnecker was next across the line for Wayland. His 26th place finish scored 75 points for the Warriors.

Junior James Longnecker , Paul’s brother, finished in 47th place. 

Also skiing for Wayland was Jacob Rudelson in 55th place, Tyler Clark in 77th, Tyler Peyton in 78th and Eli Lord in 82nd.

Coach Li was pleased with the performance of his young team.

“Most of our athletes are underclassmen," Li said after the race. "On our boys’ team, our top two skiers are freshmen. This team will continue to do well.

“It is a good group of kids. They are motivated and work well together as a team.”