With the official start of alpine skiing season, both the boys’ and girls’ teams make a daily 40-minute trek to and from Berkshire East (a family resort) to train in slalom and giant slalom on the short, steep mountain.
When the skiers returned from Thanksgiving break, the ground was still devoid of snow, so the team trained hard by doing dry-land exercises to work on their agility.
The ski team began its racing season in January, with races occurring on Wednesdays at Berkshire East.
Coached by math teacher Marc Dancer ’79 and Physical Plant grounds general Jodi Tanguay, the team is captained by seniors Liz Earle, Andy Harris, Alexander Heller, and Hayley Lawless, all of whom have high hopes of continuing their tradition of excellence within the New England League.
Last season in the 2009 NESPSAC Class A Alpine Skiing Championships, the girls finished in fourth place and boys in second. Both boys and girls were also MISL Champions.
Deerfield’s ski team is vast and includes a wide variety of talent, but the program accommodates skiers of all skill levels. The challenging course at Berkshire East is a tough enough obstacle for even the most seasoned skiers on the team, and for the less experienced members, or those just beginning to ski, there are both JV and recreational programs.
For each race, there is an established running order and the team is split into Boys’/Girls’ Varsity A, Varsity B, and JV. In the first race of this season, there was no surprise that Jack Stobierski ’12 was ranked number one for Boys’ Varsity A, as he rarely loses a race. For girls, ranked numbers 1 and 2 in the first race were sisters Hayley ’10 and Beth Lawless ’12.
The team has upcoming regular races for the next three weeks in the run-up to the New England Championships which occur on February 10.