In last season’s 2017 opener, the men’s and women’s Nordic team had strong performances at the St. Lawrence Carnival, with Forrest Hamilton ’20, from Shelburne, VT, finishing eighth out of 101 for the men’s sprints and Parker McDonald ’18, from Wolcott, CO, coming in 19th out of 109 for the men’s 10,000 meter freestyle. Halie Lange ’18, from Brattleboro, VT, finishing 23rd out of 95 in the women’s sprints, behind two teammates who have now left.
Overall the team came in 7th out of 17 teams, which was a fine achievement but one which they hope to beat during this year’s opening competition.
Throughout the year, the team consistently found itself in the middle of the pack, coming in eighth out of 16 for the UNH Carnival and the following UVM Carnival, eighth out of 15 for the Dartmouth Carnival, and seventh out of 16 for their very own Bates Carnival.
But several outstanding individual performances accompanied those places, with many of these individuals returning this year to continue their impact on the team: McDonald, Hamilton, and sophomore Graham Houstma ’20, from Aspen, CO, all had consistently good performances for the men last year, while Lange and sophomore Kaelyn Woods ’20, from New Gloucester, ME, played large roles for the women.
Although they will be missing the previous year’s impressive senior class, notably Sadie James with her 5k win at the Bates Carnival, Laurel Fiddler, Max Millslagle, Nathan Moreau, and Wade Rosco, this year’s team is excited and ready to go.
They know that they have some serious competitors returning from last year, and there is also lots of fresh new talent from the first-year class.
“We have a really young team with ten incoming freshmen. The team is anxious and hungry to start ski racing!” says senior captain Parker MacDonald. “There is a lot of talent on the team and we are looking to do big things. The team is looking strong and motivated which should make for an exciting season to come!”
