After two races being cancelled due to inclement weather, the Oyster River Alpine Ski Team had their first race at Cranmore Mountain against Kennett and Kingswood High Schools last Friday.

     Despite the freezing temperatures, the team had very successful races with a few girls and boys placing in the top ten. The team started the morning with giant slalom (GS) and followed with slalom in the afternoon. Placing in the top ten for GS were Nico Colarusso (‘22), Tate Sullivan (‘22), Olivia Mueller (‘24), and Emily McPherson (‘23) and in slalom were Emily McPherson (‘23) and Jen Newick (‘22).

     Nico Colarusso (‘22), one of the team captains, was thrilled with the team’s outcomes for the first race. “The team did great [for the] first race, especially on a hard course. We had some pretty nice finishes and I’m excited for the rest of the year.” As an experienced racer, Colarusso is looking forward to the next couple weeks and seeing how the team improves and places as they have more races. 

     Mia Weglarz (‘25) has raced for a telemark team in the past, but Friday was Weglarz’s first alpine race. For Weglarz, GS was familiar and easily picked up again, but “this was my first ever slalom race, so I was pretty nervous but it turned out well and was super fun.” Weglarz explained that slalom went very well for her and looking at next week has set “a personal goal to shed a couple seconds off my time and gain more confidence in the slalom course.” 

   The whole team skied fast and well throughout the day. It was clear to see that having extra practice in gates due to cancelled races helped newer racers along with others racers feel confident and prepared for their first race. Logan Courtright (‘25), who also had a successful first race, explained his goals for the following races. “For next week’s races, [I want] to gather everything I have learned from the upperclassmen and apply it to the courses.” Courtright is new to racing this year, but has already improved and showcased his talent in the first race. Courtright also mentioned that, “as a team, we worked together and cheered each other on [at the race] making the experience ten times better.”

     Overall, the team had a great day. There was a lot of cheering and success throughout the race. Looking at the next few weeks, racers are confident they will be successful and hope to win a race or two. The team is very excited for what this coming week holds as they race on Tuesday at Sunapee and Friday at King Pine. 

Photos by Millissa Gass