By Doug Boyle
Staff Writer

The Westford Academy alpine ski team season came to an end on Tuesday, February 26, 2013. Both the girls and boys fought for state titles were unable to win. The boys finished fourth and the girls finished eleventh.

For individuals, sophomore sensation James Larsen finished first place in the Giant Slalom with a time of 42.97. His teammate, junior Alex Antes finished fourteenth with a time of 45.05. Larsen beat out Andrew Solomon of Concord Carlisle who finished second in the Giant Slalom and first in the slalom.

Overall the boy’s fourth-place finishing team had a score of 463. Last year the boys finished fourth as well but major improvements from last year include Larsen’s jump from twelfth to first.

“It’s all about timing, this year the boys team is really strong because there’s a combination of good racers skiing for WA,” said sophomore Katie Stokes. “Last year, the girls team was undefeated and won states. We lost our top two girls, so we’re struggling to do as well but we still have some strong skiers and we stand a chance at states.”

The girl’s team won the state title last year in 2012, beating Andover by two points. This year they finished eleventh with a score of 371. They lost to both Andover and DCL rival, Acton-Boxborough. AB also beat Westford two times earlier in the season, once on January 15th and another on February 6th.

The team is led by junior co-­captains Alexa Sullivan and Natalie Bishop, both of whom have performed fantastically this season. Four girls were representing the team in the state race including Bishop, Stokes, Sullivan, and junior Meghan Potter. The team also has four sophomores who have all performed well during the season and a promising newcomer and freshman, Hannah McGrath. The sophomores include Vanessa Palermo, Katie Mitrano, Lily Hitlemen, and Stokes.

The boy’s team also has some youth including three sophomores, Larsen, Connor Freud, and Colin Cressman. Also, freshmen Ben Cassidy has shown promise for the future of Westford ski.

This season was especially a challenge for the girls because two of their racers from last year’s states have now graduated. The loss of Jessica Bishop and Mady Cady certainly left impact on the team but they were able to push through it.

“The loss of our top two girls, one of them being me sister, and with AB’s addition of a couple strong skier’s, one specifically whom has returned from a ski academy for her senior year, has made this year more challenging than ever,” said Bishop, “But, with a strong team effort we are able to finish very well week after week.”

Both teams know that they have fought hard all season and that the overall skill of the team has improved. The chemistry and support that the team has, with the improvement of skills, will make Westford victorious once again.

“We have been successful as a team because a majority of the kids have been training through different racing programs since they were young and have grown to be incredible racers, said Sullivan.

This can be tough with a sport like skiing where both individual and team wins are being strived for, but with great leadership from their captains, Westford has been able to build this chemistry and be successful.

“Many teams think that if you have really good skiers on the team then you’ll do well all the time, but many teams don’t realize how important chemistry is”, said Bishop,  “You have to figure out how to help someone for their individual race in order to do well as a whole. So, since we have great racers and great camaraderie on the team, we are able to push each other to do our best and therefore placing really well each week as a team and individually.”