Harwood's Nordic ski team wrapped up its season with strong finishes in its final races, including the state championship meets, and placed several skiers on the all-state under-16 (U16) and high school Elite teams.
In a home freestyle meet at Ole's on February 11, junior Philip Hekeler scorched the rest of the boys' field for first place. Junior Kyle Dash grabbed 8th place, with Colin Fennelly (11th), Tyler Skroski (12th), Cam Alberghini (15th), Emeric Rochford (16th), Walker Randall-Caffry (17th) and Seth Davidson (24th) rounding out a strong Harwood showing. In the girls' race, freshman Phoebe Sweet skied to sixth place, with sophomore Madeline Strasser hot on her heels in seventh place (both girls reining it in to be in top shape for a set of Eastern Cup races that weekend). Freshman Jordi Kulis came in 11th and Anneka Wiliams was 13th. Sophia Libby (15th), Isabel Jamieson (17th) and Erin Magill (21st) finished strong.
On February 18, at a classic race at Bellows Free Academy in Fairfax, 10th-grader Anneka Williams skied to her strongest result of the season with a third-place finish. Jordi Kulis was not far behind, nabbing 6th place, and freshman Erin Magill landed in 14th place. Anna Van Dine, Claire Brundage, Posy LaBombard and Grace Simmons skied strong to the finish. For the boys' team, Noah Eckstein and Philip Hekeler left the rest of the pack in the dust as they duked it out NASCAR-style with sophomore Eckstein pulling out the victory in a photo finish. Colin Fennelly, Tyler Skroski, Cam Alberghini and Emeric Rochford rounded out the team.
Under-16 and High School Elite Team Qualifiers
On February 22 at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, students from around the state competed for the 20 coveted slots on the Vermont U16 and Vermont high school Elite teams. Racers with the lowest combined times from both classic and freestyle races that day will compete against the best skiers from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and New York at upcoming meets in Fort Kent and Rumford, Maine.
Harwood placed several girls onto the U16 team, including Phoebe Sweet, Madeline Strasser, Jordi Kulis and Anneka Williams, with Isabel Jamieson as an alternate. On the boys' side, the day belonged to Noah Eckstein, whose finish was strong enough to land him a spot on both the U16 team and the all-ages high school squad. Philip Hekeler just missed the cut for the high school team but is working to earn an alternate spot on the squad with a strong finish in the high school state meets.
High School State Meets
At the state freestyle meet on February 27 at Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Harwood girls had a solid outing in the individual segment with Phoebe Sweet standing on the podium with a second-place finish followed by Madeline Strasser (6th), Jordi Kulis (15th), Anneka Williams (16th) and Isabel Jamieson (21st). In the team relay race, Strasser, Williams, Sweet and Kulis grabbed a podium spot with a third-place finish for Division II.
The boys' squad was led by Philip Hekeler and Noah Eckstein in fourth and fifth places, respectively, followed by Kyle Dash (29th), the trio of Emeric Rochford, Colin Fennelly and Tyler Skroski (45th through 47th), followed closely by Cam Alberghini and Lucas Boyden. The relay squad of Hekeler, Eckstein, Rochford and Dash finished in fifth place for Division II schools, within striking distance of the podium for the March 3 state classic meet.
At the season finale State Classic meet at the Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton on March 3, the relay team of Noah Eckstein, Phillip Hekeler, Kyle Dash and Colin Fennelly fought to another fifth-place finish, while in the individual race, Eckstein (seventh) and Hekeler (eighth) led the team to fifth place for the meet overall.
On the girls' side, the powerhouse relay team of Phoebe Sweet, Madeline Strasser, Jordi Kulis and Anneka Williams again nabbed third place, and in the individual race, freshman Sweet crushed the entire Division II field for the victory, with Strasser, Kulis and Williams all in the top dozen finishers. The girls' squad finished in third place overall in Division II.
Sweet and Hekeler's strong performances earned them each a spot on the state high school Elite Team. The state meet also had a bittersweet note with the Nordic farewell to seniors Claire Brundage and Emeric Rochford.
