by MacKenzie Silvia
Nordic Ski ended their season positively and took home the Sportsmanship Award at the State Championship Meet Feb. 11.
The Sportsmanship Award is given to the team that not only shows team pride, but encourages other teams to do their best.
Senior Kelly Wang, a captain along with seniors Ned Martenis, Rafi Razzaque, and Brewster Taylor, attributes this award to the coach Bryan Collier.
Collier, a coach along with assistant Anna Ford, stressed the importance of sportsmanship throughout the entire season. “Although we were unable to win the division title this year, we did accomplish our most important goal of being recognized for our sportsmanship,” Collier said.
Collier also praised the skill development from both returning and new skiers.
According to Wang, the number of new skiers was exciting, but overwhelming at times.
“At the beginning, there were many falls and frustrated skiers,” Wang said. “But in the end the falls were not a big deal; people just got back up and continued to ski.”
Razzaque stated that, “You can teach a dozen skiers the same intro lesson, but after they get going, you have to individualize your coaching and critique based on how they ski.”
“More and more people became willing to help those who asked after they got comfortable on their own skis.”
Razzaque believes this determination of the new skiers is what allowed the team to improve and resulted in a close-knit team atmosphere.
According to Wang, the team chemistry was strong and grew tremendously throughout the season.
“We all were able to bring out our silly side and truly get to know each other,” Wang said.
Razzaque believes the Sportsmanship Award was won because of the amazing rapport of the team.
“We had good internal chemistry, so we could cheer-on other teams,” he said. “The team Sportsmanship Award would not have happened had we lacked this chemistry,” Razzaque said.
Razzaque is positive about the years to come and expects this level of camaraderie every season.
“Its safe to say we’ve left the team in good hands for the next few years, and that they will do so when the time comes for them [to graduate],” he said.
