The weather created a season full of challenges for the GHS alpine ski team. Think of the days you walked outside to your car in January and said, “man, it’s really really cold out.” These athletes were outside in that for extended periods of time standing in line to race down a course that’s like an ice rink angled to 35 degrees.
Training and racing in those conditions is quite the commitment for a course that typically takes less than one minute. It was the kind of season that makes you truly appreciate powder and spring conditions. Shawnee Peak did an outstanding job of providing the team with the best conditions mother nature would allow.
Photo credit Mia BallardMembers of the Alpine Ski Team at GHS recently competed at Black Mountain in Rumford. Front row (l to r): Sarah Baxter, Maggie Munkacsi, Estelle Ballard, Claire Munkacsi, and Rylie Wareham. Back row (l to r): Coach Sean Munkacsi, Derek Kuusela, Owen Smith, Victor Popov, Sam Cousins, and Jacob Polchies. Missing from photo: Polly Rae, Nolan McCullough, Nolan Irish, Jack Cunningham, Griffin Loranger, Aubrey Denico and Ryan Castonguay.
Seniors Owen Smith, Victor Popov, and Derek Kuusela contributed points for the team every race. On the girls side, there were two All Conference athletes in sophomore Estelle Ballard and freshman Claire Munkacsi. Rylie Wareham, the senior motivational and relaxation specialist, had her best season and will be greatly missed. There are several underclassmen showing tremendous potential and who just love to ski and improve. That’s good news for the future of the team.
In the SMAA Championships, the girls finished 4th and the boys finished 5th. The GHS Ski Team could not have accomplished what it did without its private driver Kenny Fickett, who made sure the team was always happy, on time and well fed. For the record, he may be the only person in Gorham with more ski days than the coach.