On a tension filled last day of the Independent School League alpine skiing season, Middlesex's boys and girls team were both fired up for a last chance to prove themselves in 2012, as the girls pushed to break Nobles' undefeated run this season, while the boys needed to defeat a talented Belmont Hill squad in order to claim the first league title in the history of Middlesex alpine racing.
On the girls' side, Sophie V.'s two run combined time of 46.43 seconds pushed her into fifth place, while Nina H. and Taylor M. slotted in neatly after Sophie to give the Middlesex girls' a solid block of finishers in fifth, sixth, and seventh places. Rowena S. rounded out the scoring for Middlesex with a seventeenth place finish, one of her best in a GS race this season, while captain Emma C. finished off her Middlesex ski career in her own truly spectacular fashion. At the end of the day, the girls were able to finish with an admirable 35 points, just nine behind and extraordinarily strong Nobles team, wrapping up second place in the league by a wide margin.
The Middlesex boys, knowing they needed a victory in the final race to fully realize their goals similarly came into the day's racing with true conviction, dedicating themselves to knowing the course as well as possible in order to squeeze every millisecond out of it that they could. In the end, their work and perseverance paid off, with six Middlesex boys finishing in the top 16: Nick K. in fifth, Brendon C. in seventh, Spencer B. in tenth, Jack S. in eleventh, Grant B. in thirteenth, and Charlie P.--who put together the run of his life in the second run--in sixteenth. It was truly a team effort, as all six boys valuably helped displace the lower ranked racers for both Belmont Hill and Nobles, granting Middlesex a three point edge at the end of the day's racing, along with a well-deserved league championship.
The team owes its sincerest thanks to all of its racers this season for their tremendous effort, humor, and love for the sport. Special gratitude goes to seniors Peter H., Charie P., and Christopher H., and especially to captains Grant B., Spencer B., Emma C., and Nina H. for their leadership and passion not only throughout this season, but throughout their careers. Without their efforts, this team would have never achieved the record-setting heights it did on the season.
