On very tricky and technical slalom courses at Nashoba Valley Tuesday, Bromfield’s Alpine ski teams turned in their best performances of the year, with the boys team finishing first and girls team second. Both of Bromfield’s top racers, senior Ryan Parker for the boys and freshman Jackie Sampson for the girls, were swallowed up by the course, but their teammates ran flawlessly to deliver the goods.
Racing without senior captain Pasquale Eckert who was out with a nonskiing-related injury, the boys team showed its depth as it tallied its highest point total of the season. With 461 total points, the boys squeaked out a two-point win over Westford Academy, whose top racers tied for first overall. Sophomore Tyler von Loesecke led Bromfield’s boys to the finish line in sixth place overall, with freshman Tucker Edwards right behind in seventh and another freshman, Sam Elkind, in eighth. Freshman Erik Johnson followed in 10th place, and junior Josh Wright turned in his best finish of the year, sealing first for the team by crossing the finish line 13th. On the junior varsity side, junior Lars Nordgreen, in his first season of ski racing, finished fourth JV and 21st overall. Junior Ryan Williams was seventh JV, junior Brian Mandozzi eighth, freshman Austin Parker 10th, eighth-grader Michael Finnegan 14th JV, and junior Dan Cooke 16th JV. A finish time for seventh-grader Sam Dyer is not yet available.
Acton-Boxborough won its third straight girls contest with a dominant 460 points, but a gritty performance by the Bromfield women totaled 427, five points ahead of third-place Chelmsford. Sophomore Tori Budd, skiing with Bromfield from Littleton High, was Bromfield’s first finisher in seventh place overall, followed in eighth by sophomore Tory Sowizral. Seventh-grader Sarah Rowse was Bromfield’s third finisher, in 13th place overall, followed by classmate Karina Edwards in 20th and sophomore Maggie Rooney in 30th. In the JV race, seventh-grader Jessica Williams was 10th and freshman Mary Egan crossed the line in 18th, while seventh-grader Lauren Masters did not finish.
With one regular season race to go, Bromfield’s boys stretched their league lead over Newton South and Acton-Boxborough to four and five wins, respectively. Johnson, Ryan Parker, Elkind, and Edwards are well positioned to finish in the league’s top 14 and qualify for the State Championship, while von Loesecke and captain Eckert sit just outside the top 14, one more solid finish away from qualifying. With a strong showing in the fifth and final regular season race next Tuesday, juniors Nordgreen and Wright also have a shot at qualifying for States. Bromfield’s women remain in fourth place overall, but have improved their record to 13–11, only two wins behind Westford and Chelmsford. Budd, Sampson, and Sowizral are poised to qualify for the Girls State Championship, with Rowse having an outside shot of going to the state race as well.
