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There is a tune that Woodstock Academy ski team coach Kevin Brody has been continuing to hum to himself even though the holiday season has passed.
“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” has been the mantra for the Centaurs and the other teams participating in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League.
Unfortunately, their wishes have not been answered much this season.
But the home course for the state, Mount Southington, has been holding up.
Fortunately, the Centaurs also have the ability to train at Wachusett Mountain in Westminster, Mass., where conditions are better.
The longer-range forecast did not hold much hope for more natural snow any time soon, but even sub-freezing temperatures at night would be welcomed by skiers.
Woodstock took part in the first CISL meet Jan. 12 with temperatures in the mid-40s in Southington and the threat of rain.
Senior Davis Simpson finished eighth among 144 boys competitors.
“That’s darn good,” Brody said. “There are a lot of racers there that come from winter or weekend academies up north with pretty intense training and come back to their high schools to race. For that reason, top-10 is incredible in my book.”
Fellow seniors Aidan Soderman (66th) and Nicholas Betschmann (81st) also finished in the top 100 while freshman Luke Thompson was 115th.
The boys have only four skiers which means they cannot score as a team this season. Teams need to have six skiers with two qualifying scores each to score as a team. The bigger concern is that with three of the Woodstock boys being seniors, it means Brody will have to do some recruiting.
“It’s weird,” Brody said. “Ski racing has become a very female-dominated sport and that’s very cool but I wish we had two more boys so we could score some points for the league. But, they are solid individually which is all that matters.”
The Centaurs do have enough girls to score led by sophomore Emma Brody who finished ninth out of 150 girls competitors in the first meet.
“She actually hopped on some new equipment (earlier in the week), a longer ski, and I guess she took to it pretty well,” said Kevin Brody who is both her coach and father. “Sometimes, people get used to equipment and when they change, it can do funky things to them.”
Junior Maeve Lusignan was 55th in that first meet and fellow junior Peyton Bentley finished 91st.
The Centaurs also have juniors Avery Kollbeck and Lilly Verraneault and sophomores Phoebe Griffin and Olivia Smith.
“Progress,” Kevin Brody said when asked what his goal for the season is. “Seeing kids having fun, improving throughout the season, jumping spots and climbing the ladder to get higher in their CISL placements.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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