My blog is also my virtual scrapbook for my family. Sadly though, only my husband reads my blog. One day, I hope my kids (or future grandkids) will find these posts about them and enjoy them.
Today, I want to preserve this local newspaper write up of my daughter’s high school nordic team. She started Nordic (cross country) skiing her freshman year of high school.
At that time, she was a coxswain at CRI (Community Rowing Inc.) Novice Girls’ Team. The winter training is boring for the coxswains because it’s indoors on ergs and they don’t have to be there six times a week like the rest of the year. Because Nordic Ski team at Newton North High School has a reputation for being a “chill” sport in that it’s ok if you miss practices or don’t want to race and it’s a no-cut sport, she decided to give it a try and recruited a few of her friends.
It turned out to be a really fun experience and she also excelled for having no experience in the sport. Her first year, she makes the Varsity team, went to compete in States for her high school, and qualified for Regionals.
One of the best things about Nordic ski for her was meeting the elite skiers from Massachusetts. Because her friend Serena does club Nordic Ski at CSU, she was introduced to team her freshman year. When she made the U16 regional race, she had the weekend to hang out with the Massachusetts team and they bonded. Because our ski training facility, Weston Ski Track, is the only Nordic ski place in the area, everyone trains here including Harvard’s team. The small ski track which goes around the driving range becomes a great place to socialize. I think these are friendships that my daughter will continue in college even if she is not at the same school with these kids.
Four years later, she wasn’t sure if she would make the MBE League All-Stars for 2020 because every year, there are new freshmen who have been nordic skiing on a club team for years and train year-round. But she did it! She had her best race of her career on the last race of the regular season which helped her to make MBE League All-Stars.
Congratulations Ali! You were a really inclusive and high energy co-captain these past two years, planning many outings for the team including overnights, ski trips, and food runs to Chinatown (I’m not sure why, but the Nordic team outings often include dim sum and boba tea). I know, because my son’s friend joined the team having had very little experience in Nordic skiing and his mom told me that the social aspect of Nordic is his favorite thing about the sport. From the carpools to the parties, he has loved the Nordic team.
Newton North High School Nordic Team Captains (2019-2020). From left to right: Evan, Jo, Serena, Ali, Griffin, Bergen, and Ella.
Wicked Local Newton
Sports
Coach Whip Parker at the post party after the last regular season race. He refers to Claire … she is a Nordic Ski star freshman but was injured all season. Watch for her next year!
Newton North Nordic girls skiers take Mass Bay East title
The Newton North Girls Varsity Nordic ski team has been on a roll, winning four league races in a row en route to the 2020 Mass Bay East League title over Wellesley.
Seniors Serena Jampel, Ella Bailey, Sophia Wax, Ali Lee, and Jo Graham have been skiing together since ninth grade at the Weston ski track, and this winter it all came together as their experience and team spirit helped them overcome a third place in their first race of the season to come back with four wins in a row to take the league title over Wellesley, Dover-Sherborn, Newton South, Natick, Weston, and Brookline.
For their performances, Jampel, Bailey and Lee have been named MBE League All-Stars for 2020.
In the final league race of the season, North finished with five girls in the top 12 to clinch its fourth win in a row.
Next, the Tigers will compete in the state championships at Notchview Reservation out in the Western Mass. town of Windsor on Feb 25 against more than 20 other high school teams in pursuit of the state title.
Related posts:
My Daughter’s Nordic Ski Season (2017-2018)
Family Challenge: 8 Mile (Death Defying) Hike
My Son Boxing: Then and Now & Boxing Picture Books
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Oh, Mia, wouldn’t you love to have a commentary from your grandmother, documenting her interests and her family’s achievements and her reactions to the important happenings in the world and in her immediate circle? Those whose relatives kept a journal might have access to that, but a blog gives a different perspective–the voice someone wanted to send out into the world. I often think of the prompt to “let your children overhear you praising them”, and I apply it liberally because even though I don’t have children I think it is a great thing for someone I love or admire to hear me give them a genuine compliment in public. Your blog is that, and so much more. This is a treasure! The book lover in me has often wondered if you’ve printed up any of your posts to have a bound record of your blog–such as the lovely remembrance of your mother, things like that which are truly family history. But really, so much of what you’ve recorded is, because what is family history but daily life, lived by real people? I’ll stop now…