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The Winchester High Nordic (cross-country) ski team came into existence only 15 years ago in 2010. Scott Carlson, a western Pennsylvania native, started the program, and remains in charge to this day.
His boys team won the Mass. Bay West League championship in 2020, while the girls just wrapped up their third title in the last four years on Feb. 4 at Weston’s Leo G. Martin Golf Course, a venue that varies in distance, depending on the season’s snowfall.
But after this winter’s storms, much to the delight of snow lovers, the league was able to expand the terrain for the racers to seven kilometers, approximately five miles.
“I only had three boys on my first roster in 2010,” said Carlson, who teaches physics at the high school. “But over the years, we had as many as 65 tryout one winter that resulted in me cutting it back to 58. The roster that year included athletes with a wide range of abilities from novices to veterans of the sport.”
In the here and now, the program consists of four boys and 24 girls, and, despite the fact that the top five finishers count in the scoring on each team, the boys still ended up fifth in the seven-team league that also includes Acton-Boxborough, Concord-Carlisle, Lincoln-Sudbury, Wayland, Minuteman and Westford Academy.
The girls, on the other hand, had three skiers in the league’s Top 10, while winning four races this year, coming in second just once, which occurred in the opening meet of the regular season. All of that winning secured them another banner.
Seniors Lila Beauchamp and Alanna Lee, and junior Piper Oswald are this year’s girls captains, while seniors Jonno Gilmer and Quinn Shanley are the boys leaders.
In the final league meet of the season again on Feb. 4 in Weston, the girls won the West again, which was their second straight title, and third in four years. Oswald, Caroline Lanz and Abigail Bastien finished fourth through sixth in that order, followed by Avery Bastien (12th) and Scarlett Copeland (16th) to round out the Top 5.
Gilmer was the first Winchester boys skier to cross the finish line in seventh place. Shanley was 23rd. Kuan Fu (27th) and Jack Eichelberger (40th) completed the race to account for the team’s fifth-place finish.
There’s just one meet left on the schedule this season, and that’s the state championships on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at Mt. Prospect in Woodford, Vermont. It’s scheduled for an out-of-state site, because the Vermont facility has more natural snow on the ground, plus it’s also capable of making snow.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
