Following is the article written by coach Fred Griffin that will appear in a later "Messenger."
This has been a phenomenal series of days for the Fairfax Nordic program. The kids who began as a club six years ago; created a varsity program four years ago, and established the traditions of our team, have, as seniors, brought us to the top of the state. The successes of our teams this year can be directly attributed to the years of hard work of Kyle and Zach Bochanski, Megan and Shannon Kane, Dustin Hayes, Heather Holloway, Michelle Ambrisco, Simon Mann-Gow, Brad Stanley,Gayson Crounse, and Larisa Marco. None of these athletes had a skiing background. They learned the sport from the very beginning and year by year have improved. They leave behind an outstanding pool of talented underclassman: Eric Newbury, Maddie Hayes, Julia Snyder, Ethan Farmer, Margaret Fitzgerald, Austin Carpenter, Morgan Wynes, and a host of other young, learning skiers.
Our boys’ team came out focused for Wednesday’s classical race. The Bochanski brothers, along with Eric Newbury, and Dustin Hayes, all finished within a minute of each other. Simon Mann -Gow and Ethan Farmer both popped top twenty five finishes. We knew, when we came to the relay, that we weren’t going to be able to catch Woodstock, but the boys mounted a huge effort and finished a very strong second.
Our girls were clearly on a mission. For the first time in Fairfax history, we had a team come into the second day of the state meets in the lead. They were determined to do what had to be done to maintain the lead. Megan and Shannon Kane posted top ten finishes, but Heather Holloway, Maddie Hayes, Michelle Ambrisco, were right behind them in the top fifteen. They pretty much salted away the win with their morning performances but came back in the afternoon with a commanding first place in the girls DII relay.
Our team successes this year come not just from the efforts of the 20 kids we sent to state meet, but of the 38 others who they skied with , competed with and were supported by. We had more of a skiing community than we did a ski team.
We are, to my knowledge, the only team in the state that skis 90% of the time on ungroomed meadows, through untracked woods, or on VAST trails. I am not sure this is a drawback. Our kids understand the very essence of the sport and live it six days a week.
