Winter is coming, and the BSM Nordic team knows it more than anyone else.  Both the girls and boys teams are returning from a successful year in the Metro West Conference last season, and appear confident for this year.

The roster changes have affected both teams to an extent.  “There weren’t any graduates from our team last year, but we’ve got many new kids, many of which are in the Junior High, such as Dimitri Huel, Stash Bernarsky, and Michel Leblanc, along with some returnees,” boys Nordic team captain Matt Paal said.  The girls team has lost Rachel Conley, the number two skier on the team to graduation, and has received many new athletes as well.

Both teams have been training rigorously in the past two weeks, which can range from pushups to roller skiing. “We do hard days and easy days. On the easy days we do some jogging and basic calisthenics, but on hard days we do a killer workout, where we run up and down a hill fifty times,” girls nordic team captain Amanda Kautzer said.   

The captains note they are blessed with a great coaching staff.  Karl Shabers is the head coach, and Jim Wander is sticking with his job as assistant coach, despite retiring from his teaching job at BSM two years ago.  “Wander is the best, can’t beat him,” senior Matt Lynch said.

When asked about their goals for the year, the boys stand firm with their intention to make it to State as a team.   “Kylin and Stash will have to step up, one will hopefully be our fourth skier,” Lynch said.

The girls plan on at least being in the top half of the Conference, yet they intend to win it as well.  On the girls’ end, Mae Fullerton will possibly be a valuable player, who can hopefully transition her cross country phenomenal skill to skiing, and Claudia Elsenbast is another hopeful, who has been putting extensive work into her training over the summer.