by Carson White '10
There has not been an alpine ski team at Kent School since the 1970’s. Nearly forty years later, the team has been revived this winter in time to attend the 2010 New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Alpine skiing Championships at Mt. Sunapee, NH. The four members of the team, Jeff Green ’10, Colin Pottbecker ’09, Christian Reynolds ’10, and Carson White ’10, all have previous or current ski racing experience, making the team a contender at the championships.The entire team drove up Tuesday night to stay overnight at a local hotel and all were asleep before 11:00 p.m. in order to wake up at 6:30 a.m. the following morning, scramble for breakfast, and drive to the mountain in time for registration. Heavy snowfall on race day made for tough and slow conditions. Visibility was low, and the soft snow made for a tough course. Getting behind the ideal racing line would put a racer right into the soft snow, losing valuable seconds of time in a sport where tenths, sometimes hundredths of a second matter.The team finished well at the championships for our first appearance. We placed fifth out of twelve New England teams. There were roughly fifty female contenders and seventy male contenders, with women and men scored separately. Carson received a third-place medal in the slalom category, and sixth place in the giant slalom. Colin had even faster times, but two falls on one of each of the two runs allotted for slalom and giant slalom pushed his position back in the field. Jeff finished very well in both disciplines, placing in the top quarter of the field. Christian had an amazing giant slalom finish, despite not having had race training since before he arrived at Kent School. The team had a blast at the team dinner and race and owes a huge thanks to Coach Tuff, Colin’s father Mr. Pottbecker, and Mr. Marble for organizing the team. All the team members have been eagerly awaiting a team since their first year, and have finally made one!
