List of 3 news stories.

• DS Alpine brings home the hardware!

  Wow!  What a spectacular two days it has been for the Derryfield Alpine program.  Yesterday we took 6 male athletes up to Loon for the State Championship race.  These boys are loaded with talent, but finishes thus far this season had been a little bit inconsistent.  So we asked the boys to dial it back, ski conservatively and finish!  We asked for 12 clean runs in the morning, and they did exactly that!  Senior Logan Goldberg ran first and finished in 6th place for us, Freshman Scott Connors started next and nailed his runs to take 1st place overall in the race!  Senior Jack Schroeder skied clean to finish in 13th, and Freshman Jake Oliviero stepped up to finish in 10th overall.  By that point we had 4 solid finishes and told Freshman John Small and Myles Rozen to send it!  And they did!  John skied his fastest GS runs of the season to finish in 8th for us, and Myles finished in 23rd.  We finished the morning GS with 4 boys in the top 10 and came out the top GS team with 379 points to Profile's 366.

   

  Heading in to the afternoon, we were ahead of Profile by 13 points, but we knew anything could happen in Slalom.  We tried for the same strategy, but the boys said it was the one of the iciest courses they had ever skied.  Logan again skied first for the team and placed 6th.  Scott hiked first run and didn't finish second run.  Jack again skied some really clean runs to place in 17th.  Jake brought home the 7th place finish, John struggled a bit first run to place in 21st, and Myles put down two clean runs to finish in 18th and scored for the team.  Our afternoon SL finishes placed us in 4th with 356 points behind Lin Wood, Profile and Sunapee. 

   

  Would it be enough?  We sent all the parents into a fury to calculate the points and see how the math worked out for us.  The answer was YES!  It was enough!  For the first time since 2016, the Derryfield boys took home the D4 State Championship title!!  It was a total team effort.  Every one of our 6 athletes scored for the team, and without those finishes we would not have taken first.  They finished with a total of 735 points, with Linwood just behind us with 730, and Profile with 725.  We are so proud of this boys team and so excited about what DS Alpine can accomplish with this fantastic young team.

   

  The girls team headed over to Crotched today with 7 athletes competing for the State Title there.  Talk about clean runs?  The girls team put down 24 clean runs today.  No falls, no disqualifications, and everyone crossed that finish line.  In the morning GS, DS took second place with 359 points behind Profile with 388 points.  Junior Lilly Handwerk made the podium with a 2nd place finish, Freshman Teagan Peabody put down 2 great runs to finish in 7th.  Freshman Phoebe Handwerk took home 18th, Sophomore Aubrey Webb finished in 20th, Senior Alyssa Shula took 22nd, and Freshman Pola Jankowska took 28th.  

   

  The girls came back out for the afternoon Slalom to a much softer course as the temperatures continued to rise, and took 3rd in the SL for the afternoon with 359 points behind Profile with 380, and Lin Wood with 362.  Lilly had 2 great runs for a 5th place finish, as did Teagan who finished right behind her in 6th. Aubrey skied clean for the 16th place. Junior Livi Bar scored for team in 20th, with Phoebe and Alyssa came in just behind her in 21st and 22nd.  

   

  Overall, our girls team took the runner-up trophy home for Derryfield with their second place finish!  That makes the 3rd year in a row that our girls have grabbed the Silver  The girls finished with 718 points to Profile's 768.

   

  We are so proud of both of these teams!  They fought hard, skied well, supported each other, and conducted themselves with great sportsmanship on and off the hill!  Boys State Champs, and Girls runners up!  We have some serious positions to defend next year:)   These teams qualified 6 athletes to compete next week in the prestigious Meet of Champions to race against the top 10 finishers from every division in New Hampshire.  Congratulations to Logan, Scott, John, Jake, Lilly and Teagan!  They will be racing at Mittersill on 2/23.

   

  Some really big thank you's need to go out today!  We hosted today's race and I asked for volunteers.  Our gate keepers, James Donovan (DS MS Coach), Alice Handwerk, and Meredith Webb did a phenomenal job today of watching the course and providing the utmost in professional results.  Thank you to Margaux Peabody for a fantastic job announcing.  I appreciate our extra forerunners today, Logan and Alex Benson.  Athletic Director Chris Hettler attended both races and always gives fantastic support to the team.

   

  Next up, Manchester Mac Cup and Meet of Champions.  Go DS!

• DS Alpine does Double Duty

  Wow, what a busy day for DS Alpine on Friday!  Thirty-three of our athletes participated in two different races at two different mountains.  That's a first!  Nineteen of our athletes joined Coach Kathy at Mittersill for the day for a D4 GS race, with a 2 run race in the morning followed by a one run race in the afternoon.  With rain overnight, and 40 degree weather, the snow was soft and the course was difficult to maintain.  There were ruts and bumps that sent lots of racers off course.  But Derryfield buckled down for the ride, and pulled out second place finishes to Profile in all the events.  The girls skied well in the morning with everyone finishing in the top 20!  Scorers for the team were Junior Lilly Handwerk in 3rd, Junior Livi Brar in 9th, Freshman Phoebe Handwerk in 11th, and Sophomore Alex Benson in 13, totaling 371 points to Profile's 387.  The boys scored 375 points in the morning behind Profile with 391.  Scoring for the boys with some fantastic runs were Senior Captain Jack Schroeder in 2nd place, Freshman John Small in 7th, Freshman Jake Oliviero in 8th and Junior Zach Rosenthal in 12th.  The afternoon brought a new course and our girls all finished in the top 26.  Contributing to the team score of 367, were Lilly in 1st, Phoebe in 11th, Senior Captain Alyssa Shula in 15th, and Freshman Pola Jankowska in 17th.  The boys came back in the afternoon to score 378, with Senior Captain Logan Goldberg taking 2nd place, Jack Schroeder in 6th, Freshman Scott Connors in 8th, and John taking 11th.  We have a lot of depth and talent on this team, and it was great to see them all shine at Mittersill. 

   

  Coach Steve took the other 14 athletes to JV States at Pats Peak in the afternoon versus Keene, Bedford, Nashua South, Nashua North, Dover and Exeter.  It was an exciting dual GS in some super soft snow!  Not only did the Derryfield boys take home the win with 383 points, but 3 of our Seniors landed on the podium!  Artem Yurovskiy (1st place!), Evan Zhang (3rd), and Kate Moeckel (3rd) were rewarded with the infamous giant cookies from Pats Peak.  So proud of you!  Finishing out the scoring for the boys team were Junior Fin Pellerin in 7th and Sophomore Jerry Zhang in 9th.  The Girls team had just 3 in attendance so lacked one finish for their team score, but had a strong night with Sophomore Lucy Yakola taking 6th, and Freshman Abby Steward placing 14th.  Awesome job, team! 

• DS Scores at Sunapee

  The Cougars traveled to Mount Sunapee today to join a D2 race competing against Bow, Hanover, Windham, Pembroke and Merrimack Valley.  We did a 2 run Giant Slalom race in the morning and a 2 run Slalom race in the afternoon, and successfully grabbed second place in every team event.  Derryfield was a huge presence at the race with 31 athletes trying to send their best runs.  The girls scored 375 points in the morning GS behind Hanover (393), who proved to be the powerhouse team of the day taking first place in every event.  Luckily we won't see them in our state meets!  Scoring for our girls were Junior Lilly Handwerk in 4th, Freshman Teagan Peabody in 6th, Freshman Phoebe Handwerk in 13th, and Freshman Pola Jankowska in 16th.  Our remaining girls all finished in the top 40 and added depth and enthusiasm to the day. The boys also took second with 369 points behind Hanover with 393 points.  Scoring for the boys team were Freshman Scott Connors in 6th place, Freshman Jake Oliviero in 10th, Senior Captain Jack Schroeder in 13th, and Freshman John Small in 18th.  Our remaining boys on the team had some impressive finishes all within the top 45.

   

  In the afternoon Slalom, the girls again placed second behind Hanover with 375 points.  Teagan lead the scoring with a 5th place finish, Phoebe took 10th, Sophomore Aubrey Webb placed 12th, and Junior Livi Brar placed in 21st.  All of the girls finished in the top 35 and showed some serious strength against a tough course.  Our boys tied Bow for second place in the afternoon with 368 points behind Hanover (388).  Our first four across the finish line to score were Scott in 5th, Senior Captain Logan Goldberg in 12th, Jack Schroeder in 14th, and John in 16th.  The rest of our roster had some solid finishes, all in the top 37.

   

  We saw some fantastic skiing out there today, with solid improvements, and what I think were some personal bests!  We had great snow, beautiful sunshine, fun music, and fantastic team spirit.  Nice work, team!   Thanks to Mark Peabody for his help on the hill and Helen Schroeder for taking on the unofficial role of team manager.  Results are attached. Go DS!