At noon on Wednesday, March 10 the BHS girl’s nordic team arrived at Craftsbury, Vermont for the D1 State championship. It was the day they would skate their way into a history-making win, though none of them knew it yet. The sun beat down on them, bringing the temperature to nearly fifty degrees. The heat meant that the snow would be wet and sticky, a dangerous mix for a race.

The girls had their concerns about the conditions, but they were hopeful. The team had performed well this year and had practiced and prepped meticulously.

“Going into it we knew we had a chance of winning because we’d been killing it this season,” BHS senior Quincy Massey-Bierman said. “But you never know. So we were super hyped about trying to win.”

There are two main types of cross-country skiing: classic style and skate style. To win States the girls had to do well in both the classic and the skate race.

The first race of the day was the classic. The girls lined up based on their number, starting at different intervals to remain a safe distance. BHS junior Rebecca Cunningham placed second place, with a time of 14:04.4. Right behind her was Quincy Massey-Bierman in third. Freshman Gillian Fairfax and Elsa Sanborn placed 8th and 15th. Sophomores Rosie Brown and Greta Kilburn placed 14th and 18th and juniors Maeve Fairfax and Sloane Guillian placed 16th and 19th, leaving all racers in the top 20.

It was a good start for the team and the girls were hopeful. During the break they milled around, changing into dry tops and grabbing snacks. After an hour’s break, the girls were ready for the skate race.

The girls performed just as well as in the classic. Cunningham and Massey-Bierman maintained their spots in second and third. Maeve Fairfax, who had never done skate Skiing before joining the BHS team her freshman year, put three BHS racers in the top ten by securing the 10th place, followed by her sister, Gillian Fairfax, who placed 13th.  Sandborn, Kilburn, and Brown helped maintain BHS’s lead with their places in 15th, 16th, and 17th respectively. Guilian rounded out the lineup, coming in 21st place, just shy of the top 20 by 15 seconds.

After they finished the race, the girls joined their coaches around the computer they were using to calculate the scores. The results were clear: BHS had won–beating out the nearest competitor, MMU, by 16 points overall. It was the first time in BHS history that the girl’s Nordic team had secured the championship win. 

The girls relished the win, but this year’s celebration was not like years past.

“Usually there’s like a whole podium and like a ceremony and all that,” Maeve Fairfax, BHS Junior and Co-Captain of the team said. “ But they just sort of handed us our medals. It was still really exciting.”

The girls enjoyed their win, “The morale was high. We were hyped after it.” Quincy Massey Bierman said.

Fairfax hopes the win will become one of many going forward. “I think there’s a strong possibility our team will be just as fast if not faster next year because people are really excited now about it.” She said.

Bierman is more certain, “I think this the start of a new era for BHS’s nordic team. I think you will see greatness in the future.”