For the third year in a row the girls nordic ski team has won the state championship.

“We [were] pretty confident going into it because we have a very solid varsity team,” Gillian Fairfax ‘24 said. “And obviously, we had two years of experience so that was good. But you know, you never know.”

BHS left no doubt about their victory. In nordic races the lowest score wins. BHS had an overall score of 58. The runner up, Mount Anthony, scored 125.

“We never race Mount Anthony, so we were kind of surprised, but we were sure it wasn’t too close,” Fairfax said. “We
weren’t super worried, but it’s always good to be aware and not get too cocky.”

BHS won both the 2.5k team freestyle race and the 5k individual freestyle race on the first day of

competition. A week later on Feb. 28, BHS competed in the classic team and individual races- and won both again.

“Yeah, I think we went into it with a lot of confidence,” Greta Kilburn ‘23 said. “We have a really strong team and we’ve been performing really well throughout the whole season.”

Over 60 participants competed in the individual race. BHS girls earned 1st, 3rd and 4th in the freestyle and 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the classic. Fairfax placed 1st in the freestyle and classic with times of 00:13:58.51 and 00:17:06.71. She attributes their success to time spent together, having fun and “suffering”.

“We are together pretty much everyday, so if you’re doing a hard workout or even not feeling great, it’s very encouraging to be around teammates,” Fairfax said. “If you’re doing it together, at least you’re all suffering together.”

Although it is a winter sport, you can find the girls training year round on skis and roller skis.

“We hang out a lot, we spend way too much time together,” Fairfax said. “We’re always supporting each other and we’ve been brought up by the seniors which is really nice.”

Many of the athletes said that it was this time spent together that led to their success.

“I think it’s kind of [a] mentality that we have toward each other,” Sanborn said. “We love each
other and have good chemistry.”

Kilburn agrees.

“I think something really cool about our team is we’re all just great friends and it’s so exciting to perform so well together,” Kilburn said. “And as a group, I think everyone was excited for each other and really proud of how we all raised a special moment to experience with each other again.”