The New Canaan Ski Team had its second race of the year as it targets a fifth straight state championship.
On Wednesday, Jan. 21, everything went as planned with one major exception—a new team star emerged. Sophomore Graham Jameson, a weekend warrior on the Southern Vermont junior racing circuit, had a breakout performance, with an incredible second-place overall finish.
Jameson shocked the field with the fastest run overall in the first run and hung on with a very solid third-place finish in the second run, only beaten in the overall by Staples High School’s Campbell Ashman.
After the heavy rain last weekend, questions were raised about snow conditions at local ski area Mount Southington, but the staff at the hill did it’s best to prepare the course in order to accommodate the 14 teams racing that evening. Nonetheless, the snow became quite rutted and crusty, making Jameson’s achievement that much more impressive.
Head Ski Team coach Christian Dockum said: “Both courses we ran were ‘man-eaters.’ There were some wicked terrain changes and turn placements on both courses that really punished those who were not prepared and not on top of their skis.”
“Our kids were prepared, knew when they needed to be early on their turns and knew when they could let ‘em rip,” he added with a smile.
According to Jameson, it was simply business as usual: “I ski better on more technical, tight courses. When we did our pre-race course inspection, I knew I could ski it well. In the actual race, I was able to stay focused, avoid mistakes and ski hard.” Apparently, Jameson is a master of the understatement.
Regarding Jameson’s individual performance, Dockum was less reserved: “Those were two smoking runs. Graham has shown that kind of speed and determination in practice all season, so it’s great he was able to produce that result in a race. I don’t doubt that he’ll gain some confidence and consistency, so we can all expect see many more top finishes from Graham this season and during his junior and senior campaigns.”
Also scoring points in the race were senior co-captain Emily DeTour (in 27th, first girl), junior Grayson Kane (in 47th, another breakout performance of sorts), junior co-captain AmandaDobbin (in 49th, second girl), freshman Ethan Hall (in 54th), and freshman Megan Waldron (in 59th).
The evening’s overall results were quite impressive for the team. The team was first overall in its “Mixed, Varsity” division, fifth overall out of the 14 teams scheduled to compete (including “Large Team, Boys Varsity” and “Small Team, Boys Varsity”). Also, the team “won” the “Small Team, Boys Varsity” division beating out all 5 teams in that division who competed that night.
Dockum, in his first season coaching the team, was particularly happy. “It was an outstanding night. Everyone put in a solid effort. We were one of only two teams to have all racers finish. IT was a great team effort tonight punctuated by some incredible personal achievements up and down our race order.”
Next up for the team is the Connecticut State Giant Slalom Shoot-Out on Monday, Jan. 26. The top 30 racers in that competition advance to a round of Slalom, from which the best 10 racers advance to the East Coast Regional Finals later this winter.
With the likelihood of a fifth straight state championship in their sights, perhaps the team should be aim higher?