The Forest Hills Central ski team encountered numerous opponents in a hard-fought meet this Tuesday. After only a week of consistent practice, the Rangers are beginning to climb the ladder. 

New skiers and veterans alike are beginning to find a groove and improve their performance. Senior captain Ben Taylor secured second place with an impressive time of 53.53 seconds for his combined runs in the men’s Giant Slalom race while junior captain Lucy McLean took ninth with an extraordinary 1 minute and 3.8 second combined run time in the women’s Giant Slalom. The team’s hard work is paying off and the captains are noticing.  

“The team has grown a lot in skill compared to our last meet,” captain Abby Berlin said.  “Having pushed through the first race, I feel like a lot of people were now more comfortable with racing in general.”

This kind of growth is what every team aspires to achieve; so, what is the ski team’s secret? According to senior Kali Coppess, it’s a product of team camaraderie. 

“The practice environment is super laid back and everyone just focuses on bettering themselves and everyone feels like family,” Kali said.

The ideas of team chemistry and self-betterment are most definitely paying off for the ski team, which is further demonstrated by its performance in the Slalom race this last Tuesday.

Sophomore Molly O’Meara clinched ninth place for the Rangers with a combined time of 1 minute and 22.76 seconds with Maya Sneider closing in at tenth with 1 minute and 23.1 seconds. The men saw Ben Taylor steal fifth with an impressive 1 minute and 7.67-second combined run; not far behind was Christian Bethea in eighth with a time of 1 minute and 10.6 seconds.

The FHC ski team will be racing at Caberfae this Friday, January 28. Be sure to make it out and watch the Rangers dominate the slopes.