Ski racers doing schoolwork at the airport. Left to right: Cara Dempsey ‘25, Sydney Kuder ‘25, Alessandro Lacci ‘25. Photo by Ms. Raychel West.
This past week, the Northwood ski team returned from race training in Chile back to school and dryland workouts. After the long 30-hour travel process, the student-athletes got back into the swing of things and resumed their classes right away, along with continuing their rigorous workout schedule with Director of Skiing Tommy Biesemeyer.
Some students had no trouble integrating back into Northwood life, but others had some trouble, considering the very early departure: just four days of classes in when the team left.
“I feel amazing. We kept up with our work a lot during Chile, so coming back, we were just right into it,” Julianne Brochu ’25 said, illustrating that communication with teachers and staying on schedule was key during the 2+ hour study halls during Chile.
Students taking more demanding and fast-paced classes, on the other hand, said that while they kept up with their work enough, it was still “pretty hard to get back into the swing of things,” according to Sydney Kuder ’25.
Many of the students do everything they can to have an academically and athletically challenging career at Northwood. Many take the STEM Research class, where they must keep up with progressions in their project and studies, as well as AP Calculus or AP Statistics, where the workload is constantly building up. Keeping on top of things during travel can be one of the most challenging things, as skiing and dryland and sleep schedules become harder during the sometimes minimal time in class. Nonetheless, the ski team never stops as they continue to do schoolwork off the hill, outside of study halls, and even in the airport during exhausting travel days.
Overall, the team feels refreshed and ready to return, already anticipating their next trip to Copper Mountain, Colorado where they will be training for most of November into their Thanksgiving break.
