Husky Ski Jumpers Jack Kroll ’26 and Henry Loher ’26 are representing the US this weekend in Zakopane, Poland, at the final FIS Cup of the season.

The pair have been training in Norway since the Junior World Championships concluded on March 8 and are preparing for a major transition in their careers. Both athletes plan to move to Lillehammer, Norway, next year to continue their ski jumping development.

“This was a great opportunity to work with the coaches we will have next year and get a feel for the town and the teammates we will have,” Kroll said.

While in Norway, Kroll and Loher also had the chance to attend Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined World Cup competitions in Oslo.

“It was an amazing experience to watch the best ski jumpers in the world at the biggest and most famous competition in the world,” Loher said.

Kroll and Loher are set to compete in Zakopane on Saturday and Sunday. The FIS Cup represents the first of three levels of international ski jumping competition, and athletes must finish in the top 30 to earn points and advance to the Continental Cup level.

“Hopefully, we can score points (top 30) so next season we can jump on the COC. This is my third FIS Cup, and currently my best result is 57th, but I’m hoping for some better results this time,” Kroll said.

All competitions will be live-streamed on Polish television, with live results also available through the FIS app.

Next weekend, both the U19s and U17s at Black Rock FC will fly to Las Vegas to compete in the Players College Showcase, one of the biggest recruiting events on the West Coast. The Showcase is hosted at Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex. The showcase itself features elite teams from ECNL, MLS Next, and other top programs, with college coaches from across the country coming to watch. For all the players, this is one of the biggest opportunities they have had to get college exposure this year.

Unlike an average tournament, the showcase consists of multiple matches, guaranteeing all teams equal opportunity to display their ability. This 4-game schedule in 3 days puts teams under extreme fatigue. Black Rock FC’s schedules for both the U17s and U19s are strong and demanding, so it will be interesting to see how the program does.

The U17 group has its first game of the showcase next Friday evening against NM Rapids SC, a top ECNL side. Saturday for the U17s is then a double header, with games against CDA Slammers ECNL and Cleveland Football Academy. That will test the U17s fitness but also give them plenty of opportunity to perform. Lastly, they play Las Vegas Sports Academy of MLS Next on Sunday Morning to finish off the showcase. This matchup might be the hardest of all 4 games.

Black Rock FC’s U19 side will have 4 big games. They open the showcase with a Friday game against IMG Academy, a program that is well known across the country. They will then play against an ECNL side, an MLS NEXT side, and Hawaii Rush.

Photo from playersshowcase.com.

Off the pitch, Las Vegas will be a fantastic opportunity for the Black Rock program to come closer. A highlight off the pitch will be a team roller coaster ride with a beautiful view of Las Vegas’s nightlife. It will also be a wonderful experience flying across the country to enjoy the warm weather that we do not get here in Lake Placid.

As both Black Rock teams depart next Friday, the focus will be on representing the program as best as they can. In this intense showcase setting, every minute and action on the field will matter, and overall, it will be an experience that does not happen too often.

JT Wint ’25 in front of a Christmas tree. Photo provided.

Christmas is coming up, and everyone is getting excited about what presents they are getting this holiday season. Though Christmas isn’t always about just getting presents, it’s a great way to celebrate the holiday. This year, many students are getting presents, varying from sports gear to tech.

The presents on the list are from many different students across Northwood. Ben White ’26 said, “I am ready to get Zip fits this Christmas.” Zip Fits are boot liners for ski boots. Another student, Theodore Ghanime ’26, said, “I am getting a scarf for Christmas.” Many hockey players say they are getting new hockey sticks for Christmas, as well as golf clubs.

With all these new Christmas presents, people might want some ideas to come to mind. A few good presents that everyone will wish to have can be a mug with a message on it, music posters with playlists of certain artists, and lastly, necessities are: socks, gloves, a new shirt, or a blank sweater. These are all good ideas for that Christmas list that still needs to be built.

These are what students at Northwood want for Christmas, along with some extra ideas for anyone looking to create a larger Christmas shopping list for family or friends.

Source: Medium

The Advanced STEM Research program at Northwood is a full-year course that allows students to select a topic or question to research throughout the entire school year. Ran by Ms. Jill Walker, this course is one of the many at Northwood that grants students autonomy to delve into a topic they are truly passionate about and learn more about it. Every year, a wide variety of projects are spread throughout the program, culminating in the Research Symposium at the Innovation Hub on Main Street at the end of the year. At the Symposium, students in both the Advanced STEM Research and Advanced Humanities Research programs present their year-long projects to the school and Lake Placid community.

Sara Martin ’26

Kate Elbrecht ’26

Sara Martin ‘26 and Kate Elbrecht ‘26 are working on a project to determine if their workload during the season affects their performance. “We are testing the strength that women’s hockey players have and will see if they gain or lose throughout the season to see if we are overtraining,” said Martin. “We always find ourselves to be really tired at the end of the season, so we want to know when and how we are overtraining in season, because at the end of the season is when you need to be playing your best hockey. We are testing explosiveness, reaction time, and power through various tests such as jumps, sprints, and drop tests.” All the teams at Northwood endure long and grueling seasons, so hopefully this study finds out if it is too much or not.

Charles Pigeon ’26

Three-year senior Charles Pigeon ‘26 is working on a tool that can pick up pucks off the ice with arms attached to a shovel. “I am inventing a shovel with arms that open and close to pick up hockey pucks on the ice. I hope to help the hockey community by saving time for everyone, allowing you to get in more reps. This will help the whole hockey community and allow me to give back to the game that I love,” Pigeon said.

Post-graduate ski jumper Jack Kroll is developing force sensors to be integrated into his ski boots, allowing him to test the forces of his takeoff and

Jack Kroll ’26

landing. “I chose this project because I want to use the class as an opportunity to improve my own ski jumping,” Kroll said. “I am designing a set of wireless force insoles for ski jumping boots that will be paired with inertial motion sensors to allow us to measure the force exerted on the takeoff and landing of the jump, as well as analyze the landing physics. The sensors will also indicate the location of the weight in the boot and the angle of the ski. This can be used in real time to improve your jumping. I hope to validate my belief that ski jumping is safe, and physics should back that. The idea is that the force really is not as great upon landing as most people think,” Kroll added.

These three projects provide a brief glimpse into what the Advanced STEM Research program has to offer. The Northwood community looks forward to seeing all the projects in their final stage during the Research Symposium at the end of the year!

The 2025-26 Varsity Hockey team at the Olympic Center in September 2025. Photo by Jacob Slagel ’25.

This past weekend, Varsity hockey traveled to Rice for its last two games of a three-game series versus the Knights. The first game was played at home, while the other two were at the Knights’ rink in Burlington, Vermont. Varsity ended the three-game series with a sweep: a 6-3 win in the first game, a 7-1 win in the second game, and a final hard-fought battle that ended with a 4-3 win. Three new Northwood students scored their first goals: Jett Travis ‘27, Matthew Kernan ‘27, and Colten Murphy ‘26.

The expectations for the weekend were high. You know, we’re playing Rice, who we just beat six to three. The games before, historically, we played pretty well at their arena, so we felt good going into the game,” Head Coach Jeff Miller said.

Miller was happy with the team’s consistency and discipline. “The highlights for this weekend certainly were how we played on Saturday,” Miller said. “We had all four lines rolling. We played very disciplined hockey. We didn’t have that many penalties, and the boys played together as a team,” added Miller.

The team is on a roll, and the coach is happy. “I’d say collectively on the weekend, we’re very pleased with how the team performed,” Miller said. “Anytime you go on the road, they come out with two road wins. It’s a big accomplishment. This is our fourth win in a row, and the boys are playing really well. They worked really hard for this sweep this weekend, and they deserve all the credit,” Miller added.

Overall, it was a great weekend for the Varsity hockey team. Can’t wait to see how they do next. GO HUSKIES!

On October 2^nd, 2025, Northwood students lost their favorite coffee and study spot when the Lake Placid Starbucks closed its doors for the last time.

The closure follows an internal review by the company as it seeks to reshape itself and realign its corporate goals. “Our goal is for every coffeehouse to deliver a warm and welcoming space with a great atmosphere and a seat for every occasion,” said Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol in an announcement made on September 25^th, 2025. He went on to say, “During the review, we identified coffeehouses where we’re unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don’t see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed…Partners in coffeehouses scheduled to close will be notified this week.”

The Lake Placid Starbucks was one such location.

A note is left on the front door of the Starbucks in Lake Placid, letting potential customers know that the shop is now closed. (Adirondack Daily Enterprise photo by Chris Gaige)

Employees were given 3-day notice before the final closure on October 2^nd. Many were left scrambling for jobs on short notice.

The students were also given short notice. In a 3-day period, a beloved staple of the Northwood experience was taken away.

“I used to go there to study. It was a comfortable environment, and it was easy to focus,” Anja Robertson ‘26 said. “It was a good escape from campus. I haven’t really found a replacement for it yet. I also used to go for walks around the lake and stop at Starbucks. Now I have less motivation [to walk the lake].”

Riley Ward ‘27, who was at a ski camp in Chile when news of Starbucks’ closing came, said, “I was very shocked; it was my favorite coffee place in town. I get my chai from Origin or Big Mountain Deli and Creperie now.”

Overall, students miss their coffee shop, but Lake Placid does have alternatives. Local businesses like Origin, Capisce, and the Big Mountain Deli and Creperie now don’t have to compete with a global chain for customers. One common criticism is that the local shops don’t have the same consistent hours and days open as Starbucks did; however, now the local shops may be incentivized to change that to capitalize on a less competitive market.

“Two Easters ago, we always had baskets waiting for us on the table that my mom made with gifts, and sometimes we’d get clothes, just like little trinkets. I walked in that morning, and my mom said, ‘I got you a toaster’. I know it sounds crazy, but I was so thrilled. It was just the first thing in the morning, I’d gotten dressed up. My mom tells me she got us a toaster, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I can make toast at home.’ And then my sister came in, and she did not have the same reaction, because it’s a toaster. But I loved it.

“I’ve been skiing recreationally my whole life, and then I started racing on my middle school team. I started really racing, with training, my freshman year of high school, and I went to states my first year. I was getting racing skis and getting more racing boots in my sophomore year. But then I did a study abroad program in Taiwan, and my mom called me while I was abroad. She told me, ‘I have a new job lined up in New York. We might be moving.’

“The school that I thought I was gonna go to this year didn’t have a racing team. And I realized, ‘Wow, I love this sport.’ It physically hurt to think about not skiing, not racing, and it was as much the people on my team as the sport, but also thinking about how I’d struggled my sophomore year season. So I was going all out for my junior year season, realizing that I needed this sport in my life. My mom was like, there’s this sports school that I looked at that has a ski program where you’d be training every day. I was just like, ‘This is what I need for my senior year.’ I need this change in my life, and to be able to really hone in on my sport and do something I love, that’s amazing. Another factor was the research programs, because I’m also very much an academic at heart, so Northwood seemed like a really good mix of everything.

“I was part of a State Department-funded program in Taiwan, the National Security Language Initiative for Youth. It’s about seven weeks in a country that speaks your target language. And my Mandarin teacher recommended it to me. While I was there, I really improved with my Chinese speaking, listening, writing, and reading as well. But the thing I took away from it most is that I will always have a place, wherever I go, where people will appreciate me, and I’ll have a role. I was one of the younger students, but I stepped up into a more of a leadership role with a lot of the organization. It was a truly transformative part of my life, where I was able to truly be myself. In some ways, learning a second language and understanding how it connects with your native language and how your cultures intersect and differ, really allows you to be more in tune with yourself and your own culture. It gives you more freedom to be who you are, even just acknowledging your ability to express yourself in your mother language.

“I was born in California, but we moved when I was pretty young. We moved when I was two, and I’ve lived on the coast of Maine for eight years, up until middle school, and now I’m here for my last year of high school. I always say I have Californian blood. I hate the cold, and I love the beach. I was mostly raised on the coast. We lived on a river that went into the ocean, so we had lots of beach and beach weekends. We had a little town, a bit bigger than Placid and more residential, I guess. But yeah, middle school up till now, we lived in a really rural area, like 20 minutes to the grocery store. So the people and things we have are my sense of home, which apparently includes a toaster.”

As told to Sasha Luhur ’27. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.