The winter is approaching and several local ski teams are looking to improve their standing in the Section II nordic and alpine ski ranks with a wealth of returning talent from last season.
The Johnstown alpine team returns the most with 12 returning skiers, but the Mayfield nordic team has come the closest to success at the sectional level.
Two years ago, Mayfield's Josh Norman qualified for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet at Lake Placid, but he fell short last year when he finished 18th with a time of 33:45. The top skier on the girls' team, sophomore Evitza Nikollaj, missed the state championship meet by three places last year when she took 13th place with a time of 27:10, which put her only a few spots off the state cutoff.
Also back is Katherine Dugan, who placed 22nd at sectionals, and Nikki Quant, who took home a 32nd-place finish for the girls' team.
For the boys, the Panthers also get back Jamie McNamara, who took home a 45th-place finish with a time of 42:12 during the sectional race.
"With several experienced skiers on the roster, the team looks to improve on last season's progress toward becoming a contender in Section II," Mayfield nordic coach Ryan Bornt said.
Mayfield only has a senior each listed on the boys' and girls' rosters and expects most of the roster back for at least two seasons beyond this one - Shaun Bridge is the only junior - to give Mayfield a strong foundation to build on.
"I think there's a lot of question marks with a lot of other skiers," Bornt said. "Some have several years of experience and we're just hoping to get them to improve. They're experienced, but not what you would call a veteran. We're hoping to see them move up the ladder and we're hoping to progress very quickly."
On the alpine ski slopes, Johnstown has a wealth of experience returning with 12 skiers coming back. Coach Sheli Murray called the returning group strong and expects them to put the Sir and Lady Bills into contention this season. Each experienced skier placed top 10 in several races and top 25 in every race, prior to the sectional championship meet.
Alex Simon had the strongest finish for Johnstown last year when he took 10th in the sectional slalom race with a time of 33.31 seconds and took 25th in the giant slalom in 78.82 leading the boys' to a ninth-place sectional finish. Toria Rubenstein is the top returner for the girls' team after posting a pair of 38th-place finishes in both the sectional slalom and giant slalom races for the Lady Bills.
Rubenstein is a junior and Simon is a sophomore.
"We were extremely fortunate in that two of our top racers [Trevor Goderie and Alex Simon] attended the Mt. Hood Race Clinic this past summer," Murray said. "With the skills and knowledge attained at the clinic, they, as well as their teammates, will be able to draw from the experience and utilize it to both individual and team advantage."
Johnstown's class of newcomers includes three seniors, Mario Balzano, Jamie Murray and Amalie Sonjo. Tyler Hornidge is a sophomore and Tyler Dick, Carly Ovitt and Stephen Rauch all are freshmen.
Among the returning boys, Joe Miller was 49th in the giant slalom at last year's sectional meet and 76th in slalom, while Alex Glebe was 55th in giant slalom and Elliott Hockey was 60th. Hockey was 54th in slalom, with Ashton Day coming in 74th.
The returning girls saw Samantha Simek take 46th in the giant slalom and 45th in the regular.
"I think we have a real good chance of our skiers being highly successful with sectionals and hopefully states," Murray said. "We came close last year and should surpass that this year. They'll have a strong team score with all the kids that are coming back because of a lot of J.V. racers, who could have raced varsity. Their times were right in competition with the varsity skiers, but numbers didn't allow them to race varsity."
Gloversville-Mayfield lost its top skier from last year in Brenda Shultis, who finished 27th in the giant slalom and 29th in the regular slalom.
Coach Deborah Deming got her first look at the 2008-09 roster Nov. 20 and she will get back MaryGrace Piazza and Elysse Calandra, who finished both 61st and 65th in the giant slalom and 44th and 49th respectively in slalom. Also back is Mackenzie Delaney.
The boys' team also loses last year's top skier, Nick Krutz and gets back Christopher Yvars, Doug Brown and Matt Semione, who were among the team's sectional qualifiers from a year ago.
Deming said Collin Yvars and Christopher Yvars will both be tough contenders. Piazza and Calandra also have improved and could be hard to beat this season.
"I have a young team," Deming said. "I'm looking forward to a great season."
Johnstown's nordic ski team is looking to improve on last season after losing a collection of seniors from last year's team.
However, the returning group of that includes seniors, Marlaina Wing and Elisa McIntosh.
Michael McHenry takes over the team this year from Ryan LaRowe, who came in as a last-second coach last year, with an eye toward improving its overall standing in the section.
However, Johnstown lost several skiers, including Brittnee Dick, who was 48th at last year's sectional race, and Felicia Sanges, who took 50th. Alyssa Brand finished 52nd at last year's sectional meet and she leads a group of five returning skiers.
"This year, the team is looking to become more competitive with leadership from our seniors and returning skiers," McHenry said. "They should build a strong base for our new skiers."
Both sectional participants for the boys' team have graduated, leaving a very inexperienced boys' team, which will include all newcomers, Andy Licciardi, Brett Schlesier, Connor Smullens, Mertcan Dogan, Tim Stoehrmann and Jared Brower.
Canajoharie's second-year nordic coach Brent Watterson said this year's team still is very young, but has a lot of up-and-coming talent.
Jenny Trahan, who finished 51st at last season's sectional meet, is the only returning girl this year for the Lady Cougars, who lost 17th-place finisher Kelly Prime.
Returning for the boys' team are Taylor Macci, who finished 31st and Josh Crouse, who took 39th. Marty Stone also is back after finishing 53rd last season.
Mayfield has been training for its nordic season for almost three weeks and in the absence of snow has been doing a lot of strength training, distance training and doing a lot of technical work on dry land, which is difficult to simulate.
However, Bornt said it's important not to stress technique or endurance more than the the other.
"It's a very technical sport, but a very demanding sport physically," Bornt said. "If you focus on one more than the other, you're not going to have success."
Another key to dryland training is keeping it from being monotonous and Murray has some other activities planned to keep the training interesting.
Johnstown will take a trip to Rockwood Park's King Mountain to climb, as well as play soccer, ultimate frisbee, have a scavenger hunt around the city.
"It's definitely so the training doesn't get monotonous," Murray said. "But at the same time, they can build that strength, coordination and focus that's important for their racing."
The nordic ski season will begin Dec. 17 at the Johnsburg Invitational, while the alpine season will commence for both local teams Dec. 29 at the Johnstown Christmas race at Royal Mountain.
