By: Stefanie Doucette
Staff Writer

As Westford Academy heads into the second half of the year, its cross country ski team races towards the finish line.

WA XC Ski team has had two races so far this season, both in Weston, on January 5th and January 12th. The Boys’ team has consistently earned 5th place in both races thus far, while the Girls’ team placed 4th on January 5th and dropped down to 5th on January 12th.

Their ranking is out of seven, as there are seven cross country ski teams in the Mass Bay West Ski League. The other teams in the league are Acton-Boxboro, Lincoln-Sudbury, Concord-Carlisle, Winchester, Wayland, and Newton South.

Also captain, senior skier Raelyn Carlyle had been the top scorer for WA so far this season. With a 21st and a 25th ranking out of 100 Girls’ skiers in both the races, Carlyle has earned her team a total of one hundred and fifty six points. Her time was 18:40 in the first race and 22:02 in the second race.

The top scorer for the Boys’ team so far is senior captain Jake English. He came in 21st place in the first race with a 14:36 time and 20th place in the second race with an 18:05 time. In total, he has earned one hundred and sixty one points for his team.

XC Skiing is scored on a 100 point system. The first one hundred skiers to finish a race are given a specific number of points depending on their place. These points are on a descending scale. For example, the 1st place skier would earn one hundred points for their team, whereas the 100th place skier would be awarded one point. Any skiers to come in after 100th place are not scored. The team with the most total points wins that particular race.

WA Girls’ team was awarded a total of three hundred forty points in the January 5th race and three hundred forty three points in the January 12th race. The Boys’ team received two hundred and ninety two total points on January 5th and bumped it up to three hundred and twenty points on January 12th.

Not all cross country skiers are so competitive, though. A large amount of people on WA’s team do not even race and merely do it for the fun and the exercise. New skiers are always welcome at Greatbrook Trails in Carlisle, where the Westford Academy team practices.

“It’s like difficult to learn, but then once you get it down, you really don’t forget how to do it,” says new skier Julia McCoy.

If you are interested in XC Skiing, talk to one of the six captains. Besides Carlyle and English, they are Ellen Haynes, Amanda Pease, Cam Close, and Kevin McCall.

It does get cold out there on the trails, admits some skiers

“But we love it!” says senior skier Tyler Kalaijian.