Joe McConnell
The Marblehead High boys and girls ski teams concluded another extraordinary season under the direction of head coach John Thompson, who just completed his 10th season at the helm. John’s wife, Sarah, was one of his assistants, along with Ned Clark, Will Thompson and Kyle Heffrin.
The girls team secured the top spot in the Mass. Bay Ski League East and ended up second to Mohawk Trail (5:13.54) in the state finals, which took place at Berkshire East on March 1. They finished with a time of 5:16.61.
The boys were also second against their state peers and were third in the league. But they were No. 1 in the sportsmanship department after discovering a timing error that originally saw them awarded the state title. St. John’s Prep of Danvers (5:02.91 1) was eventually crowned champion after the error was cleared up. The Magicians (5:13.71) took second.
Before this year’s state finals, the Marblehead boys program had won the most state titles in a row from 2017 to 2020 to climb into a third-place tie with St. John’s for the most overall championships all-time. But now the Eagles have leapfrogged over them, and the Danvers school is tied with Lincoln-Sudbury with five. Mohawk Trail leads the field with six.
“The boys were of course disappointed when they had to hand the first-place trophy back to St. John’s Prep, but I was proud of the way they handled the entire situation,” Thompson said.
Individually among the girls, Cate Honos was the top skier throughout the regular season in the entire league. Courtney Hoguet finished third, followed by Sydney Hamilton fifth, Grace Arnold 12th, Lexi Fischelli 16th and Ginger Guy 21st.
In the state finals, Honos was first in the giant slalom and second in the slalom. Hoguet was seventh in the slalom run.
On the boys side, Baxter Jennings owned the top spot in the league throughout the regular season. Tyler Dana was 15th, followed by Thomas Svencer 17th. Jennings carried over his mastery on the slopes with a first-place finish in the slalom. He was second in the giant slalom.
The top 17 girls teams in the state this year were as follows: Mohawk Trail Regional (5:13.54), Marblehead (5:16.61), Lincoln-Sudbury (5:28.31), Wayland (5:32.22), Masconomet (5:33.80), Newburyport (5:36.32), Newton South (5:36.99), Wachusett Regional (5:39.21), Weston (5:43.34), Lexington (5:43.93), Hopkinton 5:48.17), Dover-Sherborn (5:49.94), Monument Mountain Regional (5:50.18), Needham (6:02.96), Wellesley (6:12.69), Norwell (6:15.48) and Hampshire Regional (6:43.90).
The top 15 boys teams statewide this year were as follows: St. John’s Prep (5:02.91), Marblehead (5:13.71), Dover-Sherborn (5:15.48), Winchester (5:17.07), Mohawk Trail Regional (5:19.04), Hingham (5:23.72), St. John’s (5:24.07), Ashland (5:24.46), Wellesley (5:29.88), Brookline (5:31.31), Monument Mountain Regional (5:35.66), Bromfield (5:36.98), Acton-Boxborough (5:39.60), Hampshire Regional (5:41.21) and Westborough (5:49.53).
