Orono high school’s ski teams, Nordic and Alpine, have just started their seasons, and are both expecting a solid winter. The teams are roughly the same size, and there is a well-known rivalry between the two.

According to second-year Nordic junior captain Josh Overturf, “this year is going to be better than last year for sure.” Last year, the team had very few upperclassmen, and after the class of 2010 graduated, much of the talent of the team had gone to college.

Prospects this year are much greater. With a new coach, Jenny Beckman, and more practice time, the team is getting ready to ski fast and win meets. Overturf says that “we practice six times a week, with a mandatory Saturday practice for varsity team members.”

However, the upcoming season “is going to be pretty unpredictable,” said Overturf. The reason for this unpredictability is a change in section lineups. With some new teams in the section and some old teams gone, the outcome of this year will be hard to determine.

In preparation for the first meet, the team has been doing dry land training such as roller skiing, running, core workouts, and strength due to the lack of snow. Once snow arrives, however, Orono Nordic will head to Baker Golf Course and begin to ski.

The Alpine ski team has already been skiing, due to the artificial production of snow at Hyland Hills ski area. Before that, the team had been doing similar workouts to what the Nordic team has done, and according to junior Woody Hust they “practice three times a week.”

According to senior captain Lexi Knight, this year’s team “is a lot bigger, and has a lot more young skiers.” They also have a new coach, Jay Weinand, and are adding a lot of invitational tournaments to the roster this year.

When asked about the alpine team , senior Trevor Harrington said that “it is a lot of fun, and there is really good team comradery.” Harrington has been on the team for four years, and said that his reason for joining was that he “likes to go fast.”

Junior Adam Bergh says that his reason for participating in nordic is “the people on the team, and it’s a lot of fun.” The nordic team allows seventh graders on to the team, so there are people on the team who have been participating for 5 years.

Harry Hutter is the Advertising Editor for The Spartan Speaks