Wrapping up the season: XC Prep Team Awards

As our competition season begins to wind down, each program organizes some form of gathering with athletes to celebrate all they’ve accomplished over the season. After a long season riddled with unusual challenges, the Cross Country Prep Team recently held their end-of-year party, complete with costumes and plenty of grins so big that you could see them right through the masks. Here’s coach Kelley Sinnott’s synopsis of the event:

“After a fun little crust cruise above big bi hill we gathered around a bonfire (on top of big bi) to celebrate our season and give our awards.  Our prize table was the envy of passerbye(ers) as we recognized our decathlon winners!  I can’t name every winner, but our overall decathlon champions were Nick Gardiner and Chase Geagan!

We also recognized every member of our team with a team photo and personalized note from the coaches on the back (parents be sure to check them out).

However, what I really wanted to emphasize to the group as a whole was how impressed all the coaches were with the positivity and improvement from them all this season. As we were compiling the notes to the skiers the resounding theme of the group was; fun, happy, positive, encouraging, good teammate, and improved greatly this season! We really do have a great group of humans on our team this season and they were just simply a lot of fun to be around.  AND with racing pretty much a nonstarter this year it was so neat to see them find other motivators and still push themselves to grow and improve.  There is not a single member of this team that didn’t become a stronger, faster, more technical skier this year which is a win in my book!

Every season we like to wrap up with our end of the year awards; recognizing a few of our skiers that really made an impact on their coaches and teammates this year.  These skiers were recognized with a certificate and gift certificate to Wrap City.  We recognized this group as one team because though practicing at two locations we are still all part of the one and only XC Prep Team!

Here are our 2021 awards:

Inspirational Skiers (voted on by teammates on Saturday) – Whit Brown and Anna Koonce

Outstanding Skiers: Sarah Leidecker and Sven Halvorsen

Most Improved Skiers: Scout Kendall, Stratton Cunningham and Ronan O’Reilly

Coaches Award: Charlie St.George and Lauryn Stevens