Kennett Alpine team reloads; jumpers set to soar at home in State Meet
CONWAY — The weather might be the only thing that will hold back the Kennett High boys and girls ski team this winter. The Eagles, in a word, are loaded with talent this season and should be a force to reckon with on the slopes, in the woods and on the hill.
Kennett looks strong in very facet from ski jumping to cross cow try to alpine. There's good reason head coach Laurel Zengilowski is smiling. It would be an even wider grin if there were a little bit of snow on the ground. It's been nothing but dryland training for the Eagles since the middle of last month.
"It's never a good sign when you can can still see bare ground on Dec. 9th," Zenglowski said, "and it's not frozen in any shape or form. We've been doing dryland, but we're all eager to get on snow now."
Zengilowski has roughly 70 girls and boys out for the ski team this winter and it's been a challenge without any help from Mother Nature to keep everyone excited about training when there's no snow. The alpine team is slated to open its racing season Dec. 21 in at King Pine in East Madison against arch-rival Kingswood.
"That meet may be iffy," Zengilowski said. "King Pine is always so good to us, but if it doesn't stay cold enough to make and keep snow, it may not happen on the 21st."
The skiers have been doing a lot of running coupled with agility and leg work in preparation for race season. "There's really only so much you can do with no snow on the ground," Zengilowski said.
If ever there were a year not to have a lot of snow, this might be it for the Eagles. A veteran cast of characters returns. All ski boys who skied in the State Meet, which KHS won by over 100 points, are back. Although the girls team lost a few skiers to graduation, a new cast of characters is ready to make its mark.
"No one wants to see us coming," Zengilowski said of the boys team. "If they continue to work hard, which they love to do, there's no reason they can't do it again this winter."
The boys' and girls' alpine teams were summoned before the Conway School Board last March, where they received a rousing round of applause in recognition of a pair of state championships garnered on the slopes the prior month.
"Each year over the past few decades Kennett High School has traditionally been one of the top ski teams in the state," principal Neal Moylan said proudly. "It's become almost second thought that these young men and women would become state champs. The boys' and girls' alpine team were both up to the challenge this year and continue to hold the standard high for future Eagles to come."
The Kennett High boys' alpine team not only defended its state championship on Feb. 8, the Eagles capped off an undefeated season by skiing away from the field at Waterville Valley in one of the most dominating team performances in recent memory.
Kennett also crowned a pair of individual state champions with Jake Van Deursen repeating at champion in the giant slalom and Matt Halupowski winning the slalom in the afternoon.
Kennett High dominated the 14-school field, scoring 777 points from GS and slalom combined. Plymouth followed with 687 points, and then it was Bedford, 645; Hollis-Brookline, 645; Lebanon, 636; Souhegan, 613; ConVal, 607; Kingswood, 311; John Stark, 283; Pembroke, 219; Milford, 197; Windham, 193; and Laconia, 143.
The Kennett High girls also skied as a team in every fashion last month at Cranmore much to the delight of Zengilowski, who had just two days earlier watched the Kennett boys hoist the alpine crown.
Overall standings were Kennett, first, 772; Plymouth, 712; Hanover, 682.5; Bishop Guertin, 662; Hollis-Brookline, 633; Bedford, 625.5; Souhegan, 609; Lebanon, 588; Kingswood, 563.5; Laconia, 508.5; ConVal, 493; John Stark, 460; Windham, 311; Pembroke Academy, 214; and Milford, 195.
The Eagles took a 35-point lead after the morning GS and extended that by 25 points in the afternoon slalom on a picture-perfect day for ski racing.
Halupowski and Van Deursen are joined by fellow talented Eagles Kurt Niiler, Ben Garner, Lucas Tinkham, Danny MacDonald, Tyler Eldridge and Jake Remmick.
"It's such a strong group," Zengilowski said. "The think that really pleases me about our boys and the girls is they all get the importance of skiing for the team. They know what it means to be aggressive and skiing all out and that team matters. Most schools are thankful to have one or two top skiers and we have five to seven on any given day."
Returning for the girls are Katie Burton, Paulina Karabelas, Elyse Clancy, Elizabeth Welch, Molly Van Deursen and Annabella Canter, Abby Kelly, Emily Brown, Olivia Kramp, Kori Sandman and Faye Roberts.
"The girls have a lot of experience returning," Zengilowski said. "They've got some big shoes to fill but if there was ever a group capable of filling them it's this one. They have the opportunity to be the best girls team in the state."
Halupowski and Karabelas are the team captains.
Zengilowski will be joined on the slopes by longtime assistant coach Ed Bradley.
"Eddie is the heart and soul of our team," she said. "He's such an amazing coach for our kids to be able to work with."
Chip Henry returns to pilot the Kennett Flight Squad again this year and for the first time the Eagles will host the State Ski Jumping Championships in February on their home course on the Kanc.
"We lost a couple of jumpers to graduation but we also have a good group that has been with Chip for a few years," Zengilowski said. "I had a rival coach commend Chip by saying that Kennett is the team that always seems to make the most improvement as the season goes on. I think that's a credit to Chip and his ability to coach and motivate our athletes."
Returning to the team this winter are team captain Thomas Gregston, Zach Cromwell, Travis Rockett, Torin LaLiberte and Ben Emery, who won the prestigious Gene Ross Cup, also known as the NH Rookie of the Year, last winter.
"We have 20 jumpers in total out this winter," Zengilowski said. "Being able to host the State Meet is definitely exciting. Proctor Academy (which had hosted it for the past few years) is an amazing place, but it's pretty modern. The Kanc. is just so historic, there's not many jumps like it left in the nation."
Last year was one of the closest ski jumping championships in years — the top four teams were decided by less than 10 points — Plymouth emerged victorious Friday night at Proctor Academy in Andover. Kennett, who had won the previous two championships, finished fourth on the evening, but senior Duncan Cromwell soared to third place and won the prestigious state skimeister title in the process.
Plymouth won the team title with 369.5 points followed by Hanover, 365; Concord, 364.5; Kennett, 360; Hopkinton, 331; and Sunapee, 179.
he Conway School District became the proud owner of the ski jump in February of 2009 when it voted unanimously (7-0) to accept the Kennett Company's offer of 5.14 acres of land on the Kancamagus Highway, where the jump has resided since 1960.
The land was valued at $15,500. The lone expense to the school district in accepting the jump was $3,000 for a survey and subdivision. Roughly $1,670 of the cost came out of the ski team activities account, with the balance coming from several co-curricular accounts, according to school superintendent Carl Nelson.
Nelson recommended the board accept what he termed a "a very generous donation" from the Kennett Company.
"The jump itself is located on land that's part of a much larger parcel," Nelson stated in his recommendation. "If this larger parcel were sold in its entirety, it would have included the ski jump property. In order for the district to to retain and maintain the ski jump, the Kennett Company has offered to donate the property to the Conway School District. I recommend the board accept the donation of the ski jump with a letter of thanks to the Kennett Company for their generous donation. In the past, the school district has only paid for insurance and electricity in order to use the jumps (20 and 30 meters).
"Ski jumping is very important to our ski program," Chuck Broomhall, former head ski coach at Kennett High, stated in a report to the board in June of 2008. "The jump was constructed on the Kancamagus Highway in 1960 and the tower rebuilt in 1990. It is used three to four days a week with us holding one to two meets per year. Yearly we have 12 to 15 or more jumpers covering all grades. Hopefully, we're going to be competitive in jumping for a long time to come."
Broomhall also explained the significance of having a ski jumping program in order to give Kennett skiers a shot at the state skimeister title. This is where individuals compete in the two alpine events (slalom and giant slalom), two cross-country events (skate and classic) and jumping to determine the state champion.
"Each year we have three or four individuals compete for this title," Broomhall said. "Since skiing was recognized by the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association, 22 Kennett skiers have won this title on the boys' side."
Broomhall listed some previous winners: Damon O'Neil, 1959; David Currier, 1968; Jim Watt, twice in 1989 and 1990; Karl Chandler, 1992; Dan Spofford, 1995; Isak Goodwin, 1996; Peter Broomhall, 1997; Kris Kebler, 2000; Tyler Haynes, twice in 2004 and 2005; Peter Ostroski, 2006; and Duncan Cromwell, 2011.
With the Kennett ski team competing in the five events, the Eagles won the overall NHIAA Ski Title, which combines the scores from both the boys' and girls' team, from 2003 through 2007, all four years the title was offered.
"The boys' team has won 16 NHIAA team titles," Broomhall reported. "All of this would not have been possible without jumping. Ski jumping has been and still is an integral part of the Kennett ski program. By just getting that parcel of land where the jump currently stands surveyed, it will then be handed over to us forever so we can keep this rich tradition that Kennett has in skiing forever."
There is no longer an overall team title for the State Meet. The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association retired that award four years ago. Kennett was the lone team to win that crown, doing so all four years it was offered.
Senior Thomas Gregston is the captain of the Kennett High ski jumping team.
The Kennett High boys and girls ski team should once again be a force to reckon with on the slopes, in the woods and on the hill this winter.
Senior Kurt Niiler will compete as a skimeister candidate this winter for the Eagles.
Hannah Benson is a two-time state champ.