Despite Lack of Snow, Strong End to Season for Alpine Skiers

It may have been her first year on Westwood's Alpine Ski team, but hitting the slopes was nothing Brooke Troy wasn't used to. 

The Freshman has been skiing since she was 7, and her longtime efforts came through in full during the 2011-2012 season. 

Last Tuesday, Feb. 28, the Mass. Bay Ski League East held its annual States Competition. Troy not only competed in the event, she finished first for girls in the Small School Division and first in the overall league. 

"It was pretty cool," said Troy this week. 

Overall, Troy scored 381 out of a possible 384 points, and finished first in six out the 10 races that were run this year.

The Alpine Ski Team comprises 16 boys and 16 girls make up half of the Ski Team, and came in second for the division of the league this season. The boys were close behind, coming in fourth. 

Troy competed in States alongside teammate Caroline McLaughlin, a sophomore at Westwood High School; five varsity skiers from Westwood competed in the event. Both girls participate in a ski circuit in Vermont in addition to the Alpine Ski Team, with Troy traveling to Mount Okemo and McLaughlin to Mount Snow.

McLaughlin, who competed in States for the first time this year, finished eighth in the division, and said the event was a challenge but she was not nervous going into it. 

"It was similar to regular racing, but the courses were harder," she said, adding that her goal is to make States again next year. "The hills were more challenging, but it wasn't too bad."

The season overall, however, wasn't an easy one, considering the lack of winter weather. 

"They did a really good job keeping up with the snow," McLaughlin of the crews at Blue Hills and Ski Ward, where the team races. "But some of the conditions were a little rough."

Alison Gallagher, the team's coach and daughter of Westwood Fire Chief William Scoble, reiterated the statement, comparing this year's snowless winter to last year's heavy storms. 

"We literally had to cancel some of our practices [last year], because we couldn't take a school bus," Gallagher said. "There was literally too much snow. But the conditions were great."

This year, she said, the snow that was made by staff at local hills was actually shoveled back onto the trails to keep maintenance in order. 

While many of the season's races (there are frequently one per week) take place at Blue Hills, some of them had to be moved to Ski Ward in Shrewsbury, according to Scoble, who has served as a coach on the team for a number of years along side Gallagher and his other daughter, Kirstin. 

"It is tough with Blue Hills," Gallagher said. "Ski Ward does a really great job, between generally getting more snow and colder weather, and grooming."

The team itself competes against a wide variety of public and private schools throughout the state, including nearby private schools like and Ursuline Academy. Gallagher noted Dover-Sherborn and Wellesley as some of this year's strongest competitors. 

Likewise, the team's skiers come from a variety of backgrounds and skill levels.

"We have skiers from these girls who have been racing since they can walk, to students who are still working on their basic technique," Gallagher said. "Finishing [a race] can be everything, as opposed to just doing well."

Last season, in the league.