By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT — It was quite a winter for the Staples High ski teams. 

The girls squad finished third in Class L and fourth at the state championships. The boys placed second in Class L and were ninth in the state championships.

The Wreckers compete in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League, with 30 other high school teams throughout the state.  

Staples was led by Head Coach Rebecca Anderson-Furlong, also a special education teacher at the high school. Assistant Coaches are Jon Olefson and Jen Cirino.

Girls team captains were Sydney Feldman, Alannah Morris and Maddie Stevenson. Captains for the boys were Jake Coykendall, Logan Manchester and Oliver Howard.

The L Division, the largest in the state, includes 13 other schools: Amity, Cheshire, Danbury/Bethel, Darien, Fairfield, Fairfield Prep (boys only), Farmington, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Pomperaug/Newtown, Ridgefield, Southington and Westhill. 

“What is unique is that we compete against different schools in the state that our other sports teams at Staples do not,” Anderson-Furlong said. “Additionally, the league allows teams to join together or become co-ops until their programs are strong enough that they can compete on their own. The CISL holds races two nights a week (Wednesday night for Class L and Thursday night for Class S) at Mount Southington all season. It is only during the State Championship that the top teams from each class get to compete against each other.”

The Staples season got out of the gate with captains practices in late November and dry land practices starting in December. During good winters, the program has a practice or two in December and holds time trials to name the team. On the night of time trials, racers take two or three runs and name the top 25 boys and girls to the team for the season. On the hill practices and races start in January. The Wreckers typically practice at Southington on Monday nights and race on Wednesdays.

“Given the difficulty with the weather and temps this winter, our season was greatly delayed and we had four of our season races in just two weeks,” Anderson-Furlong said.

Both the boys and girls teams practice and train together, ride the bus to Southington together, and act as one team. 

“Many comment that the team is more of a family and we take great pride in helping establish that feeling of community and support for one another.  It doesn’t matter if it’s the strongest racer on the hill or a racer finishing in the bottom ten, the Staples team supports one another and cheers for each racer’s wins,” Anderson-Furlong said. 

“Another unique feature of our team is that we have a flexible lineup. At the beginning of the season, after time trials and the team is named, the top ten members of each team are named to the varsity lineup. However, after each race, racers have the opportunity to move up in the lineup, hold their seat or possibly lose their seat. Each week the top 10 racers compete for the varsity team and the remaining 15 racers compete as our JV team and each team can place within their division. This helps provide initiative and encouragement to improve each week and excitement for each race line up,” the head coach added.

Staples has a historically strong program due in part to the number of racers on the team who finish in the top of the field at each race, Anderson-Furlong said.

“This year was no exception and we had multiple racers compete for a spot on Team CT (top 12 racers in the league). This year Ean Frankel, Abigail Kane, Logan Manchester, Henry Manning, Allanah Morris, Alexis Robinson, Maddie Stevenson and Ben Zwick made it to the second round, which consisted of those placing in the top 30. Ean Frankel earned a spot on Team CT after the second round qualifier (slalom) and Allanah Morris placed 13th, just missing making the roster,” Anderon-Furlong said.

However, the team had multiple honorees recognized for their season records.  Ean Frankel and Allanah Morris received the honor of All-State, given to the top 18 racers in the state this year. Abby Kane, Ella Manchester, Maddie Stevenson and Ben Zwick were also recognized and named All-State honorable mention, for placing in the top 30 racers in the state. 

“As not all members of the team have racing experience, until they are on the team, this year we started holding once-a-week classroom sessions during dryland to talk about the specifics of racing and how to improve your form and stance. Many felt this was helpful and it will be something we continue to work on and improve next year,” Anderson-Furlong said. “What is really exciting is seeing those who have never raced before improve each week or even make it into the varsity line up, it really shows the commitment of the racer and how much of our coaching is being absorbed.”

It was a memorable campaign for the Wrecker skiers on and off the slopes.

“This season was wonderful and the racers commented that some of their favorite memories were being together on the bus, at pasta dinner or cheering each other on. Every year I comment on how I feel I have the best group of student athletes at the school because they really make the season so much fun. We will miss our seniors next year, but they have done a fabulous job of bringing back some of the traditions that were on hiatus due to COVID. I can’t wait ’til next season,” Anderson-Furlong said.

The skiers were celebrated at a banquet at the Norwalk Inn on March 19. Team members receiving special recognition include:

Jake Coykendall is the third recipient of the Corey Hausman Award: Presented annually to the senior alpine racer who best epitomizes Corey’s special spirit with a love for skiing, the desire to improve, a willingness to work and the ability to inspire others.

Scholar-Athlete award winners: Alannah Morris and Henry Manning

Block S Coach award winners: Sydney Feldman and Logan Manchester

Block S MVP award winners: Alannah Morris  and Ean Frankel

2025 Captains named: Charlotte Berner, Alexis Robinson, Maddie Stevenson, Ean Frankel, Max Manchester and Ben Zwick

2024 Senior Class teammates moving on: Max Beres, Jake Coykendall, Sydney Feldman, Nate Fridland, Sarah Himes, Oliver Howard, Logan Manchester, Henry Manning, Alannah Morris, Isabel Puchert and Athina Sarmiento.

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s.