The Pomperaug of Southbury-Newtown co-op ski racing team concluded its season late this winter. The girls’ and boys’ squads competed in five races and picked up 15 wins. Races were held at Mount Southington and are part of the Connecticut Interscholastic Racing League. This year’s squad featured a mix of returning racers along with newcomers to the sport. Pomperaug rostered four boys and seven girls and Newtown had two boys and three girls. The team also had one member from New Fairfield High School on its roster.

First-year Coach Mike Murphy said that he was proud of the competitiveness of his returning racers and the growth of his newcomers. “Captain Clark Overhiser (Pomperaug senior) was a consistent top-tier racer while Matthew Mozelak (Newtown senior) turned in one of our best performances of the season. Blu Arbesman (New Fairfield junior) qualified for the Class L Top 30 Shootout with his performances as well,” said Coach Murphy. “Ari Campbell (Pomperaug sophomore) and Eric Greenburg (Pomperaug senior) totally improved their times from last year and Tommy O’Connor (Newtown freshman) and Alex Santos (Pomperaug freshman) finished every race they started and saw their times come down considerably as they gained experience racing gates.”

“Our girls’ team got better as the season went on, too,” Murphy said. “Taylor LeRow (Newtown junior) was hands-down our fastest racer in every race, while Riley Alesevich (Newtown junior), newcomer Abby Cahill (Pomperaug freshman), Caitlin Overhiser (Pomperaug sophomore), and captains Lola McMahon (Pomperaug senior) and Nicolette Chu (Pomperaug senior) battled for low-numbered bibs each week. Lyla Kopp (Newtown sophomore) continued to improve as a returner while newcomers Camden Mario (Pomperaug junior), Isabelle Mario (Pomperaug freshman) added speed and depth to our lineup. Bahar Uludag (Pomperaug sophomore) also helped us out, earning a varsity letter with two starts this season.

“One of the things I liked best about this season is how our athletes from different schools came together and bonded as a team,” Murphy said. “We focused on supporting one another as we all worked to improve on our racing skills and lower our times. We had some good fun at practices and races while working hard and getting better all of the time. We are barely done with this season, and I am already looking forward to what next season will bring.”

Coach Murphy and the team members are hoping that this year’s successes will encourage more skiers to join the team.

“Sometimes good skiers think they may not make good racers because they don’t have racing experience prior to joining the team. That’s not true at all,” Murphy said. “We had newcomers to racing post some of our best times because they can ski fast, and we can give them the training, gate-racing experience, and feedback to help them compete at the varsity level playing a sport they love. I know we have way more than 17 skiers in our two schools, and I’m looking forward to becoming one of those teams like we face weekly that are showing up with teams of 40 to 60 racers.”