Three of Brookline’s very own skiers have landed in the Boston Globe due to their recent successes in the MIAA Nordic ski championships. Junior Jordan Fried, who finished 4th, sophomore Gabby Vandendries, who finished 2nd, and sophomore Isabelle Cole, who finished 8th, were all mentioned in the Boston Globe’s coverage of the championships.

“It felt exciting to be mentioned in the newspaper,” Fried said. “I felt like we were being a little more noticed than we usually are because we’re a small team and a small sport. But it is definitely exciting to be recognized.”

However, despite the team’s success, there are concerns about their training venue’s future. Fried said he is thankful that the Weston Ski Track allowed them to train at their course, but is also worried because of some problems the ski track has been experiencing lately.

According to Fried, Weston Ski Track is primarily a golf course during the warmer months, and has been struggling to maintain its position as a ski course in the winter. The track has been trying to get government officials to keep it running, so that the teams in the Bay State Conference and others can continue to ski and train and do as well as they have been doing thus far.

“At the moment, Brookline will have a team because we have parents that work hard to make sure their kids stay on a Brookline team and do what they love,” Fried said.

Doing what they love requires a lot more than just a ski track during the winter. According to Isabel Cole, a sophomore on the team, cross-country skiing requires the entire body, and is a rigorous cardio-vascular sport. Skiers must stay in shape the whole year.

“I really like training year round because I like doing different kinds of cross training, with different things such as running and swimming. It’s really nice seeing how much better you do in the winter after putting a lot of time in during the other seasons,” Cole said.

Fried elaborated on the different kinds of cross training that directly affect his fitness and ensure the team’s success.

“Like most sports you are trying to stay fit and healthy and trying to keep a good mentality for the race season,” Fried said. “We include things like core, we always run, to maintain agility and other parts that we need for the competitive season. And since skiing is a full body thing, we work on upper body and lower body.”

According Cole, races can be anywhere from 1.5 to 15 kilometers long, and require not only the physical agility that they constantly train for, but also mental toughness.

“You have to focus really hard on the outcome that you want, skiing steady, pushing yourself to keep a steady hard place, to keep pushing yourself in your mind and to never give up and to keep going fast,” Cole said.

During these long races, Fried said that is important to think about not just technique, but also strategy.

“Of course I’m thinking about technique because that’s important for skiing, but I am also thinking about what will be my next move? How will I pass this person in front of me? Can I stay on this person in front of me? How am I feeling? Am I going to die? Do I feel like I’m dying? Do I need to ease down the pace?” Fried said.

Cole had further advice for long races.  “You have to think about your breathing and technique and making sure you don’t get tired and that you exert the right amount of force, but sometimes you want to think about where you’ll end up in the race and how fast you want to go and if you want to keep up with a certain racer, or if you want to stay ahead of a group.”

Vandendries takes on a mentality that is a little different since she also runs for the high school.

“For a race I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to go hard.’ The difference between skiing and running is that in running you don’t get any breaks, but in skiing, downhills are breaks, so you get to go really hard,” Vandendries said.

When they are not going hard up and down slopes on skis, they are training on a device that simulates skiing, but can be used for warm months. Fried said the cross-country ski team at the high school uses roller skis, which are basically extended roller blades with two wheels, and are very similar to skiing on snow.

But, even though some of the training can be done without snow on the ground, Fried stressed that it is still necessary for them to have a place to train during the winter. The Weston Ski Track has a Facebook page titled “Friends of Leo J. Martin Golf course”, which is the organization that is trying to maintain the golf course as a ski track during the winter. By liking the page, people can support the track’s cause.

“We are happy with what we have, and I feel like although small, we are a strong community,” Fried said. “We have been trying to get more people to join. We’ve been trying to not necessarily grow as Brookline but grow as Massachusetts.”

Valentina Rojas can be contacted at [email protected]