The Alpine ski team just won their 5th consecutive conference championship. This after they hired a new head coach, and having a successful year. This year, the team had to overcome some hardships, but also had a few memorial moments in this season.

First year head coach Kevin Neubauer had pressure after following the ponies long time head coach Mary Parcheta, she was the head for 24 years before she retired from her position before the season. Parcheta had a history of winning and after she left the team didn’t know what to expect.

Winning five years in a row is very unusual, however the alpine skiing team was able to achieve that this year.

Junior Alpine skier Luke Murphy explained how the team was able to win their 5th conference title, “I think it had to do with the depth of our team, we have a lot of talent on the team. If someone is gone or is injured we have reserves that are capable of competing in varsity skiing. I think that our reserves are good enough to be starters on varsity at many other schools.”

Winning conference titles has a lot to do with team work, and also with the coach. Coaching is the difference between winning and losing.

Sophomore on the ski team Quinn Khslich explained the importance of team work, “We have a pretty stellar coach with Kevin Neubauer, but it was mainly my teammates. They are family, every one of them, all the way to our last guy. It took a lot of team work to get to here.”

Preparing for the season is a big part of getting the team better to win a conference title.

Murphy explained how the team got prepared for the season, “We have a three week dry land training before the season starts. We also ski four times a week Monday through Thursday for two and a half hours.”

Having depth to a sports team helps the team get better, and helps when there is an injury.

Junior skier Joe Weber explained the high point of the season and how to achieved it, “Winning conference was the high point, we were up by slight amount in the conference, then we lost it, and gained it back at the end. The depth of our team is a lot, so the younger kids have more opportunity to get better.”

Injury is a hard thing to overcome and having the ability to overcome it shows the strength of a team.

Murphy explained how they over came a major set back, “We lost our best skier on the first practice. Other people stepped up to fill his position. Also the weather was bad for us this year.”

Winning five championships in a row puts a lot of expectation for the team to preform the following year.

Khslich explained the expectation that he feels for him and his team, “Yeah we are going for a 6th, I feel like I’m responsible for the team, when the time comes I’ll be worried to loose the streak.”