GHS Ski Team Solid at States

GHS Ski Race Captains (l-r) Ryan Murphy, Ella McKee,  Katie Murphy, Sara Wertsching, and Matt Bulger

Glastonbury High School ski racing wrapped up the program’s 20th season as a varsity sport as both the boys and girls had respectable showing at the Class L finals at Mount Southington on Feb. 10. 
           
The girls finished in 4th place amongst the Class L teams competing as seniors Katie Murphy and Sara Wertsching led the team, finishing in 18th and 21st place respectively of the 167 girls racing.
           
Murphy and Wertsching captained the girls, along with fellow senior Ella McKee. 
           
Head coach Tom Zelek said the three were positive examples on and off the mountain, with Murphy and Wertsching leading by example and McKee being an uplifting voice for the team even during practice and conditioning. 
           
“We don’t pick captains on ability, we pick captains on how they can help the team,” said Zelek. “They were all excellent captains.”
           
Freshman Ainsley Latz and Eva Gilberto were also incredibly dependable, both skiing well at the Class L championship. 
           
“Ainsley was a pleasant surprise for us. She was our third fastest girl this season,” said Zelek,” Eva was amazingly consistent. She came in fourth for our team in every race.”
           
The boy’s team had their four top racers competing as individuals. Freshman Alex Bulger finished in 11th place overall amongst the 195 racers competing. Junior Nate Zimbelman, along with senior co-captains Ryan Murphy and Matt Bulger also performed well.
           
Zelek said his captains were “very supportive of the younger kids”, adding that there was healthy competition among the team with Zimbelman and Ryan Murphy pushing each other during every race.   
           
There was also the family aspect as Katie and Ryan Murphy are twins and Alex and Matt Bulger are brothers, who Zelek said had “a good, friendly sibling rivalry.” 
           
The brothers, who are four years apart, took turns as the team’s top finisher in each of their five meets this season. 
           
Zelek launched the ski club at GHS in 1999, which eventually turned into an official varsity sport during the 2001-2002 school year.
           
The program has grown over the last two decades and usually fields around 40 kids but this year was a down year numbers-wise with only 23 skiers coming out (14 boys and 9 girls). 
           
Zelek hopes that number increases next winter, adding, “We are always looking for people. Anybody can pick up a basketball and play basketball or pick up a baseball and go to a field, but with skiing there aren’t a lot of opportunities and for those kids out there that are excellent skiers. They don't realize they can join the team and become fantastic ski racers. You can’t go to a mountain and have a course set up, that just doesn’t exist, so these kids get that opportunity.”
           
He added, “All you have to do is be someone that can put on skis and get down the hill. We don’t cut anybody. You don’t have to have any experience.”
           
With [Alex] Bulger and Zimbelman returning on the boys’ side and Latz and Gilberto slated to return for the girls, the Guardians are in good shape going into next year.
           
Overall, Zelek was pleased with how year 20 turned out.  
           
​“Our skiers represented Glastonbury admirably and worked hard to continuously improve their technique and therefore their times. All season we had a great group of senior captains that worked well with each other and their teammates. They were instrumental in providing superb leadership and excellent examples for our underclassmen both on and off the snow,” stated Zelek. “I couldn’t be prouder of both our teams and am delighted with their commitment to each other and their sport.”