PAGE A24 • THE VILLAGE TIMES HERALD • MARCH 02, 2017
SportS
Photos from Jason sprigman
Clockwise from left, astrid sprigman slides down the mountain during the Butternut race in Massachusetts; sam sprigman bends his way down a hill; and astrid and sam display their trophies.
Stony Brook skiers taking slopes by storm By Desirée Keegan desiree@tbrnewspapers.com
thinking about my body position, making sure my head’s up instead of down and I’m always looking ahead,” she said. Two young Stony Brook skiers are makThat’s what she’s done since she first traving names for themselves in the competitive eled around a mountain. Astrid said she reskiing world, but competition is only part of calls pulling on her father’s jacket asking to go the draw. on different trails during a family trip Sam and Astrid Sprigman have been slid“We went on the bunny slope and we ing down the slopes for four years now, and were at the top of the hill and I said, ‘This although for the pair it’s mainly for fun, their is boring. I want to go on something more competitive races have been paying dividends. exciting,’” Astrid said. Most recently, at the Otis Slalom Interclub Her father laughed remembering the race in Massachusetts, 13-year-old Sam placed moment. third, while 8-year-old Astrid “No patience this one,” finished atop the podium. he said. “It feels good,” Astrid Her brother was also said of claiming the top hooked at a young age. spot. “Half the time I don’t Sam’s earliest ski trip was even notice what happened at 18 months old, when his or what my time is until my family was in California. mom or dad come up to me “My dad and I were getand shout, ‘You’re in first.’” ting ready to go down the Their father Jason Sphill and he put me between rigman said those families his legs so he could guide me who take part in the Tridown the hill,” Sam said. “I State Interclub ski season looked up at him and said, are part of a tight-knit com‘Dad, can you let go? I got munity that is very support— Jason Sprigman this.’” ive of one another. He said he didn’t ski for “They’re screaming and yelling, banging some time after that. His father was in the drums and shaking cowbells and it’s incred- Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before ible — she doesn’t even hear it,” he said of Sam finally hit the slopes again. his daughter. “She comes down and starts cri“I remembered having a really good time tiquing her own performance, saying, ‘I don’t skiing and it stuck with me all those years,” know, that didn’t feel that good. I think my Sam said. turn on the fourth gate wasn’t that tight.’ And He too echoed his sister’s sentiment about then I tell her, ‘you’re in first place Astrid, re- being focused on improving. He said in realally?’ She’s so in her own world.” ity, with all of the support, they’re their own The smooth skier said she’s always work- harshest critics. ing on improving her technique, In fact, that’s “When I’m in a race — when I’m at the top all she focuses on while competing. of the course — my instructor is there and I “I think about when I have to turn and ask her what we talked about and what I need
‘When I see them doing what they’re doing and working so incredibly hard at an individual sport like this ... it’s amazing to see them apply themselves in such a focused manner.’
to work on, and I think about that my whole way through,” he said. “If I have a bad run, or Astrid had a bad run, the hardest person on us is ourselves. Everyone there is so supportive.” The thing is, Astrid actually hasn’t had a bad run. The Under-12 competitor has placed first in every race she’s competed in this season — though she had to miss one because she was sick. “You can’t ski race if you’re not 100 percent,” Sprigman said. “If you come around a turn doing 50 to 55 MPH, if you suddenly get a little bit nauseous that could be dangerous. She wanted to compete, but I just couldn’t let her. Besides the illness though, she’s taken first by a wide margin in every single race.” Sam, a 5-foot, 10-inch, muscular skier placed third in the first competition of the season, at Butternut, came in seventh in Catamount and fifth at Otis Slalom. Last season, he qualified to be a part of the Piche Invitational, a Massachusetts state team, but the team didn’t have a slot this season. Astrid qualified to compete this year. “There’s a wide number of kids that are moving on to higher levels of skiing from his year.” Sprigman said of his son’s Under-14 age bracket. “It’s one of the most competitive age groups in the Northeast. It’s an accomplishment the placements he’s been able to get. I’m very proud of him.” The pair have one race left, at Bosque Mountain in Massachusetts March 5. Sprigman said he enjoys the family aspect of the sport, being able to ski alongside his children, as compared to watching them on the sidelines during a football or soccer game. He said his main goal is to give them an ability they can carry with them for the rest of their lives, and now they’ll just continue to ski as long as they’re having fun. “A lot of people might not let their kids par-
ticipate in a sport like this because it’s fairly high risk, but they have a high degree of confidence and they understand the risk involved, and do a really good job of weighing them out and skiing appropriately,” he said. “When I see them doing what they’re doing and working so incredibly hard at an individual sport like this and I see my son really aggressively attacking a hill and putting it all out there and my daughter bending herself over backward to take an extra half a second off her time, it’s amazing to see them apply themselves in such a focused manner ... It feels really good to see them not only becoming great skiers, but making amazing friendships while engaging in a fairly high level of competition.”