Milford boardercross team races into the season

 Imagine riding high in the cold air to the top of the mountain then finally getting off the chair lift and sliding into place alongside four other racers in the gate waiting for it to drop.

Then suddenly it does and you and the competitors ride fast down the steep, turning slope racing to be first at the finish line.

This is the feeling that the Milford Boardercross team gets and you can be a part of this too if your are interested in this competitive winter sport.

“Snowboarding is a way for me to escape the world and have fun with friends,” said Milford High School junior Kyle Seabert, “it is a major part of my life.”

To begin the season, there is a meeting that anyone interested can attend. It is led by Steve Jesionowski, who is the coach. Anyone can join the team, but whether you are placed on JV or Varsity is based on your skill.

If you are a girl, you are automatically on the Varsity team because few girls are interested in boardercross.

In the past years on average only three girls have been on the Milford Boardercross team. For boys, they have to race each other to find a spot on either JV or Varsity.

Being on the team means that you have snowboarding equipment, an Alpine Valley season pass, and that you know how to snowboard.

This year there are 26 students on the team including Seabert, who is the team captain.

“Being the captain means that I make sure everyone shows up to practice, I help send information to the team, and I help set up practices,” explained Seabert.

When the season started in late November, there was no snow on the ground, so you may be wondering how the team would practice.

They practiced on dry land at the Legacy Center in Brighton. This is an indoor sports center for the team to practice pulling out of gates and getting speed early on to race down the hill.

Now that snow has fallen, meets will soon begin to start when there is a solid base of snow on the ground, this means that dry land practices will end, and the team will now start to practice on the hill.

Although the team has not gotten much time on the hill right now, all of the time put into dry land training helps prepare the team for races.

¨Every little bit of time we put into practice makes us better as individuals and as team and gets us even more ready for States,¨ said Seabert.

For the past three years, the boardercross team has gone to States. To go to states, they can either go as a team or as an individual.

As individuals, JV racers can go as well. This season, the goal is to go to States, just like they have the last three years.

A new member of the team Evan Hughes, a freshman at Milford High School, said ¨I am excited to see how far we can go as a team.¨

In the future, the team wants to have more people join. They plan on publicizing and being more involved in school activities to get students interested in the boardercross team.

If you are interested in boardercross make sure to go watch the team at Alpine Valley to get a look at what’s in store.