It was, indeed, a season to remember for the Greenwich High School boys alpine skiing team, which raced to fast times and impressive finishes each time it competed at Mount Southington, thanks to its experience and significant depth.

Greenwich was announced as the regular season winner of Class L at the recent CISL State Open Championship at Mount Southington. The Cardinals placed seventh in the team standings at the CISL State Open Championships and were third overall at the CISL Class L Championships. The regular season, however, belonged to the Cardinals in Class L and as the race results showed, they earned their No. 1-ranking.

“When I heard the words “First place is Greenwich High school,” it was this indescribable feeling of accomplishment,” said Greenwich’s Thomas Ybarra, the squad’s first skier in the start order. “With our constant improvement every single race last year, we knew we had to be better this year to accomplish our goal. Two things, the pursuit of excellence, and the drive to success.”

On Jan. 29, Greenwich finished first in the team standings at the race at Mount Southington, posting a team time of 285.31 seconds. The Cardinals were again first in the race held on Jan. 22 at Mount Southington, registering a team time of 286.37 seconds.

The Cardinals also earned a winning performance at the Class L regular season meet on Jan. 31 with a time of 304.3. The Class L regular season competition on Feb. 7 saw the Cards place third (273.17 seconds).

“Since the division is won off of every race, we could not just build those who are better but have everybody work to become the best version of themselves,” Ybarra said. “With so many things happening in a race in between each race, it was essential that we had depth.”

Ybarra noted the team put in plenty of work on and off the slopes, which led to their highly successful season.

“We put in so many extra hours, teaching fundamentals, reviewing film, and bonding as a team that I truly believe that it is this set of boys who were able to pull through and work,” he said. “We know this year was going to be hard, but we also knew it was going to be our shot. Without the support that we had as a team and from each other, I do not think our season victory would have been possible. I would relive that season that exact same way, with the same team, every single time.”

Owen Benison, Greenwich’s second racer in the starting order, pointed to the determination of each athlete of the team as one of the key aspects to the squad producing consistently effective results.

“Every man on this team went into the season knowing what we had to do to win,” Benison said. “We lost to Prep last year; we’ve lost to them every year. This year, we said never again. We started strong but faced our first defeat in the third race. That was our wake-up call; after that we locked in, driving to reach that victory and never letting go of our grip on that gold medal.”

“This wouldn’t have been possible without every person on the team giving it their all, and I’m eternally grateful for the contributions of each and every one of them,” Benison continued.

Winning the Class L regular season title didn’t come without Greenwich facing some adversity, as Steven Hartofilis (third in the start order) noted.

“What I loved most about winning Class L was the sense of team accomplishment,” Hartofilis said. “Regardless of the circumstances, our team managed to come on top. Sometimes athletes were out sick. Sometimes we had bad days. Despite these variables, the output was the same: victory.”

“We picked each other up, encouraged each other, and learned from each other,” Hartofilis continued. “This is what ultimately led to our accomplishments. It wasn’t one person that carried the team, rather the team supporting each other. Needless to say, winning Class L was amazing and we look forward to continuing this streak into next year.”

Ryan Park (fourth in the start order) was one of the skiers who had spent four seasons on the school’s alpine team.

“This year, all we have talked about was winning a championship, and to go out and win is just amazing,” Park said. “I am super proud of what we have been able to accomplish this year, and I have no doubt the team will see the same success next year. I have been on this team all four years of high school, and I couldn’t ask for a better ending. Although this year was the end for us seniors, it was the beginning of something great for GHS ski, and I can’t wait to see what this team accomplishes in the next coming years.”

Said GHS captain Kiko Ivanov: “I’m super proud of our boys for what we were able to accomplish. This year, we were able to come together so much more than we have in previous years which definitely added to our success. We worked incredibly hard this year in order to make this happen. Those long days watching film with the team and tuning skis wasn’t easy, but was 100 percent worth it because we were able to accomplish great things.”

“We all raced with a chip on our shoulders to win as we came second last year which sparked us to accomplish our goal. The mindset all year was that we don’t need two silver medals, we need a gold one. Without our brotherhood, coaches, and team parents we couldn’t achieve this and I’m very thankful for the Cards ski community as we couldn’t have done this without them.”