Sophomore Tommy Barna dominated the podium for the ski team, finishing first of 112 racers in the Central Massachusetts Conference Ski League (CMCSL), ninth in the state in the Giant Slalom and competing in the Eastern Schools Championship in New Hampshire.
From starting ski lessons at 5 years old, joining Ski Ward’s ski team at 7 years old, competitively skiing for The Rivers School his freshman year, then transferring and skiing for Algonquin, Barna has found a true love for competitive skiing.
“I really like competitive skiing,” Barna said. “You can’t compete competitively with what you know from traditional skiing; you have to do a lot more training, and I definitely enjoy the competitive aspect. You get to see where you are with your standings and a more clear indicator of your progress.”
Barna has accomplished many wins with his enjoyment of competitive skiing. He collected 1398 points for the season which included some of his best times at 22.71 seconds for Giant Slalom and 28.68 seconds for Slalom. The top 20 skiers in the league qualify for states, which included Barna. Ski team coach and physical education teacher Kristen Morcone has enjoyed seeing Barna succeed and how he’s raised the level of ARHS skiing.
“Tommy skis at a very high level in New Hampshire and when he joined the team this year everyone really respected his work ethic and talent, and it pushed other skiers to become better racers,” Morcone said.
Barna has especially enjoyed the connections he made with his teammates this season.
“Compared to the other high school team I was in, I feel like there’s a really nice sense of community here,” Barna said. “We do pasta dinners every Wednesday. It’s a time the team gets together that isn’t skiing or training. You get to know everybody when you do events like that.”
Barna and Morcone emphasized the work that captains seniors Cara Leonard, Riley Silvia and Dylan Steele did to make everyone on the team feel included and confident when skiing.
“Our captains do a great job setting the tone of making sure it’s a good balance between competition, fun, improvement and team comradery in general,” Morcone said. “They’re the ones out there with their fellow teammates leading by example and showing them the right way to approach each race.”
Barna has big goals for next season and Morcone has strong beliefs in Barna’s ability to continue to improve.
“I’m excited to see him grow both as a skier and a leader on our team,” Morcone said. “I think the sky’s the limit for him. He finished ninth this year at our MIAA [race], and I would love to see him in the top ten next year and continue to lead the league next year as well.”
