Season Score Puts Exeter Cycling in First

After defeating Andover in the spring E/A race by a 15 point margin and winning the first place title in the New England Road Cycling (NERC) championship, the Academy’s cycling team ended the 2014 season with a successful regular season record, exceeding past years’ performances.

“This was our best season in the last four years,” senior co-captain Rohan Pavuluri said.

Other team members agreed with Pavuluri and said that the team’s overall performance and each individual team members’ achievements were all strong. “The team did fantastically, outperforming our opponents to an overall win as league champions, which is the first we've won in a few years,” senior Alan Guo said.

Guo shared some of the team members’ notable accomplishments.

“Erick Friis and Rohan Pavuluri did notably well in the Boys A racing category, as well as Cornelia Smith, Tessa Vaccaro, Christine Hu and Stajz Saar in Girls A, Killian Dickson in Boys B, Stephanie Chen in Girls C and Rudi Ying, Jun park, Erik Carlson and Josh hemintakoon in Boys C. We placed second in the league in Girls A and Girls B, as well as first in boys C.”

Senior co-captain Niklas Bergill also lauded his teammates’ exceptional performances, as well as other teammates’. “It was great to see Rudi Ying win the Boys C division this year; Girls A missed first place in their division by just one point; Reed Woolfson Jarvis and Killian Dickson won their time trial at Profile and Erick Friis killed it throughout the season in Boys A,” he said.

Bergill said that he will remember this season the most of his at Exeter, not only because this season was his last, but also because the team won the New England championship title. He also noted that out of the four years he has been part of the team, this season’s team members became closer than in previous years, which strengthened the team chemistry, making this season much more memorable.

“The 2014 team was hands down most tightly knit squad that I've been apart of during my time on the team,” Bergil said. “We spent countless hours together on our bikes but we spent far more together on buses, in D-Hall and on the quad. I'm going to miss the people on this team more than any of them can imagine.”

Although the team members echoed Bergill’s sentiments, many were new to the team this year. Regardless, the new members felt that because of the team’s friendly atmosphere, adjusting to the team chemistry was not a challenge.

“When I first joined the team, I expected that we would be a pretty good team, but I definitely didn't expect us to be New England champions,” lower Killian Dickson, who started his first year at Exeter this year, said. “My first impression was how friendly everyone on the team was with each other and the teams we were competing with.”

Lower Josh Hemintakoon echoed Dickson’s sentiments and explained that because of the diverse personalities of the team members, acclimation was enjoyable. “The cycling team was a group of characters; really diverse group of people. The first meeting we had, we went around a circle and introduced ourselves,” Hemintakoon said. “I was surrounded by preps, new lowers, Rohan, who lives in my dorm, people I knew from cross country that I ran with prep year like Stajz and Matt, Nik Bergil, who I knew as the guy who was on the shoulders of the rampant lion mascot and others.”

Hemintakoon said that within days after the season started, the team had built a strong sense of unity and cooperated well as a whole. “The team developed an amazing chemistry. We're all friends; we're a family. In the races themselves, coaches aren't able to participate as much, per say, so teammates in the racing environment are great to keep our mental edges and work together against the asphalt and the wind,” he said.

Pavuluri emphasized that it was the team’s growing bond that brought the successful results, even with an increased number of new members of the team and its atypically large size. “Our team got deeper and deeper as the season went on. Our first-time racers really stepped up and even started to win races in their respective categories by the end of the season. This means we had depth unmatched by any other team in the league,” Pavuluri said.

Lower Jun Park, who joined the team this year, agreed with Pavuluri and said that the team members’ support for each other was always present, whether it was practices or races. “We were really tight and made sure to keep a supportive and encouraging atmosphere throughout the season,” Park said.

Pavuluri added that this support system as well as the team’s bond created a cycle of positivity, helping all members of the team improve and grow as athletes, and in the end, bring the whole team the title of New England champions.

“What set the team apart this year from each of the last three year's I've been a member is our tightly-knit community. Even though the team was so large, we all got along incredibly well,” Pavuluri said. “This eased the tension before all races, compelled us to practice harder and ultimately resulted in our successes.”

Guo added that another factor that contributed to the team’s success was the coaches of the team, who encouraged the team to grow and become faster. “As much as the riders did themselves, however, our five coaches—Coach Mills, Wakeman, Wilson, Baggia and Burke—really contributed significantly to the atmosphere of the team as a whole, riding alongside us each day, constantly egging us on and giving us inspiration to put the pain into our legs as much as possible; we definitely could not have done it without them,” Guo said.

Guo continued that he hopes the team maintains its solidarity and team chemistry and excels as it did this season. “Having a tight-knit team contributes both to a friendly and productive atmosphere during training and races as well as a great experience overall throughout the season. Trust and friendship are key to building both a successful and a well-rounded team,” Guo said. “As a senior, I hope the team continues to remain as tight in the future as we are today.”