Cara Sprague
’11

Hometown: Queensbury, NY
High School: Queensbury High School
House: Pforzheimer House (Better known as Pfoho)
Concentration: History of Science
Favorite Band: Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band
Favorite Movie: Top Gun
Favorite Book: I secretly love the little Toko booklets about waxing that we get for free every year. I have a very large collection of them in my room.
Favorite Athlete: Dave McCahill
Favorite TV Show: The Office
Favorite Place at Harvard: Sitting on the terrace outside of Pfoho looking out on the quad
Favorite Restaurant: Cambridge Common
Favorite Superhero: Wonder Woman (I actually own a Wonder Woman costume)
Favorite Quote: Never, never, never give up. (Winston Churchill) My mom gave me a wooden sign with this quote printed on it the night before one of my races in high school. I still have the sign to this day, hanging on my wall in my room where I can see it every day.
Least Favorite Wax: Klister
Random Fact: I am deathly afraid of spiders.
Skiing Highlights: My favorite race during the 2008-2009 ski season was at the Trapp Family Lodge for the UVM Carnival. The weather was absolutely insane and changed every five minutes. The temperature ranged from about 15 degrees below zero to about 35 degrees above zero, it was snowing so hard you couldn’t see five feet in front of you. Then that would change to sharp, spear-like icicles falling from the sky which then changed to a combination of rain, snow, and sleet with about a 25 mph wind that also changed direction every five minutes. This was a classic race, so you can imagine the stress about waxing all of our skis. I distinctly remember at one point on the course coming up this long hill in the beginning, across the field and anxiously waiting to turn the corner because I knew ahead of me was a very big, long downhill where I would get a nice, much needed rest. Only I turned the corner to meet a head-on wind that nearly knocked me out of the tracks. Needless to say, I had to double-pole down the ENTIRE hill. And then the sun came out for the rest of my race.

In addition to being on the Nordic team, I also run cross country and track for Harvard. I make my transition to skiing every year during Thanksgiving break, which so far has given me the ability to brag about how my first practice is always on snow. Aside from skiing, I enjoy playing Banana Grams (even though Meri wins every time), making videos using the new Nordic Helmet Cam, asking Trevor for help with my physics homework, reading, biking, and sleeping. Last spring I was offered a job to be the Pforzheimer House polar bear, which is our mascot. I heartfully accepted! This ski season I am looking forward to the entire month of January – which thanks to the new academic calendar set in place this year will be spent doing nothing but skiing. I am currently writing my junior paper on the history of cross country skiing and am learning many new interesting facts about the sport. Did you know that Johannes von Trapp, the youngest son of the von Trapp family, was the person who franchized the idea for golf courses to turn into cross country ski centers during the winter? Hail to Weston Ski Track!