We next spotlight senior Merrik Iacozili of Fryeburg Academy. He was the 2026 Class A giant slalom state champion. We asked him about
his thoughts at the start line and his preparations.
1) What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?
I trained a lot, the only way to get better is getting as much time on snow as possible.
2) How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?
2) How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?
Ski racing inherently is a high pressure sport. I worked a lot on dealing with the pressure of ski racing through trying to be forgetful, you can’t linger on the past in a sport where you only compete for two minutes.
3) What was going through your mind at the start?
3) What was going through your mind at the start?
I try to think about 2 or 3 hard sections of the course and how I’m going to ski them then I get myself as hyped up as possible.
4) What do you contribute your success to?
4) What do you contribute your success to?
I contribute all of my success to my parents. They’ve supported throughout my years of ski racing and I owe everything to them.
5) What are your goals/plans for next year?
5) What are your goals/plans for next year?
Next year I’m going to continue ski racing for New England Collage in Henniker, New Hampshire.
6) What surprised you the most about this season?
6) What surprised you the most about this season?
I was surprised by the progress I’ve made this year. I became much better this year than I was last year.
7) What moment/event will you remember the most from the season?I feel like I will always remember the feeling of being state champion but losing the team race also hurt so it led to a sort of conflict of how I feel.
8) What do you like most about Alpine Skiing?
I love the speed of being in a course pushing as hard as you can, it feels free.
