“It just kind of fell into place at the right moment,” Sprague said.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the tenacity she showed,” City added.
Sprague’s finish wasn’t Harvard’s lone standout performance of the day. Kennedy and Tofte backed her up with 14th- and 19th-place finishes of their own, and the women’s Nordic team beat every team in the region, save powerhouse Dartmouth, in the classic event.
At the center of what was one of the team’s best-ever finishes, Sprague had done more than complete a comeback. She had emerged better than she was prior to her injury, moving up 16 places from her finish at regionals the previous year to stake her place as one of the top skiers in the EISA—an accomplishment that is especially impressive given that the Crimson is already disadvantaged by its lack of snow relative to most of its competitors.
Now healthy again and able to train, Sprague has the potential to emerge as one of the dominant skiers in the region next winter. Given how she responded to her first major injury, one shouldn’t bet against her.
—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.