New sultans of slopes; Ski team hot out of gate.

Byline: Timothy Normandin

LUNENBURG - In the manner made famous by musketeers and other collegial threesomes, James Gray, Joe Healey and Erik Osvold came out of nowhere to storm the Massbay West League and put Lunenburg skiing on the map.

In the first-ever ski race by an LHS athlete, 15-year-old James Gray careened down a steep giant slalom course to beat more than 80 racers from schools with ski racing pedigree like Concord-Carlisle and Lincoln-Sudbury. The old pros of Massbay West looked on in amazement as this lanky freshman with long blond hair freight-trained by, deeply immersed in his personal shortest-distance-between-two-points experiment.

The fact that Lunenburg High School even has a ski team in the first place can be chalked up to Jim Broden. The parent of an eighth-grader in town and a former collegiate racer himself, Broden conceived the idea of a team after watching some high school racing at Wachusett Mountain. He proposed volunteering his time to Pete McCauliff, athletic director at LHS, then rearranged his work schedule at Raytheon to accommodate practices and competitions. Broden put out the call for athletes, and five young men and women stepped up to the plate. Joining Gray, Healey and Osvold were newcomers to the sport, Grady Vincent and Laura LeBlanc.

Massbay West holds its races at Nashoba Valley, the little hill that straddles the Westford-Littleton line. The "Bump," as it's affectionately known, is famous for exactly two things: surprisingly steep terrain and ice. The three boys excelled in these challenging conditions.

Healey is the most seasoned racer of the bunch. His parents put him on skis when he was 3 years old, and he's been competing for Wachusett Mountain since he was 5. Joe has raced in some of the most prestigious competitions in New England, from Stowe, Vt., to Jiminy Peak. Joe captured the Massbay West league individual title in Lunenburg's inaugural season, and he is being courted by Plymouth State University, a school that finished second in the 2007 NCAA national championship.

Both Healey and Osvold come from ski racing families. Joe's older sister, Caitlyn, skied for Colby College and his parents are accomplished racers in the adult league at Wachusett. Erik's older brother, Ovar, raced for Wachusett for many years, and by all accounts their father was quite a racer himself back in the day.

All three boys qualified for the state championship, an astounding feat for a program in its infancy.

"They all did well," said Coach Broden, "but the most amazing story was told by Erik Osvold." Due to a couple of spectacular crashes in league competition, Erik was seeded to start in the 160th position at the states.

With 159 racers out before him, making the course as icy and rutted as the backside of Neptune, Erik finished the race in 19th place. "There's no bigger story in the states, as far as I'm concerned," said Mr. Broden.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: James Gray, Joe Healey and Erik Osvold anchor the Lunenburg High ski team.

PHOTOG: TIMOTHY NORMANDIN