Wenham’s Charrette Powers St. John’s Prep to Ski Title

March 1, 2025

Sam Charrette, left, celebrates St. John's fourth
ski title with teammates Owen McLain, center,
and Josh Haarmann at Berkshire East.

As a writer, I always prefer working with sources who are more talkative. Sam Charrette isn't one of those people. But the teenager from Wenham is an impressive young man nonetheless, an integral part of four strait ski championships for St. John's Prep. As a former athlete and coach, however, I have to admit that there was one moment during my chat with Sam that really stood out for me, even though it's not in the story. His father had told me that the top three skiers really are the difference makers on the team, and expectations were high this year because there were no seniors on last year's title-winning squad. But when I mentioned that to Sam, he quickly corrected me. There were seniors, but they weren't stars. And that spoke volumes about his character ... Obviously, everyone on the team was important to Sam. And that's as impressive as anything else, in my book. This is my story on Sam and the St. John's Prep ski team for the H-W News.

Best, -Brion

 

Wenham’s Sam Charrette Powers St. John’s Prep to Ski Title

 

It’s one thing to be consistent. It’s another thing to be great. But to be consistently great is something special. Admirers of the exploits of US Ski Team legends Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin over the past two decades will undoubtedly be impressed with the consistent excellence of the St. John’s Prep ski team, which captured its fourth consecutive MIAA Alpine boys’ championship on Tuesday.

 

And a mainstay on those powerhouse Prep squads for all four years has been Wenham’s Sam Charrette.

 

“As far as I know, it's never happened before, for any team to win four straight titles,” said St. John’s ski coach Tim Broderick. “It's definitely never happened at St. John’s in terms of skiing. It's happened in some other sports, but it's never happened in skiing, so it's an incredibly unique thing.

 

“And for these guys who are seniors, Sam and Josh (Haarmann), it's pretty unbelievable,” said Broderick. “Four in a row is pretty spectacular.”

 

At Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Charlemont, the Eagles soared to defend their state title, their 5:01.12 combined time edging Concord-Carlisle (5:08.31), Needham (5:22.62), St. John’s of Shrewsbury (5:23.30), and Winchester (5:24.87).

 

“You need three strong skiers to win this,” said Sam’s father, Steven Charrette. “So if you have three strong skiers, which they do, that’s why they've always been able to win the title.”

 

The 18-year-old Sam Charrette, a team co-captain, led the way by winning the giant slalom and finishing fifth in the slalom, the top St. John’s finisher, just ahead of teammate Owen McLain, a junior from Beverly, and fellow senior co-captain Josh Haarmann of Boxford. McLain also nabbed a 4^th-place finish in the giant slalom.

 

“For the last three years, it’s been on me, Josh, and Owen McLain to win states, and we pulled through all three years,” said Charrette. “Last year I didn’t have a great year, but I was still Top Ten. So we knew we had the best team. We just all had to finish.”

 

This year, Charrette put it all together. The first place finish in the GS, combined with his 5^th place slalom result, gave Charrette the overall boys’ individual title.

 

“In practice, I almost never finish a run, but when I finish I'm fast,” he said. “That was probably the first ski race I ever won, so I felt pretty good. I had won at Bradford (in Haverhill, the home hill of the Eagles), but that doesn’t really count.”

 

As opposed to the gentle runs at Ski Bradford, Berkshire East’s steeper slopes suited Charrette’s wiry 5-foot-10, 155-pound frame.

 

“I'm good at skiing pitches, so I feel like it played to my strengths,” he said.

 

For Broderick, both the team and individual titles were a fitting culmination of Charrette’s 4-year ski racing career.

 

“Sam's one of those guys who basically has continuously competed to be at the top, and in his eyes, I feel like he always just felt like he comes up just shy of his own expectations,” said Broderick. “He has very high expectations for himself. And if he doesn't meet them exactly as he sees, then he feels like he came up short.

 

“So, one of the nice things about (Tuesday) was, he couldn't say that, because he won,” said Broderick. “To have that as your last memory is pretty awesome.”

 

Charrette has attended St. John’s since 6th grade, and started ski racing with the Eagles his freshman year. Before that, he began running gates as a 9-year-old, following friends from the Mountaineers development program at Attitash Mountain in Glen, NH, to the resort’s alpine race team. Four years ago, after meeting Haarmann at St. John’s, he moved to the alpine race team at Gunstock Mountain in Gilford, NH, where he really honed his downhill skills.

 

“To be honest, when I first started, I wasn’t that good, but I stuck with it and got a little bit better each year,” said Charrette.

 

“A lot better,” added his father.

 

There won’t be much time for Charrette to celebrate his ski team’s title. During the season, he also ran track for the New England Elite program out of Andover, specializing in longer sprint distances, including the 200 and 400-yard dash. He plans to compete for the Eagles track team this spring.

 

“My goal is to break the school record for the 200,” Charrette said, referring to the SJP mark of 21.8 seconds.

 

As for next year, Charrette is still waiting to hear from several schools, including the University of Massachusetts and the University of Utah, and may even take a gap year. He doubts that he’ll ski race in college, though running track is a possibility.

 

Whatever the future holds, Charrette will always have four consecutive state ski titles to his name. And very few ski legends can make that claim.

 

FINIS