Sisters skiers salvage slot in state race

A series of unforced errors on the hard, icy slopes of Mt. Bachelor on Saturday, February 12, left the Sisters High School girls ski racers alone in third place, claiming the third and last team transfer to the State Championship.

After bobbles and falls the Sisters girls still managed to place three in the top 12, but that wasn’t good enough to improve their league position.

First-run mishaps, with three of the top five girls falling, left the girls well behind the Bend and Summit High Schools teams.

The second run wasn’t much better. However, solid runs by Liz Dale and Annie Hancock and a personal best top-10 finish by Kelsey Newport was enough to secure the third transfer spot to the State Championship to be held at Mt. Bachelor later this spring.

When the counting was done Summit High’s Lauren Huestis won the race with a time of 1.50:380. Sisters Liz Dale was eighth (2.14:140), followed by Annie Hancock ninth (2.21:260), Stephanie Yopp 12th (2.30:030), Nicole Veloso 16th (2.40:860), Kate Taylor 17th (2.45:970), Kelsey Newport 19th (2.48:340) and Joelle Hamilton 23rd (4.00:570).

The boys roster found Michael Cristiano finishing in 10th place followed by a 15th-place personal best for Nick Anthony. Dominick DeLeone finished 29th for the Sisters boys with Stefan Redfield in 33rd and Seth Rodriguez in 37th.

The result left the Sisters boys in fifth place in the league, missing the transfer to the state race, which will be held at Mt. Bachelor March 2-4.