Nordic skiers host championships

The Sisters High School Nordic ski team had new snow to offer at their home course at Hoodoo Mountain Resort during the Northern League Championships held Saturday, February 19.

The event is a warm-up for next week’s Oregon Interscholastic Ski Racing Association’s State Championships scheduled to take place February 25-26 at Willamette Pass.

Saturday’s meet operated as a pursuit race. Pursuit races include two contests to determine the overall winners. The first contest of the day, a 3.5 kilometer classic race, determined the starting times for individuals in the second race, which was to be done in skating style, also known as freestyle.

The fastest skier gets a head start based on the margin of his time against the next racer and on down the line. Other than the top finisher, everyone is chasing the racers who beat them in the first race.

“In pursuit races, you know that every person you catch in the second race moves you up another notch in the standings,” said senior skier Lindsay Chick.

Kelly Crowther, Jacob Evan and Jeremy Evan pulled through with a third-place team finish. Summit swept the top three places to score a perfect “6” to win the team title, followed by Redmond (21), Sisters (40), and Corvallis (45). The other four teams in the league did not field complete teams.

Chick led the girls’ team to a sixth-place finish among the eight complete teams.

Erin Kanzig, Kaitlin McAlister, Rachel Sims and Ryanne Conrades completed the scoring for the team.

Summit won the league title with nine points, followed by Redmond (12), ACMA (36), Crescent Valley (49), SMA (56), Sisters (66), Crook County (67), and Corvallis (107).

Coach Lee Fischer had nothing but praise for his team.

“To think that everyone but Lindsay was brand new to the sport, their improvement and performance is truly amazing,” he said. “I hope we can continue to build the program around these boys and girls.”